Lost Art Press

How to Hone Slightly Curved Blades

Posted on by fitz
The unused edges of a sharpening stone are a great place to do the dirty work of rounding the corners of the iron.

The following is excerpted from “Sharpen This,” by Christopher Schwarz. I chose this section because I get asked more about smoothing planes – specifically why they leave plane tracks – than anything else sharpening-related in my classes. I’d say that 80 percent of the time, the “problem” is a blade that has no camber. Here’s how to put one on the blades for a smoothing plane and jointer plane (a shallow curve).

– Fitz

The blades for my smoothing plane, jointer plane and block plane have slightly curved edges so that the corners of the iron do not dig into the wood and create “plane tracks.” Plane tracks are the ugly ridges left behind by the cutter’s corners.

To create a slight curve, begin with a blade that has been ground straight across. The curve is generated on the honing and polishing stones.

The first step is to round over the corners of your blade. I do this on the edges of my honing stone.
Why the edges? Because this process cuts a deep gouge in the stone, so the stone’s edges are a good place for it.

For most plane irons, I divide them into five stations. Narrow blades (such as block plane blades) have three stations.

The result is that the corners are rounded over with a small radius – about 1/16″ radius.
Now install the blade in your honing guide. To create the curve for the first time on a straight edge, mentally divide the edge into five “stations” along the tool’s edge. One station is in the middle of the edge. One at each corner. And two more between those points.

With the tool on your honing stone, put firm finger pressure on one of the corner stations and take 12 strokes. Then put firm finger pressure on the opposite corner station and take 12 strokes. Now put your finger pressure on one of the intermediate stations and take six strokes. Switch to the other intermediate station and take six more. Finally, put your finger pressure on the center station and take two strokes.

Remove the tool from the honing stone and check for a burr. If you have a burr, hold the tool up in front of your face with a strong backlight. Place a small straightedge on the tip of the edge to see if the edge is curved. If you cannot see a curve, there’s a fair chance your stone isn’t flat; it’s convex across its width. Flatten the stone (see Chapter 9) and try again.

The curve on a No. 3 smoothing plane. In short order you will get a feel for how much curve each tool requires.

How much of a curve should there be? It depends on the width of the iron and the angle at which the iron is bedded. If you see a curve, continue onto polishing.

Put the tool to use and see if the curve is working (meaning there are no ugly plane tracks). If the curve is too shallow (plane tracks, argh), hone the iron with more pressure at the corners to increase the curve.
If the curve is too pronounced (where the iron will take only a narrow, thick shaving in the middle) then hone again with more pressure at the center station.

The curve on a No. 8 jointer plane. Aggressive handplanes require more curve.

For freehand sharpening of curved blades, I press one corner of the bevel to the stone. Then I raise the back end of the tool 1/8″. As I pull the tool toward me, I also shift the pressure on the bevel to the center of the edge and then to the other corner.

A Bit of Information

Posted on by Lost Art Press

For the last few years I’ve switched back and forth between using Wood Owl spade bits and Japanese Star M F-type augers for drilling critical holes.

The Wood Owls are about $3.50 each, and the Star M bits are about $9. Both work fine. But here are their important differences.

With the Wood Owls, I manage to build about two chairs before they are too dull ($1.25 per chair). I can easily sharpen the spade bits two more times, so I can squeeze six chairs total out of the bit before it goes to the recycler. So 58 cents per chair. 

With the Star Ms, I get five chairs out of one bit ($1.80 per chair) before I recycle it. I haven’t found a good way to resharpen them. The bit’s cutting geometry is above my pay grade.

The Star Ms have some advantages compared to the spades, however. The Star Ms cut much faster, which is nice. Also, they leave clean exit holes, so I don’t have to use a backing board when drilling through an arm or a seat. That feature is worth a lot to me because it easily cuts my drilling time in half.

So which bit do I prefer? Whichever one I can find. Both bits in the 5/8”/16mm size are tricky to find in stock. (As I type this, I can’t find either brand in stock.)

I’m sure y’all have a lot of “but what about this other bit?” questions, but I don’t have many answers. Apologies in advance.

— Christopher Schwarz

For Sale: Cherry Comb-back Stick Chair

Posted on by Lost Art Press

This six-stick comb-back chair is a close cousin to the chair shown on the cover of “The Stick Chair Journal No. 1.” The only significant differences are that the arm parts on this new chair aren’t mitered. And its comb is taller.

I am selling this chair for $1,500 via a random drawing. Instructions on purchasing the chair can be found near the bottom of this blog entry. Here are some more details about its design and construction.

This particular chair is set up for general use. The back is fairly upright at 13° off the seat. And the seat tilts at 3°, giving the chair an overall tilt of 16°. The seat is 16-1/2” off the floor to accommodate both short and tall sitters, and the chair is 38-1/2” high overall. 

All the straight components of this chair were sawn or split out to be as strong as possible. The arms are made from four pieces of curly cherry from Pennsylvania. All of the chair’s major joints were assembled using hide glue, so repairs in the (far) future will be easy.

The through-tenons in the chair’s hands have been left proud and are faceted using chisel cuts. This provides a nice tactile detail.  

The finish is Soft Wax 2.0, a non-toxic finish made from raw linseed oil, beeswax and a small amount of citrus solvent. The finish isn’t particularly durable, but it is easily repairable and appropriate for a chair.

