Plane irons

[JustGeorge]

Jeff, any good tips on trying to radius the corners on plane irons, or put a slight camber on the entire edge?  Don't see a good way, other than prehaps trying to freehand it with the tool rest.  Hope you know of something better!  Thanks.

[Jeff Farris]

Just spend a few extra seconds at the outside edges of the iron.  Take the left edge of the iron to the right edge of the grindstone (so that most of the iron is off the grindstone and about 1/8" to 1/4" remains on the stone), pause a beat or two and then move across so that the right edge of the iron is at the left edge of the grindstone.  Keep a straight edge handy and check your work frequently.  With a little practice, you can crown your iron ever so slightly and eliminate corners digging in.

[Mark H.]

Jeff, I'm going to be sharpening some Lie-Nielsen plane blades, and they're pretty thick.  Because they are flat ground when new, and I'll be grinding a hollow grind, where should I begin grinding?  The middle of the bevel?  I noticed the first time I ground a thick blade that it took awhile to establish the hollow grind from a flat bevel, and when I finished, my initial angle established with the anglemaster had changed several degrees (the more I grind, the more the blade rotates around the tool support towards the operator).  Should I compensate with the anglemaster when I begin?  Thanks.

[Jeff Farris]

Set it for the middle of the bevel, then check it part way through the grind and reset if necessary.