How to Freehand Sharpening Plane Blades

A sharp plane blade is a joy to use. It will produce the most satisfying wood curls from the throat of the plane. In this video, I will share my tips and tricks of freehand sharpening plane blades. I learned most of the skills from Paul Sellers but I also used other techniques from different sources when make sense.

Tools you will need:

• Sharpening Stones: Diamond Stone 300 grit, 600 grit, and 1200 grit
• Lubricants: Auto Glass Cleaner or Water
• Rags
• Leather Strope
• Green Buffing Compound

Keypoints:

• If it is hard to get the first inch of the plane blade back flat, use the ruler trick to speed up the process. It will create a slight back bevel but won’t cause any issues.
• Honing at 30 degrees at best but don’t get too hung up on the angel. As long as the blade is sharp and the bevel is below the plane’s bedding angle – 45 degrees, it will work just fine.
• Remove the blade corners to prevent them from digging into the wood when planing.
• Any sharpening stone will work such as oil stone, or water stone.
• Use honing oil or mineral oil for oil stone, and use water on a water stone.

If you are interested in buying the tools that I used in the video, check out the links below(Amazon affiliate links). It won’t increase the cost to you, but your purchase will help me grow the website. So thank you!

• Diamond Stones
• Auto Glass Cleaner
• Leather
• Green Buffing Compound