New Victim for Restoration


chefmagnus@grics.net

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Anyone know more about this plane. I have it, as you can see in the last picture, in my new Evapo Rust bath. I will have to see when it comes out if there are any marks on it. I find the folded metal frog very interesting. I believe that this plane was japanned a bright red but almost all of it is gone. I didn't even find much under the other parts.
 
Here are the different view of the assembled plane. 
 
 
Here it is after I disassembled it. 
 
 
Here is a picture of the Evapo Rust bath. I am repurposing a stainless steel steam table pan. It holds 3 gallons and will accommodate all of the smaller planes. For the bodies of larger planes I am going to try the plastic aisle at Wal-Mart.

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I seem to recall that colour being used on the budget range from one of the big tool manufacturers but I can't remember which. I guess I'm having one of those 'senior moments' :)

Yes it was Acorn that was made by Stanley that had that red colour. I have one that I was given to me about 30 years ago- very light weight for a smoother and not fantastic at all.

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You got it Terry! I was offered one recently at a car boot for £25 - the look on the blokes face when I said it was worth 50p was priceless. Needless to say I didn't get it. Hopefully better luck on ebay tomorrow with a bid on a Mathieson woodie for 99p.

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Right now I am sending blades out to be sharpened? The service charges $20-40 per plane. He will also correct things he believes to be wrong and will charge you for that too. He does a good job and means well. He insists that everything be near perfect with a blade or plane when he returns it. But I got a HandyMan plane at a yardsale for a dollar. I told him that I wanted to sharpen it and then try it out. To see if I wanted to keep it or not. Well, he did a complete restore on it. He charged me $65. He did great work. I tried it out and found that I don't like it because it is very light. So I want to be able to sharpen up a iron and try a plane before I decide to spend time restoring it. If I gave him the box of planes to sharpen he would give me a bill that ran into the $1000.

 

I use a variable angle knife grinder then a series of wet stones to sharpen my kitchen knives. I have changes most of them to a 17½º angle that doesn't last as long but cuts better. 

 

So I am complete open for sharpening. 

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I bought a Tormek earlier this year, and sold my WorkSharp 3000 for sharpening my lathe tools. The Tormek T7 came with the square edge jig which I use for sharpening plane irons. I flatten the back on the side of the stone and then put a 25º angle on it. After I get that wire edge on it I hone it away with the leather wheel and Tormek honing compound. My results are razor sharp and my planes cut real smooth. I also use it to sharpen my chisels, I have an 8" slow speed grounder with the Tormek Bench Mount system  for using my Tormek jigs for reprofiling and large amounts of removal since a Tormek stone doesn't cut as fast, and is fairly costly, but boy does it do a good job.

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So you see my reason for being upset. But he is the only commercial sharpening service in the area. So we put up with his sh*t.

 

He can do some stuff to help you out to offset the unexpected costs. Like, he repaired a 105 tooth saw blade that fell off a shelf at the store and they were going to pitch it. So I got it for free and it cuts great on my SCMS. I paid $19 for the blade repair and he said that the first resharpening is on him, too. It looks like hell but it works.

 

So how much do I need to go to the finance mistress for to get a good sharpening setup. If I can, do other sharpening tasks especially needlework scissors that would be a big plus in the chances for approval. I already have a contract for having my power equipment blades sharpened for 2015 and 2016. 

 

We talked about reining in shop expenses. Because my shop expenses are approaching my pension income for 2014. I have been telling her that 2015 costs will be way down. I hope to offset some of the expenses by selling duplicate equipment once I get things sorted out. Like I don't need 3 bench grinders, 11 sanders, 7 cordless drills, 3 drill presses. 3 air compressors, a 6" jointer(I have a 8" helix), etc. I am also going to sell off some of the stuff that I know that I won't use like bowl blanks, turning bowl just isn't my thing, over 150 walnut gun stock blanks, black walnut crown molding, etc. 

 

In addition, we got a me a 1951 Mercury Monterey Coupe. So that is a new payment and insurance. Enough whining from me.

 

So I am looking to save money in the long run? Will sharpening my own irons save money or will it just add to the outflow?

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Initial sticker price for sharpening your own stuff will vary depending on what system you go with. You do have the option of going water stones or diamond stones but you're looking at upwards of 60-300 per stone depending on size, and grit. In general you can get away with a decent stone sharpening setup for coarse, medium and fine for around $225. You will also want to get a jig for holding your irons/chisels at the angle you want so add another 75 bucks. 

