shopless Posted February 5, 2015 Report Share Posted February 5, 2015 Hello, I have a Veritas smoothing plane and I have been able to produce some very good results with it. But lately I am working with solid beech and the blade turns into a rake very fast. I use a waterstone to sharpen the blade and at the beginning it works great. But very quickly the blade gets tiny nicks that translate into parallel ridges on the wood surface. The ridges are not visible but I can easily feel them with my hand. The shavings that come out are not continuous but parallel strands of wood. It is almost like the plane iron becomes a rake or a comb. I can easily knock down the ridges on the wood with light sanding, but I am wondering why this is happening. Anyone has an idea? Thank you all Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tpt life Posted February 5, 2015 Report Share Posted February 5, 2015 Any knots in the beech? How do you set the plane down and store it? Are you sticking with the factory grind angle? Any chance of picking up a contaminate from your bench or even dried glue? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derekcohen Posted February 5, 2015 Report Share Posted February 5, 2015 Which smoothing plane do you have? What is the bevel angle? From our description the edge is chipping, which is usually a feature of steel that is too hard (soft steel folds over). Veritas steel is pretty reliable, but this may be a rogue blade. On the other hand the bevel may be too low, with the result that it is weakened and vulnerable to chipping. Regards from Perth Derek Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shopless Posted February 5, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 5, 2015 I am trying it on pieces of wood that have no knots and it still happens. It is the 4-1/2 smoothing plane, but I am not sure which type of steel is the blade. I keep the bevel at 30 degrees. I sharpen the blade and then start planing. The first 5-10 strokes are fine, but then the chipping starts and it gets worse pretty quickly. What is a "rogue blade"? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derekcohen Posted February 5, 2015 Report Share Posted February 5, 2015 If the blade is fairly new and has not been honed much, what I would first does grind it back about 1/16", and try again. Often new steel is more brittle at the edge. Grinding back beyond this will fix the problem. If you have to go back 1/8" and it is still doing this, then send the blade back with a description. Lee Valley have the best support service. Regards from Perth Derek Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4square Posted March 28, 2015 Report Share Posted March 28, 2015 Try flattening the back of the iron. Even though Veritas claims the back of their irons come perfectly flat. Then re-hone your iron to 30 degrees. I use a leather strop with (believe it or not) #7 automotive polishing compound after honing. Works great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.