Topic: A quick guide to making your first bat (Read 123642 times)

joeylough · « **Reply #15 on:** December 11, 2012, 10:08:46 PM »

great thread, think the videos would be great. There is currently very little out there for videos.

thanks fletch

charlie15 · « **Reply #16 on:** December 11, 2012, 10:12:01 PM »

Great thread Ryan, something I'm really interested in doing when I get started. Ball park figures would be great.

Blazer · « **Reply #17 on:** December 11, 2012, 10:19:25 PM »

Thanks for this Ryan, epic topic

. Can we make this sticky please ?.

Perkins17 · « **Reply #18 on:** December 11, 2012, 11:02:27 PM »

Here is a list I did for Sam a while a go with prices and places to buy:
Drawknife - �30 (Ebay)
Spokeshave - couple of � each on the Bay
No4 and No6 travisher - �30-40 each (Concaving)
Round bottom plane - �10-15 on ebay if you find one (Concaving)
Flat bottom plane - �12 tool station (ebay for wooden ones)
Smoothing plane (DIY Store or ebay)
Rasp- �17 (recommend this one very highly http://www.axminster.co.uk/ice-bear-japanese-saw-rasp-prod20284/ )
Sturdy soft grip vice - vice can be around �50 for a good one(ebay) and the grip things are around �3 (toolstation)

Basic for bat making
Spokeshave
Smoothing Plane
Vice
Drawknife(Not always needed for basic)

Ryan · « **Reply #19 on:** December 12, 2012, 09:51:02 AM »

Quote from: paulkatich on December 11, 2012, 08:27:13 PM

I got a spokeshave from Stanley (manufacturer). I never got it to work. May be the willow was hard. It was difficult for me to shave the wood.

I think you'll have had ether the blade set up wrong or the blade wasn't sharp enough. Which leads me on to my next topic - Sharpening

"When most folks begin to get serious in woodworking, they inevitably reach a point where the seductive handplane beckons. For some, the curiosity arises from an appreciation of the tool's design. For others, it's all about using a smoother to achieve a glass-smooth surface that requires no sanding. Whatever the reason, the handplane's siren song can be difficult to ignore.

I seem to have fallen�hard. Luckily however, Fine Woodworking magazine's art director Michael Pekovich was kind enough to share his own sharpening methodology with me. And here it is:

Prep Your Waterstones
The process of sharpening a new handplane iron begins with flattening the back of the iron. But you can't obtain a flat iron using a wavy waterstone. So I begin the process by flattening my waterstones on a diamond plate. The procedure is rather simple. Using three successively finer grit diamond plates, moistened with water, I lay the stones atop each plate and rub back and forth, applying a decent amount of pressure. The idea here is to grind away the stone material until you've achieved a perfectly flat surface. And with diamond plates, it shouldn't take very long at all!

That said, diamond plates can be pricey, so as an alternative method, consider using 80-grit sandpaper stuck down to a perfectly flat surface (your tablesaw or jointer's table will work great).

Flatten the Back
A newly-purchased handplane iron doesn't necessarily (in fact it probably doesn't) have a perfectly flat back, and a flat back is essential if you intend to produce a finely honed cutting edge. Lapping the back of your plane iron is a process you'll most likely only have to do once, so take your time and get it right.

Waterstone Lineup: This technique uses four different stones. From L-R: 800-grit, 1,000-grit, 1,200-grit, and a super-smooth 6,000-grit synthetic stone.

To flatten the back of your plane iron, set up a line of successively finer waterstone grits. In this case, I began with an 800-grit stone and worked my way up through 1,000-grit, 1,200-grit, and finally, a 6,000-grit synthetic stone. After wetting the stone with water, lay the flat side of your iron atop the stone and apply even pressure. Now rub back and forth for about 30-seconds to a minute on each grit. And remember, you don't have to flatten the entire back of the iron, only about the first inch or so. You should see an even, shiny polish develop across the back.

Grind a Bevel
Next, take your plane iron to the grinding wheel. You'll need to use some sort of jig (there are many available on the market) to hold the iron to the wheel at the appropriate angle, in my case, 25-degrees (remember, this time you're working on the bevel edge, not the flat side of the iron). The smoothing plane iron I sharpened in the video below came with a factory bevel of 25-degrees and I simply set bevel-to-stone using my eyes. Fill the grinder's trough up with water, turn her on and move the iron left to right, back-and-forth, grinding the bevel until you see a uniform polish from edge to edge.

Final Honing
Now it's time to really get down to business. The honing process is where you really sharpen that blade. Now, there are about as many distinct sharpening methods out there as there are woodworkers. I'll show you one tried-and-true method (as taught to me by Michael Pekovich), but don't be surprised if you read about other variants.

This honing method involves the use of a micro-bevel. At this point in the game, your plane iron already has a bevel on it of about 25-degrees. A micro-bevel is simply a very thin (about 1/32-inch) additional bevel added to the very end of the blade.

More than one way to hone a blade: For this job, I used a simple Veritas honing guide. That said, there are many different styles of guides on the market.