 

Tormek T7 is a fairly expensive option depending on what you're looking to do. Since I sharpen turning gouges and skew chisels I spent an additional $150 on 2 jigs for sharpening just lathe chisels. It's generally a 1 time setup cost though and last year during the holiday season Tormek ran a "Buy a T7 and get lifetime stone replacement (up to 3 stones) They are 10" in diameter and 2" wide. The stone can be graded from 220 grit to 1000 grit for a higher polish. The Tormek comes with the Angle Master, Honing Compound, Stone Grader, Diamond Truing Tool, Square Edge Jig, and Handbook and Instructional DVD. Seven-year warranty.

There are also other wetstone sharpening systems available however they are all pretty much clones of the Tormek and lack in jigs and accessories. 

 

You could go with a Darex WorkSharp 3000 which uses glass plates and adhesive backed sandpaper, however when sharpening metal I found there was too much heat buildup and the sandpaper loaded up pretty quick. I did like that it was able to take dull deep scratches and work up to a shiny mirror polish buffing up to 6000 grit and then a leather strop wheel. At about $350 with all the accessories to sharpen most things it's still pretty limited and getting repeatability isn't as foolproof as other systems.

 

Robert Sorby has a belt sander styled sharpener that I'm not overly experienced in using, however think about excessive heat and steel removal. 

 

I told myself over and over I didn't need a wet grinder, that it was too much money and I could get results just as good using another system. I sold the other systems and bought a wet grinder. My father was a machinist for 10 years, my grandfather was a machinist for 40 years. At my father's recommendation and after month of researching sharpening systems I settled on the Tormek and I cringed when I walked out of woodcraft paying $649 for a spinning rock, some metal and a strip of leather on a wheel. But in all honesty I'm very happy with it, it performs amazingly, it's accurate, easy, and all my tools are all razor sharp, and after the initial sticker shock of spending nearly $1000 for all my sharpening stuff (8" slow speed grinder, tormek t-7, tormek breathable cover, gouge jig, skew/roughing gouge jig, knife sharpening jig, tormek bench grinder mount, tormek profiled honing wheels, tormek tool rest) Out of the box though you can sharpen chisels and plane irons. Jigs are only needed if you're looking to sharpen scissors, small knives, large knives, lathe tools, axes, etc. 

I don't work for them, just a satisfied sharpening fanatic.  

 

 

If you're paying $65 a piece to sharpen plane irons in the long run it'll save you money depending on how much you need to sharpen your tools. If you want to see what kind of edge you could get on a Tormek, I'd be willing to sharpen one for you if you send it, tell me what angle you want, and pay for return shipping. With shipping costs it shouldn't be more than 10 bucks shipping via USPS both ways. I can turn it around and send it back the following day. I take it Central ILL is Illinois 

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Yes It is Illinois. Near Peoria. I have a selection of Taidea whetstones 600g, 1000g, 2000g, 3000g, 4000g. 6000g. and 8000 grit. They are 8"x3". I have a grinder that will set a angle of 20º or 17½º. I then use the whetstones for finishing after I set the angle with the grinder. Could I use these with a jig or should you not use woodworking metal where you use food prep items? I am not a stranger to knife sharpening. That is what frustrates me about woodworking sharpening. It is very different from knife sharpening. 

 

I am quite good at sharpening kitchen items with this system. I have sharpened knives to the point that they will split a sheet of paper dropped on the edge. I was taught advanced knife sharpening at the Le Cordon Bleu School in Kyoto, Japan by custom knife makers. I made my own Yanagiba(461mm) and Hon-Deba(300mm) in the class. My instructor helped me make them because I was bashing my knuckles on the cutting boards using Japanese knives sized for Japanese hands that are longer and thinner than Western hands. Both are deeper and longer than the usual standard version. The class mainly taught me that I would rather use a knife than make one. 

 

I know there has to be jigs out there. I tried cutting a piece of wood cut on the SCMS to 25º and using it but holding the wood and iron together on the stone became a nightmare. I stopped because the angle that I was going to make was very different from the one on the iron.  I used google and got jig overflow. I might have to wait until I can liquidate some excess tools to buy the Tormek. I might even have one in Paul's(He died and his son gave me his shop) stuff that I haven't gone through yet.  Do they ever come up on the market place?

 

Thanks for you help. I enjoy the zen aspect of polishing the soles of planes. It is like my honing of my knives. 

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If you have all those stones I would add maybe a 220 grit extra course for fast removal of material to reprofile.  You can use a jig like this http://www.leevalley.com/us/wood/page.aspx?c=&cat=1,43072,43078&p=51868

 

I'm actually familiar with knife making. I have a knife made by my grandfather that he made back in the 70s when he was a machinist. My dad also made a bowie knife that my grandfather helped him make around the same time. 

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