One thing I have noticed is that a lot of people don't take time to flatten the back of their chisels and plane irons.
In order to bring two planes(surfaces) to a very small intersection they must first be planes. They (front bevel and flat back) must be flat and smooth.
If you can still see the manufacturers grinding marks near the edge of the blade that tells me you never tried to flatten it or even checked to see what condition it may be in.
FIRST flatten the back! If it is slightly hollow or concave near the center that is ideal but not required.
A hump or high center of the blade spells disaster. You must grind or hone that away.
Then at least 1/4 inch or a little more of the blade must be perfectly flat.
A hump will let your chisel rock and be hard to control the cut,
on a plane blade a hump will keep the chip breaker from making perfect contact and allow wood chips to get caught between the blade and breaker.
Once you have the back flat then you can begin to shape the bevel to the correct angle and bring the two planes to a theoretically infinite intersection.
After you push metal off the cliff (wire edge on back) then it's just a matter of how smooth you want the surface.
Mirror polish is not always necessary and in some cases is a major waste of time. Scrub plane for example.
In order to bring two planes(surfaces) to a very small intersection they must first be planes. They (front bevel and flat back) must be flat and smooth.
If you can still see the manufacturers grinding marks near the edge of the blade that tells me you never tried to flatten it or even checked to see what condition it may be in.
FIRST flatten the back! If it is slightly hollow or concave near the center that is ideal but not required.
A hump or high center of the blade spells disaster. You must grind or hone that away.
Then at least 1/4 inch or a little more of the blade must be perfectly flat.
A hump will let your chisel rock and be hard to control the cut,
on a plane blade a hump will keep the chip breaker from making perfect contact and allow wood chips to get caught between the blade and breaker.
Once you have the back flat then you can begin to shape the bevel to the correct angle and bring the two planes to a theoretically infinite intersection.
After you push metal off the cliff (wire edge on back) then it's just a matter of how smooth you want the surface.
Mirror polish is not always necessary and in some cases is a major waste of time. Scrub plane for example.
