Sharpening the Hand Plane

Sharpening the Hand Plane.

Sharpening the hand plane blade is a much more interesting task than I had originally thought. After a little research I decide to pick up a bench grinder and order some wet stones.

The sharpening stone and jig seem to be lost in the mail... could really use them help polish the edge off. I'm aiming to make the blade sharpen enough to shave my arm hairs. The links below help describe how to use the grinder and setup the hand plane. These two aspects of scarfing the joint have proven to be critical. Who would've thought that woodwork would required learning the skill of sharping tools.

Bench Grinder Basics:
http://www.finewoodworking.com/2012/04/05/bench-grinder-basics

Sharpening a Hand Plane:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUDUR-8lkLY

Restoring a Hand Plane:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EWXg9Y6_TU#t=667.038941

Sharpening and Setting the Bench Plane
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gE4yVgdVW7s

Every step of the way on this boat build has led to acquiring fascinating knowledge. The terminology is by far the best. Speaking of which, I scarfed the second side of the plywood. The hand plane is now sharp but I still need to practice more and hone it in more a stone. For now the belt sander has proven to get the job done. It is not the most accurate at first, but you get the hang of it. The whole goal here is to learn how to scarf a joint on the river before putting a hole in the boat.