On Jun 28, 2012, at 7:16 PM, Sgt42RHR@a... wrote:

> following the written and> demonstrated procedures advocated by David
> Charlesworth.

I learned in the 70's under the tutelage of a finish carpenter named Joe
Shingle. He showed me how to put a cap iron in a vice with the curvy end
sticking up, and then to tap it with a hammer to bend the curvy end down
(toward the blade) a bit. The he showed me how to hang most of the blade
over the edge of the bench and "hone" the flat at an angle that would
put a sharp point hitting the blade. He was not, however, under the
belief that the cap iron had to be very close to the edge, allowing
about 1/16 to a 1/32. Of course he was not doing any smoothing, just
edge trimming, etc.

I have seen this same technique mentioned many times since, but it goes
back a long way (he was 74 in 1974, and he gave me a couple of SW planes
out if his working group).

I have bever had a problem with wood getting under the joint between the
blade and the cap when I did this.

Ed Minch

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