Day 2 of 101: Hold one bevel angle

Hi,

A plane iron does not need a mirror finish to cut well. It needs the bevel and the flat back to meet in one clean, continuous edge.

That sounds obvious. It is also where most sharpening goes wrong.

You can spend several minutes polishing the bevel and still leave the cutting edge untouched. This happens when the grinding angle is too low. The wheel removes metal behind the edge, but never reaches it.

There is a simple way to see what is happening.

Color the bevel with a black permanent marker. Set the iron in your grinding guide and make one light pass across the wheel. Then stop and look at the marker.

If the ink is gone near the heel of the bevel but remains at the cutting edge, the angle is too low. If the wheel touches only the very edge, the angle is too high. Adjust the guide until one pass removes a narrow, even band across the bevel

Once the setting is right, keep your pressure light. Move the iron across the wheel without rocking the holder. Pressing harder on one corner can grind the edge out of square. Rocking the holder rounds the bevel and makes the later honing step slower.

Stop often and inspect the steel. You are finished grinding when the fresh scratch pattern reaches the cutting edge across its full width and you can feel a small, consistent burr on the flat back.

Grinding establishes the bevel. Honing creates the final edge.

Take the iron to a fine stone. Hone a narrow strip at the cutting edge, then place the flat back on the stone and remove the burr. Reinstall the iron and take a light shaving from scrap. A sharp edge should enter the wood without being forced and leave a clean surface behind it.

I added a short clip below. Watch how the holder keeps the iron at one angle, then look at the thin shaving at the end. The clip is a useful visual check. The marker pattern and the burr are what tell you when your own iron is ready.

Try the marker test before your next grinding pass. It takes a few seconds and can save a surprising amount of steel.

Ted