Sharpening (sorry) 050 plane cutters.

[Jacob]

Polishing? A bit extreme maybe, but flattening certainly. The sharp edge is the intersection of the back and the front, so it's sense to make sure they are both at least straight - unless you want a serrated edge chisel.
Calling the face "the back" is also recent? How recent? - it was the back when I started school fifty years ago.

You can have a double bevel edge if you want so neither side is flat. Both bevels can be convex so no flatness is involved anywhere - in fact carving chisels and knives are sharpened that way. They can even be curved along the edge - most knives are and most plane blades are cambered so for many purposes even straightness is not needed on a sharp edge.
Bevels benefit from polishing close to the edge - hence stropping, as this reduces friction where the edge is closest to the wood, but flatness or straightness aren't essential, nor polishing more than a few mm from the edge

Back/face. I was always told "face" for the flat side. It seems more logical and nobody refers to the bevel side as "the face" or the front. In fact on a bevel edge chisel the back (bevel side) looks like a back.
But it gets used both ways - except for the new sharpeners who all call the face the back - like a secret code or hand shake!

 

[No skills]

A good old fashioned sharpening thread, excellent

Secondary bevel would be a quick way of getting the factory workers (not necessarily skilled workers) edge tool sharp and back to knocking out furniture asap.

 

[Jacob]

A good old fashioned sharpening thread, excellent

Secondary bevel would be a quick way of getting the factory workers (not necessarily skilled workers) edge tool sharp and back to knocking out furniture asap.

Only if you get the "primary" edge to grind itself.

PS sorry to bring it all back to basics but our OP is obviously confused with his head full of new sharpening ideas and unfortunately owns a Veritas jig. :roll:
read droogs post (earlier) for a bit of common sense!

 

[No skills]

You'd have a skilled worker (foreman) do that on a scheduled basis, keep the plebs working as much as possible and maintain at the end of the week maybe.

 

[Honest John]

Erm, I seem to have rekindled the sharpening genie again. This was not my intention honestly. I was just surprised that the cutters had only one grind. I now know from this thread and other sources that this was/is normal for these cutters. I have also found that the bevels are more like 35 deg rather than 30, and again this was normal for this tool.
I have tried sharpening some freehand and this worked perfectly well, although I also found it to be very quick to use my Veritas guide set to 35 deg, and since I own one I will use it. My use of term "polish " the back needs clarifying. What I meant by this was that I flattened the back on a flat bench stone as I would do once on any chisel, and then a few strokes on a leather stop with honing compound. This gave the cutter a mirror finish. Grinding the bevel then gave me a very sharp junction that seems durable. My sharpened cutters are cutting very well and I am pleased with the results. Not tried them on a piece of oak yet but construction type soft wood is cutting well and the edge seems to last. Thank you to all whom contributed to my education and I'm sorry for releasing the sharpening genie.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

"You can have a double bevel edge if you want so neither side is flat"
Only if you wish the edge of your chisel to be something other than straight.

 

[ED65]

Erm, I seem to have rekindled the sharpening genie again.

Hardly your fault John! As the old saying goes (slightly cleaned up): same forum, different day

 

[Jacob]

"You can have a double bevel edge if you want so neither side is flat"
Only if you wish the edge of your chisel to be something other than straight.

Er - can still be straight if that's what you want, wossa problem? The shape of the bevel, flat, rounded, hollow ground has little bearing on the edge - which can be 30º ish and straight, or whatever is wanted

Trad sharpened plane blades have all sorts of variations - most common is a flattish face (flat enough for good contact from the cap iron) with a convex bevel (more or less unavoidable with hand honing), and a cambered edge. Nothing very straight or very flat. Polish confined to close to the edge - achieved by a bit of stropping after honing. Polishing anywhere else is a complete waste of time!

 

[Phil Pascoe]

We're talking of whether the back/face should be flat or not. not the actual shape of the bevel. Jacob maintains that the back/face of of a chisel doesn't need to flat.

 

[Jacob]

We're talking of whether the back/face should be flat or not. not the actual shape of the bevel. Jacob maintains that the back/face of of a chisel doesn't need to flat.

Plane blades need to flat enough for good contact with the cap iron. Chisels come in all shapes and sizes - especially for carvers. Most "flat" faced chisels show a slight convexity after a few years of sharpening - as it would be tedious to flatten the whole face every time you sharpened. It doesn't affect performance.

 

[bigbob1]

I just hand sharpen my plane irons and chisels by hand on a trend diamond plate with honing solution and polish using a piece of leather I got for cheap from a sadler this is glued onto a piece of 4x2 and use autosol on the leather to polish and you could shave with the sharpened iron I learned from video,s from Paul Sellars