Honing angle for Bench Planes

[Jack01]

Honing angle for Bench Planes    this subject is probably discussed before.

Is this 30 degree or 25 degree ? 
or 30  degree with 25  degree main bevel ?

Hock tools sharpening

[barryvabeach]

Jack,  I don't too hung up about the exact angle for a plane blade.  The cutting angle is fixed by the bed of the plane, so it won't directly impact performance.  As Ron says it can impact the wear on the blade, but I usually sharpen around 25 and add a microbevel to bring it up to 26 or 27 or whatever, then when I rehone it , it may go up a degree or so.

[Strokes77]

I use a grinder to establish a primary somewhere around 25 degrees when rehabbing irons, from the LN or LV or Hock factory, I roll with that they send out as the primary.

When I am teaching sharpening, I teach people to use a jig and polish a microbevel at 30*.  It is easy and repeatable for people getting started, and makes for faster sharpening times.

When I am sharpening for my own use, I just start on the primary, and lift up a little until I feel burr.  Faster with experience, better in long run, more barriers to entry.

[Bill_Houghton]

They'll all work.  Much depends on the steel; a steeper angle will compensate for more chip-prone steel.

[bandit571]

Stanley and Millers Falls used to stamp right on the irons, as to what angle to hone ( "whet" as they called it)usually at 25 degrees.  No mention about any extra angles was made.

[AHill]

It depends on the steel somewhat. O1 steel can be sharpened to a 25 deg bevel without sacrificing durability of the edge. A2 seems to want 30 deg, because smaller angles don't offer enough resistance to chipping on the edge. The bevel angle on a bevel-down bench plane does affect the clearance angle of the cut. Too steep a bevel angle and you'll get more wear on the bevel in use, and that may become noticeable as the wear increases as increased resistance to pushing the plane. It's a minor effect, but it is part of the equation.

[Jack01]

Thanks for the response.
I will stay around 25 Degree on the blade.

Recently I acquired a Bailey # 4 plane , when I checked the blade it was at 20 Degree  That is  reason I was curious on the angel of the blade.
During my research I found that recommendation was 25 degree to 30 degree.

I am not sure why the previous owner had this at 20 degree.
My other bench plane is at 25 degree.

[EricU]

they probably sharpened by hand and it managed to drift to 20 degrees

[Derek Cohen]

ALL bevel down planes need to be honed to at least 30 degrees. Some may be higher, but never lower (unless this is a BU plane, where the bed is at 12 degrees). A 25 degree edge is simply too low to prevent damage from the impact of a blade on wood with a bed at 45 degrees or higher.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[AHill]

ALL bevel down planes need to be honed to at least 30 degrees. Some may be higher, but never lower (unless this is a BU plane, where the bed is at 12 degrees). A 25 degree edge is simply too low to prevent damage from the impact of a blade on wood with a bed at 45 degrees or higher.

Regards from Perth

Derek

Derek,

Are you advocating 30 degrees because of your experience with particularly hard and dense woods Down Under, or for all woods?  Dozens of planes here in the USA come with instructions to hone a 25 degree bevel, and dozens of plane blades come pre-ground to 25 degrees bevels  I certainly would agree that a secondary bevel adds some damage tolerance to 25 degree bevel, but if you're primarily working soft pine, would you still advocate for a 30 degree bevel?  For the record, I only use a 25 degree bevel on low angle block planes and on paring chisels.

For reference, Ron Hock's blades are ground to a 25 deg bevel, with the exception of his blades provided in the wood plane kit, where he said Krenov specified a 30 deg bevel.  Veritas bench plane blades are honed to a 30 deg bevel and they now add a 35 deg secondary bevel.  Lie-Nielsen's A2 bench plane blades are ground to a 25 deg bevel but their sharpening instructions recommend adding a 35 deg secondary bevel on their BD bench planes.  Paul Sellers recommends 30 deg and says as long as your bevel is 2 deg less than your frog angle, you have enough clearance so you're fine.

Perhaps the 25 deg "standard" for many out-of-the-box blades simply allows less honing to achieve the 30 deg bevel necessary for edge integrity.