I first rest the iron atop my stone, with the bevel flat to the stone (at 25 degrees in this case). I then adjust the iron so that its back end is tilting up slightly (27-30-degrees). This means that only about the front 1/32-in. of the bevel is being sharpened. you want the iron to be tilted up slightly, so that you can see a bit of light between the stone and the back end of the bevel. Only the very front of the cutting edge should be in contact with the stone.

Once you've properly secured your plane iron in the honing guide, go through your series of waterstone grits, lapping the bevel with a back-and-forth motion. For smoothing plane irons like the one I sharpen in this video, you'll want to impart a bit of camber to the cutting edge. This is done by alternating the pressure your fingers impart upon the iron while holding it to the stone during honing.

Now that you've gone through all your grits, you will have developed a slight burr on the back of the plane iron. Use your smoothest stone (in this case the 6,000-grit) to polish off that burr and you'll have a razor sharp iron that's ready to plane.

Watch the Video to See How It's Done
Note: Although you may not see it in the video, the progression of waterstone grits is as follows: 800-grit, 1,000-grit, 1,200-grit, and 6,000-grit"

Above taken from http://www.startwoodworking.com/post/how-sharpen-handplane-iron

Ryan · « **Reply #20 on:** December 12, 2012, 09:51:32 AM »

There's also a video

http://bcove.me/v1udu4ce

Ryan · « **Reply #21 on:** December 12, 2012, 09:53:45 AM »

Quote from: Perkins17 on December 11, 2012, 11:02:27 PM

Here is a list I did for Sam a while a go with prices and places to buy:
Drawknife - �30 (Ebay)
Spokeshave - couple of � each on the Bay
No4 and No6 travisher - �30-40 each (Concaving)
Round bottom plane - �10-15 on ebay if you find one (Concaving)
Flat bottom plane - �12 tool station (ebay for wooden ones)
Smoothing plane (DIY Store or ebay)
Rasp- �17 (recommend this one very highly http://www.axminster.co.uk/ice-bear-japanese-saw-rasp-prod20284/ )
Sturdy soft grip vice - vice can be around �50 for a good one(ebay) and the grip things are around �3 (toolstation)

Basic for bat making
Spokeshave
Smoothing Plane
Vice
Drawknife(Not always needed for basic)

Completely agree with the basic tools above, you don't actually need a drawknife when starting out as long as you have a good small spokeshave to get in tot he shoulders.

Ryan · « **Reply #22 on:** December 26, 2012, 02:52:22 PM »

I'm going to be updating this over the next few days now that i have a little more time.

Is there anything that anyone would like covering??

Ryan · « **Reply #23 on:** December 26, 2012, 02:54:50 PM »

Ps. I've had a little tidy in the workshop.

I think it works pretty well

Simmy · « **Reply #24 on:** December 26, 2012, 03:35:43 PM »

you have been busy eh lad!

wilkie113 · « **Reply #25 on:** December 26, 2012, 03:37:42 PM »

Quote from: fletcheruk on December 26, 2012, 02:54:50 PM

Ps. I've had a little tidy in the workshop.

I think it works pretty well

Looks smart mate!

A little plane though

Ryan · « **Reply #26 on:** December 26, 2012, 03:42:07 PM »

trust you wilkie, always a kidder

wilkie113 · « **Reply #27 on:** December 26, 2012, 03:45:22 PM »

Always gotta try and make a funny

You know I think it's smart anyway mate, you sent me the pictures

Blazer · « **Reply #28 on:** December 27, 2012, 02:48:12 PM »

Can a flat spokeshave be used to round off the the toe and reduce the shoulders of a bat please ?. I am trying to convert a SH bat to Harrow height .

Ryan · « **Reply #29 on:** December 27, 2012, 09:35:00 PM »

Quote from: Blazer on December 27, 2012, 02:48:12 PM

Can a flat spokeshave be used to round off the the toe and reduce the shoulders of a bat please ?. I am trying to convert a SH bat to Harrow height .

Your actually better off cutting the toe off down to the correct length using a saw of somesort, a mitre saw would be ideal for that but if you haven't got access to one then a hand saw would do, just make sure the cut is straight. Then sand the toe back to a round shape.

Author Topic: A quick guide to making your first bat (Read 123642 times)

joeylough

Re: A quick guide to making your first bat

charlie15

Re: A quick guide to making your first bat

Blazer

Re: A quick guide to making your first bat

Perkins17

Re: A quick guide to making your first bat

Ryan

Re: A quick guide to making your first bat

Ryan

Re: A quick guide to making your first bat

Ryan

Re: A quick guide to making your first bat

Ryan

Re: A quick guide to making your first bat

Ryan

Re: A quick guide to making your first bat

Simmy

Re: A quick guide to making your first bat

wilkie113

Re: A quick guide to making your first bat

Ryan

Re: A quick guide to making your first bat

wilkie113

Re: A quick guide to making your first bat

Blazer

Re: A quick guide to making your first bat

Ryan

Re: A quick guide to making your first bat