I started woodworking a few years ago, and was headed down the Norm
path. Then I bought a new block plane at a local hardware store, but
couldn't get it to work right. I started looking for info on using it
on the internet, and stumbled upon the old tools mailing list. I've
been following the list off and on for a little over a year now. It
intrigued me that so many people were hooked on using old tools to do
woodworking. At first
I thought that while the idea was interesting, I would never get sucked
in to doing things that way. But then, I bought a used bench plane from
my neighbor. It is a recent vintage #5 1/4 with thin cheeks and a
definite blueish tint to the japanning/paint. After tuning it up, it
worked great. I was hooked. At this point I started picking up a plane
now and again from the usual internet sources. I've discovered that the
more planes and oldtools that I have, the better my woodworking gets.
My wife has an outlandish theory that I've gotten better with practice,
but I'm not buying it.
I'm afraid I might not have a lot to offer the list at first. I'm still
relatively new to oldtools, and have a lot of learning ahead of me. I
don't have a lot of experience with woodworking. I worked a lot of
construction related jobs when I was in college, but nothing real
woodworking related. The construction jobs primarily served as
reinforcement for my desire to complete college, and as a way to pay for
college. I'm now a computer programmer, but there are plenty of days
when I wish I was still pounding nails, driving
a forklift, or painting a six panel door. I'm in my mid-thirties,
married, with a five year old daughter,
and a two year old son. We're living in our first house, which has a
roomy garage which works well for woodworking. The only drawback is
that we live in Minnesota, and the garage gets a little chilly in
January and February.
Now here's my question. I recently picked up a #40 at a flea market.
I'm trying to
figure out the best way to sharpen the blade. I'm sure that there's
plenty of folks
who have sharpened theirs, and I'm hoping to learn a good technique for
doing so.
Thanks,
--
Eric Johnson
ericj@t...
http://www.the-johnsons.com
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