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bubba 01,

Thanks for the tip on the feeler gauge, that is a great idea and a good way to stay consistent. I bought a precision ground granite block from Woodcraft that I use any time I need a perfectly flat surface. Out of all the thing I have bought for rod building that is probably the most useful. The weight keeps it from slipping around which is nice.

I was wondering, what is the thought on the 60 degree bevel? It would be a fair bit of work to get my blades from ~45 to 60 degrees (I don't hollow grind). I'll try 3 and 45 and see how it goes. I have a couple extra blades, and maybe try the 60 degree bevel at some point.

Hey Jeremy,

Thanks for the advice on keeping my blades sharp. I've spent a fair bit of time dialing in my sharpening system. It's a big part of the battle. The other half is making sure the blade is perfectly square (on my block planes), and knowing how to adjust the plane to take the right amount of cane. When you get your plane working right it's a blast. I just love the way my plane "sings" through the cane now.

I just wanted to give you some encouragement to get started. It seemed daunting to me, all those specialized tools etc. but you really don't need much. If you already have some woodworking tools like a table saw and a block plane (or have a friend you can borrow this stuff from), and you have an alcohol lamp or a heat gun, you can make some roughing forms (I can e-mail you a couple different designs you can make out of wood and buy the cane starter pack from Golden Witch for $65and get going. Eventually you'll need planing forms but you can buy them for a decent price (~$400) or make them for even less, but you really don't need them for a while.

Roughing and straightening takes a lot of practice. Especially straightening and flattening nodes, this is really challenging to do skillfully. The sooner you get started practicing these skills the better off you will be when you start your first rod. Just get some cheap cane and go for it! Point is...it takes way less investment than you think to get started. If you order cane today you could be working with cane by next week...just a thought!

Good luck,

-John

Billy,

That's good to know. I thought the 212 came with a 30 originally, nice to know it was 60. I'll try a 60 on one of my spares, I had the geometry backwards, setting a 60 on a 45 isn't any work at all, (duh!) it will only take a few minutes I think a compound bevel would be OK. as long as it isn't too short, and then eventually I'll get a full 60 all across the blade.

Now that I think about it the bevel angle doesn't matter that much you are right, the 45 isn't too long probably has plenty of support behind it. I definitely got to get that blade more vertical though I'll set it to 3 degrees.

As far as the back of my blade goes. on all my blades I bring the back 1/2 inch to a mirror polish first thing, using my 1000, 6000 and 8000 water stones (a lot of work but only have to do it once). Then I "scary sharp" my bevel with 80, 180, 320, then 400 sandpaper.

Once my bevel is set, I sharpen with a 1000 water stone, then polish with a 6000, feeling for a consistent burr both steps. I finish with an 8000 with a barely perceptible burr that gets flattened out on the backside with a few flat passes. I'm left with a plane blade that is very, very sharp.

Thanks,

-John

When I said "originally" I meant before they went to the 45. All 3 of the blades I got came with the current 45 degree bevel. Question is, will I get better performance with a different bevel angle? For example, the factory puts 30 degree bevels on all their block planes too, and most people don't use that, either - I use a 45 and some people go as high as 50 or 60 degrees.

The factory puts angles on their blades and sets the angle on the 212 for wood. Cane, as you know, is a different animal.