How to Purchase This Chair

This chair is being sold via a random drawing. If you wish to buy the chair, send an email to lapdrawing@lostartpress.com before 3 p.m. (Eastern) on Tuesday, Sept. 27. In the email please use the subject line “Chair Sale” and include your:

  • First name and last name
  • U.S. shipping address
  • Daytime phone number (this is for the trucking quote only)

After all the emails have arrived on Sept. 27, we will pick a winner that evening.

If you are the “winner,” the chair can be picked up at our storefront for free. Or we can ship it to you via common carrier. The crate is included in the price of the chair. Shipping a chair usually costs about $200 to $400, depending on your location. (I’m sorry but we cannot ship it outside the U.S.)

— Christopher Schwarz

Let’s Go Dutch in Florida

Posted on by fitz
The interior of the upper bay of my Dutch tool chest…before it got beat-up from heavy use. I appear to have it stocked it for (surprise!) a class that involves dovetails.

I’m not sure yet how I’m getting there, but I’ll be in Tampa, Florida, Oct. 10-14, at the Florida School of Woodwork, teaching folks how to build a Dutch tool chest, soup to nut. Because it’s a week-long class, we should have time to not only install the hardware, but to fit out the interior (as shown above) and get the chests painted!

Andrew is prepping the pine for us now, and will then turn his attention to the battens (oak) and the interior bits (cherry).

There are a few spaces left – and I’d love to see you there…even if you choose to paint yours a color other than blue. (But I can’t imagine why you would!)

The exterior of mine – in its former pristine state.

And on my getting there: It’s always a series of mental gymnastics for me. If I fly, I can get there in about 5 hours door to door (including time spent getting to and milling around the airport). But it means I have to judiciously decide then pack my tools in a small Pelican case, and pray they make it with no damage (and with one exception in 15 years, they have). But I can’t bring my tool chest – and in thi case, it’s the very chest we’re making. If I drive, it’s about 13 hours door to door, and my back will hate me. But I’ll be able to bring everything I could possibly need – including the chest. And either way, I’ll miss cat.

– Fitz

p.s. Now that “Workshop Wound Care” is at the printer – and I’ve finally finished my last issue of The Chronicle for the Early American Industries Association – I can now concentrate (almost) fully on getting my Dutch tool chest book. (Ya know, along with editing whatever comes in next at LAP, writing blog entries, working on my house, making furniture etc.)

Sawbenches in the Shop

Posted on by fitz

The following is excerpted from “The Anarchist’s Design Book,” by Christopher Schwarz – it’s a short sidebar from the chapter on building a staked sawbench (the sawbench, which also works as a stool, is more than a handy shop accessory; it’s a great introduction to making staked furniture of all sorts, including chairs).

There are historic furniture forms out there that have been around for almost 1,000 years that don’t get written about much. They are simple to make. They have clean lines. And they can be shockingly modern. This book explores 18 of these forms  – a bed, dining tables, chairs, chests, desks, shelving, stools – and offers a deep exploration into the two construction techniques used to make these pieces that have been forgotten, neglected or rejected.

You can build an entire houseful of furniture using these two methods – what we call “staked” and ”boarded” furniture. They are shockingly simple for the beginner. They don’t require a lot of tools. And they produce objects that have endured centuries of hard use.

But this isn’t really a book of plans. “The Anarchist’s Design Book” shows you the overarching patterns behind these 18 pieces. It gives you the road map for designing your own pieces. (Which is what we did before we had plans.)

(left) The first leg vise. One knee presses the work down. The other restrains the work from rotating. (right) Ripping. This is an effective way to rip, but it does make my back sore.

Once you own a pair of sawbenches you will wonder how you worked without them. Even if you don’t do much work with handsaws, sawbenches are handy platforms for projects in progress, stacking parts and sitting on while you work.

But most people use them for handsaw work. Here are some tips on sawing with them.
If your sawbenches are different heights (even slightly) then work on the tall one and use the shorter one to support your work. If you work on the shorter one, your saw will constantly get pinched in its kerf.

When crosscutting on a sawbench, your legs are the clamps. Bend your off leg and rest it on top of the work on the sawbench. Pull your dominant leg up to contact the work (if possible) so the work presses against your leg.

Now you can saw the piece and it will remain stable. Your off leg supplies the downward pressure. Your dominant leg prevents the work from sliding laterally as you saw toward yourself.

I’m not a fan of ripping on sawbenches. I prefer to rip at the bench. If you do need to make long rips on the sawbench, I find it best to have three sawbenches: one to work on that is between a second that is infeed support and a third that is outfeed support.

Overhand rip. I prefer to rip at the bench with the work secured like this or with it parallel to the benchtop – with the waste hanging off the front edge.

One style of French ripping has the worker sitting on the work on the sawbench. Note that the saw’s teeth are pointed away from the operator.

I use my sawbenches for many other operations. One of my favorites: I place an assembled carcase on two sawbenches and brace the carcase against the workbench. I can then easily plane the carcase to level its dovetail joints or whatever is sticking up. Or, if that doesn’t quite work, the sawbench can be a spacer between the carcase and the bench.

A good stand-off. Here my sawbench allows me to plane a carcase component without the plane ramming into the workbench.