ChetlovesMer Posted April 7, 2011 Report Share Posted April 7, 2011 So, I've read that you should always tune and sharpen your plane before using it. But, if you read the stuff that comes with your Lie-Nielsen planes it says you can use it right out of the box. So, I'm curious, do you sharpen your plane before its first use or do you go with it right out of the box? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alindsey Posted April 7, 2011 Report Share Posted April 7, 2011 It will cut nice enough out of the box but it will cut beautifully, and save you time re-honing, if you take the iron to your finest grit of sharpening medium, whether that be stones, sandpaper, etc., and take a few minutes to put a secondary bevel on it. I'm pretty sure Lie-Nielsen's site even recommends doing this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChetlovesMer Posted April 7, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 7, 2011 So far I've always tuned and sharpened the plane before its first use. Just curious if anyone fore-goes that step and how well it performs? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blkdiamond Posted April 7, 2011 Report Share Posted April 7, 2011 My experience has been with a low angle block and low angle jack plane from LN and I can say that they both came relatively sharp and cut decent, but once they were both properly sharpened they were incredible! I will say that the low-angle block could not cut end-grain very well out of the box, but once it was sharpened it took nice, clean shavings on the end-grain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mlingenfelter Posted April 7, 2011 Report Share Posted April 7, 2011 You are going to sharpen your plane blade so many times over the life of the plane, not having to sharpen it once really isn't that big a deal. What is a big deal, are the planes themselves. You don't have to "tune" them up. A lot of the "cheeper" planes on the market require a lot of tune-up, before they work well. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikem Posted May 3, 2011 Report Share Posted May 3, 2011 I just received the rabbet block plane this past Friday that I ordered from the a tool event. I was so close to completing a project that I have been working off and on during the winter months, that I wanted to jump right in and get it completed. I was planning on use the plane a little, but that turned into using it a lot. It left behind a pretty smooth surface for it just coming out of the box. Once I have completed the current project, I plan on honing all the hand tools that were used in building the project. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gregory Paolini Posted May 4, 2011 Report Share Posted May 4, 2011 I've never purchased a L/N plane that didn't need to be sharpened out of the box... They are in great shape, and don't need much tuning. But every chisel, and every plane must be sharpened, and each plane must be adjusted for the task at hand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
usacomp2k3 Posted May 4, 2011 Report Share Posted May 4, 2011 There was a blogpost today from Highland woodworking (http://blog.woodworkingtooltips.com/2011/05/the-plane-facts-no-60-12r-low-angle-rabbet-block-plane/) that recommended sharpening the blades before first use. Theirs are sharpened up to 400 grit prior to shipping. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
konkers Posted May 5, 2011 Report Share Posted May 5, 2011 I just honed my LN #8 iron this weekend. I'd been using it out of the box because I didn't have a stone wide enough until now. While it took good shavings out of the box, it was nothing like the shavings it's taking now. I'm now a believer in sharpening even the best tools out of the box. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjcgw Posted May 14, 2011 Report Share Posted May 14, 2011 I have purchased three in the last year and sharpened all of them. Did not have to spend much time doing it though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wareagle Todd Posted May 15, 2011 Report Share Posted May 15, 2011 There was a blogpost today from Highland woodworking (http://blog.woodworkingtooltips.com/2011/05/the-plane-facts-no-60-12r-low-angle-rabbet-block-plane/) that recommended sharpening the blades before first use. Theirs are sharpened up to 400 grit prior to shipping. I also sharpen the blade right out of the box. It really doesn't take much time. Nice link AJ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darnell Hagen Posted May 15, 2011 Report Share Posted May 15, 2011 I use them straight out of the box, partially to evaluate the factory finish, partially because I can't wait to play with a new tool. They all work, but they all work better honed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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