woodbrains
Established Member
Hello,
I have a theory, of which I am prepared to be proven wrong, but none the less curious about. Ahem... is the dislike of A2 steel plane irons and chisels more prevalent in free hand honers than jig honers? My notion is that a jig will allow a greater number of strokes on the stone at the required angle with just enough extra precision to allow a sharper edge on the more difficult A2 steel, therefore, jig honers are more likely to get the best from this steel and tend to like it more than freehand sharpeners. I have used Hock A2 cryo and really like the stuff. On the plane iron tests which Bugbear recently directed us to, Hock A2 was said to out preform that of LN and LV at 30deg honed bevels, which might have something to do with my liking of it. I have only recently got a LV BU jack, but have not used for long enough to come to any conclusions. My LV shoulder plane has an A2 iron which I get on fine with, though admittedly not used for the same purpose as bench planes so not a great comparison, but compares favourably to other shoulder planes I use.
One stipulation, though, anyone who says 'for or against' must actually sharpen their irons to a reasonable degree. People who think rubbing their irons on a concrete slab, or equivalent and then saying they don't like them, will be discounted.
Here is my contribution to start (and perhaps end?)
Vote FOR Hock A2, in block plane, Jack Plane, 04 smoother; Veritas Jig, Japanese waterstones to 6000 or 8000 grit depending on the job.
I will say that I used to sharpen with oilstones, Surgical black Arkansas and chrome oxide strop for years with good results on O1 and the likes. It was getting some A2 which initiated the change to Japanese stones as they do take ages to get a fine enough edge on oilstones IMHO. Since changing, I have never looked back, these are just so quick to get a superior edge.
Mike.
I have a theory, of which I am prepared to be proven wrong, but none the less curious about. Ahem... is the dislike of A2 steel plane irons and chisels more prevalent in free hand honers than jig honers? My notion is that a jig will allow a greater number of strokes on the stone at the required angle with just enough extra precision to allow a sharper edge on the more difficult A2 steel, therefore, jig honers are more likely to get the best from this steel and tend to like it more than freehand sharpeners. I have used Hock A2 cryo and really like the stuff. On the plane iron tests which Bugbear recently directed us to, Hock A2 was said to out preform that of LN and LV at 30deg honed bevels, which might have something to do with my liking of it. I have only recently got a LV BU jack, but have not used for long enough to come to any conclusions. My LV shoulder plane has an A2 iron which I get on fine with, though admittedly not used for the same purpose as bench planes so not a great comparison, but compares favourably to other shoulder planes I use.
One stipulation, though, anyone who says 'for or against' must actually sharpen their irons to a reasonable degree. People who think rubbing their irons on a concrete slab, or equivalent and then saying they don't like them, will be discounted.
Here is my contribution to start (and perhaps end?)
Vote FOR Hock A2, in block plane, Jack Plane, 04 smoother; Veritas Jig, Japanese waterstones to 6000 or 8000 grit depending on the job.
I will say that I used to sharpen with oilstones, Surgical black Arkansas and chrome oxide strop for years with good results on O1 and the likes. It was getting some A2 which initiated the change to Japanese stones as they do take ages to get a fine enough edge on oilstones IMHO. Since changing, I have never looked back, these are just so quick to get a superior edge.
Mike.
