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PostPosted: Thu Nov 10, 2016 6:55 pm 
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Joined: Wed Feb 15, 2006 7:37 am
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Robert, I have the LN 5 1/2 and was going to recommend the Woodriver to you out of budget consciousness. I love my LN, but the Woodriver is functionally the same. I sold another LN to get the 5 1/2, so it was basically an exchange for me.

In using it to thickness a top, I found that I left a lot of plane tracks. The wider width has been difficult for me to tame. I know a lot of guys actually put a slight curvature into their blades, but the few swipes to the right and a few to the left haven't done it for me.

Going the sanding route, Luthier's Suppliers has their Easy Jointer. You could also get Stew Mac's 24" beam for something that will pull double duty. You'd adhere self-adhesive sandpaper to it, and basically use it as your plane by setting the top or back on a piece of 1/4" MDF or half of a top to get the top or back you're jointing up off the bench a bit.


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PostPosted: Thu Nov 10, 2016 9:10 pm 
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Cocobolo
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Joined: Sun Aug 25, 2013 9:34 am
Posts: 356
Location: Massachusetts
First name: Rob
Last Name: Lak
State: Massachusetts
Country: USA
Focus: Build
Status: Amateur
Hi James... Ugh... not happy hearing about the plane tracks. There was a video describing that and how he rounded the corners a tad... I was hoping it was accurate.
This is the video i watched... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPVN2422ANo
Most of the sharpening occurs from 10 - 23 minutes into the video. the rounding it think was just prior to 23 minutes and was just alternating with a slight pressure on either side for 3 seconds each on a 16K grit stone and that was enough.
*sigh* Hoping it was accurate. Hopefully i can get to the setup this weekend and i'll find out...


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PostPosted: Fri Nov 11, 2016 7:13 am 
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Koa
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Joined: Sat Jan 19, 2013 7:33 am
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First name: Willard
Last Name: Guthrie
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State: Maryland 21502
Zip/Postal Code: 21502
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During my first month or so in the shop, we spent a great deal of time on tool setup and maintenance, including all of the hand planes used in the shop. All of our bench planes are sharpened with a slight curvature of the blade - the amount used is based on the type of plane and the task to be accomplished.

For a jack plane, we usually are interested in a heavier cut - up to a .002"-.003" chip, so curvature is such that we still get a full width cut without plane tracks. For our LN 4 and 4-1/2 smooth planes with higher angle frogs, we aim for 0.001"-0.0007" chips, so there is less curvature. Block planes and most of the specialty planes other than the scrub plane are honed with a square edge - as they are not used to surface wider stock, there is no reason for a radiused edge.

Our technique for radiusing the edge of bench planes (including bevel-up plane blades) uses a $10 side-clamping honing guide and our usual two stone sharpening system. After preparing the blade with a 25 degree grind off the Tormek wet grinder, we hone on the 325 grit DuoSharp diamond stone to 30 degrees, taking 10 strokes with pressure on the center of the edge, ten with pressure on the left side, and ten more on the right. This is repeated as necessary to get to the desired curvature. With the narrow support wheel used in these inexpensive side clamping jigs, a radiused edge is quickly formed. Switching to an 8000 or 10000 grit ceramic waterstone (e.g., Norton, Shapton, or Ohishi 'modern' waterstones...NOT King, etc.), the process is repeated to polish the edge. The edge is finished by 'backing off' the burr - no further abrasive honing is done so as to avoid dubbing the edge over.

The two stone technique is fairly common, and is covered in several YouTube videos, including one shot at Mr. Hall's workshop in Pennsylvania several years ago. Lie-Nielsen recently introduced their version of the side-clamping jig, and in common with the original UK-made Eclipse guide uses a narrow wheel to make radiusing much faster and easier than with a wider wheel. We use the Veritas/Lee Valley Mk. 1 honing guide as well, but only for skew blades like the Lie-Nielson and Veritas versions of the Stanley #140. If using a Mk. 2 Veritas guide, the jig will need to be equipped with a rather expensive, time-consuming-to-install cambered roller...which is why we opt for the simplicity and speed of the $10-$15, available everywhere, Asian-sourced side clamping jigs. While we have one of the Lie-Nielsen honing guides on the 'buy for shop' list, it's down at the bottom, below consumables and new bench lighting.

In terms of using the radiusing technique to reduce/eliminate blade tracks, I recently had a chance to watch the boss surface a 4 foot diameter quarter-sawn white oak table top which is replacing the red oak top on his kitchen table - first flattening the back sides of the two halves (the halves were glued up from four boards each), then planed to level once glued up full width. The #62 low angle bevel up jack was honed with a slightly deeper curve for the work, and used to remove most of the glue and several high spots near the center seam, taking off up to .010" chips directly across the grain. The LN #5-1/2 jack was used to do the final thicknessing/leveling on bottom and top surfaces, running at 90 degrees across the grain, and bringing the table top to a uniform 13/16" at the edges; chip thicknesses were closer to .003". A fine-set LN #5-1/2 was used with the grain for the final smoothing passes with the plane, and a #80 cabinet scraper did the final scraper pass. Other than when the #62 was intentionally set for a very deep, slightly skewed cut, most chips were close to full width and I saw no plane tracks generated. The real workout was helping moving the table top around the bench for best access- it certainly made me appreciate how light and easily moved most guitar components are. The other point made was that lubricating the plane sole with oil or wax dramatically reduces the effort required, and usually takes no further clean-up beyond the lube-free scraper pass.

While I have suggested to the author of this video that he redo it in a studio setting and in at least HD resolution, it's clear enough to show the process of radiusing and honing the edge. The 'Sharp in 60 Seconds' segment near the end is what we aim for here in the shop. There are several other videos on YouTube which cover the techniques suggested above, including ones from Lie-Nielsen's Deneb Puchalski.

https://youtu.be/7T1p3vfV-vI

My own keys to success on jointing are a very sharp plane, a very light cut (under .001" and closer to .0007"), and a stable shooting board setup. The same author as above has videos on making and using a luthier's shooting board, but there is nothing like struggling with a scrap top or back set for a few hours to pick up the rudiments and see how much difference a sharp, fine cut can make on the end product.

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These users thanked the author Woodie G for the post: Robert Lak (Fri Nov 11, 2016 11:48 am)
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