I finally caved and replaced my box-store block plane with a slightly more upscale version.  It’s not an everyday tool in my shop, so I didn’t splurge for an ultra premium block plane.  But I was frustrated enough with the lateral adjustment capabilities of my old block plane that it was time for a change.

I have brand loyalty because I don’t mind a little tuning.

From unboxing to finish, total honing time was about half an hour to clean up the plane (most of which was flattening on the 220 diamond plate).

Just about done in this picture.

I’m pretty pleased with the machining on this particular tool.  The sole is pretty flat and the iron was ground square (both rarities for this brand, I will admit).  A couple swipes at 30 degrees left a razor-sharp secondary bevel on the freshly-flattened iron.

Fastest sharpening job ever.

There is no lateral adjustment lever, but there is plenty of clearance around the knuckle cap for a hammer tap.  The new block plane is also longer and heavier than my old one (it’s about the size of a No. 1), but the knuckle cap gives it a better feel in the hand.  Overall, I’m happy so far, even if I’ve only taken a few end grain shavings to test blade sharpness.

JPG

It occurred to me the other day that I’ve never actually used the lateral adjustment lever on any of my hand planes.  One of the first woodworking videos I ever watched was Super-Tune a Hand Plane by Christopher Schwarz and I guess I got in the habit of doing all blade adjustment by hammer tap.

I think I stole this one from my father’s toolbox.

Given all the smoothing and shooting I’ve been doing lately for the mini-workbench project (both with my No. 4 and my No. 4 1/2), I have gotten quite a bit of practice at resharpening and plane setting.  One thing I noticed is that my plane irons were apparently ground out of square (I blame the wide blade attachment on my Work Sharp 3000).  After some clean-up in that respect, getting perfect set after a resharpen is much quicker.

I’ve also been more diligent about lubricating the plane sole (see the beeswax above).

It’s the little things, I guess, that increase efficiency.

JPG

A while back, I decided to abandon super fine sharpening stones because my 1200 and 8000 grit diamond plates had worn unevenly and were ruining my plane irons. After much consideration, I have relented and picked up another 1200 grit plate for plane iron sharpening.

I did so not because sharpening only to 600 grit didn’t get the job done. On the contrary, I would defy anyone to notice the difference from a more highly polished iron.

I reacquired a 1200 grit plate because I was removing far too much material during routine sharpening. Even a couple of swipes to dress up an edge was eradicating the slight camber I put on my irons, turning routine sharpening into a grinding-level ordeal. Micro bevels became nigh-impossible and the ruler trick was rendered useless with the heavier grit.

I will say that all my irons are flatter than ever after two months of sharpening only to 600 grit, but I am hoping that the finer stone will bring routine sharpening back to an under-two minute endeavor. And that’s the point, right? Making it easier?

JPG

It’s getting to that point: I think I need a jointer plane. I’ve survived quite well for a while now jointing (and doing almost everything else) with my No. 5 1/2 jack plane.  A jack plane really is more than enough for all normal woodworking tasks (as I’ve said before), but it would be pretty awesome though to have a real try plane. The extra seven inches of length would make all the difference in the world.

That’s what she said?

I will first attempt to clean up an old corrugated Craftsman that was gifted to me last year. But I know myself, and this exercise ends in me splurging for a premium plane. Unlike other size planes where I’m happy to flatten and tune a mid-priced brand, I would rather spend the money for an already true, flat and square sole. I’m leaning toward the Veritas bevel-up model, about which I’ve heard good things.

No matter what, I bet agonizing about it will earn me another few more months to figure out where to keep the thing in my tool chest.  Hollar at me if you have any other suggestions.

JPG

I use diamond plates for hand-sharpening (with window cleaner as lubricant).  Specifically, I use DMT Dia-Sharp continuous diamond plates and I currently own four: coarse (320 grit), fine (600 grit), extra fine (1200 grit) and extra extra fine (8000 grit).  I am truly happy with only the coarse and fine.

I don’t know if it’s the wheel on my sharpening guide or bad manufacturing luck, but both the extra fine and extra extra fine plates have developed a stripe down the center where the grit has worn almost completely off.  This happened almost immediately with the extra extra fine and took about a month of heavy use with the extra fine.  I try to change up which parts of the plate I use, but for thick plane irons, I have no choice but to run right down the center and the difference in grit leaves a dull hump in the center of the irons.

DMT: if you are listening, I am not particularly happy with these two diamond plates.

So I am trying something new.  Rather than purchase replacements (new territory for me, I know), I have decided that from now on, my plane irons are only getting sharpened to 600 grit (i.e., on the fine plate).  After re-watching Paul Sellers’ Sharpening to 250 Grit video a couple times over the last few days, I think it will be okay (I sharpen pretty often as is).  I’ll still do my chisels and router plane irons to 1200 grit on the extra fine plate (since I can run them up and down the remaining grit on the sides).

I don’t really even use the 8000 grit plate anymore.  Given how proactive I am with re-sharpening, I haven’t found the extra effort makes much of a difference on edge retention.  And I think I remember hearing somewhere that the edge dulls to a lower grit pretty quickly anyway, so what’s the point?

We’ll see how it goes.  If nothing else, it will cut the weight of my tool chest by a diamond plate’s worth of ounces.

JPG