{"id":726,"date":"2008-10-31T13:04:50","date_gmt":"2008-10-31T17:04:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.woodworkersguide.com\/?p=726"},"modified":"2016-07-16T10:38:48","modified_gmt":"2016-07-16T10:38:48","slug":"seminar-on-sharpening-plane-blades","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ravenview.com\/seminar-on-sharpening-plane-blades\/","title":{"rendered":"Seminar On Sharpening Plane Blades"},"content":{"rendered":"
I recently attended a day long seminar at Lee Valley on sharpening plane blades.<\/p>\n

Since I bought the LV Bench Plane<\/a> a few months ago I have been using it occasionally and I knew that I would soon have to sharpen it. I also came across an old Record Smoothing Plane that I acquired a few years ago from my father-in-law that needed a fair amount of TLC to make useable. This was a great opportunity to get some hands-on instruction on how to sharpen and tune up these planes.<\/p>\n

The instructor for the seminar was Jay Perry. Jay has taught at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design for over 20 years and now teaches woodworking classes at the Nova Scotia Centre of Craft and Design. His woodworking interests include making musical instruments, woodworking for the theatre and, of course, planes. He is also a member of the Atlantic Woodworkers Association. <\/p>\n

Seminar On Sharpening Plane Blades<\/div>\n

Jay obviously knows his planes! He is not a collector per se though he owns a lot of them. He buys them, restores them and then uses them. Here is a photo of a few of his planes that he brought in:<\/p>\n

Seminar On Sharpening Plane Blades<\/div>\n

There was also a display of all the Lee Valley planes there for our perusal. It was nice to be able to have close-up views of these tools and to be able to pick them up and compare them. The low-angle bevel up smoother plane was a beauty to hold and behold. :):<\/p>\n

Seminar On Sharpening Plane Blades<\/div>\n

Since this was a hands-on class we spent a lot of the time working on our own planes with the availability of individual instruction and suggestions from Jay. However, the class started with a demonstration of the lapping and honing of the plane blade with a bit of theory thrown in for good measure. This included the use of the various abrasives used, the use sandpaper, lapping grit and water stones and their varying grit sizes. We were also introduced to the need for acquiring a flat, stable work surface, like granite and thick glass, when using sandpaper and lapping grit to lap the blades and soles, as well as truing up the water stones. <\/p>\n

Seminar On Sharpening Plane Blades<\/div>\n
Seminar On Sharpening Plane Blades<\/div>\n

Throughout the day there was discussion on possible uses on a variety of planes, the pros and cons of using a honing jig versus doing by hand, the different metals used in blades and the overall care and maintenance of a plane.<\/p>\n

The day finished with a demo on lapping the sole of the plane as well as a short demo on grinding a new edge to a plane blade.<\/p>\n

There was a lot of great information packed into a short time. In addition to several handouts that we received taking notes was definitely in order. Here are a few that I jotted down:<\/p>\n