Veritas DX60 - Blade won't fit in my jig

[Strokes77]

Recently picked up a DX60 used.  Beautiful plane.  The Blade is shaped such that the is a taper from front to back.  Well this little sucker won't fit in my wheel sharpening jig (Side clamping).  I can hone a microbevel freehand no problem, but this guy needs the bevel reset from the previous user, and I usually do that with a jig on the stones/paper.

Whatever shall I do?  I'm sure there is a clever reason to shape the blade this way, but why?  Does it fit in the veritas jig?

[Paul-in-Plymouth]

I'd take that question to LV customer service.  The CS people I've dealt with at LV are very good.  They know their products, understand tools and are very nice to deal with.  And they have probably handled this question before.  

http://www.leevalley.com/us/home/Contact.aspx

Have fun with the new plane.  I've admired that one for years.

[MannyBoy]

You need a top to bottom clamping sharpening holder/jig to sharpen this, that or hand sharpen.  Perhaps hollow grind the taper first if you have a grinder and are very careful not to heat up the metal until it begins to turn color.  A hollow ground taper is easier to hand sharpen as only the sharp end of the taper, and "other" end where the taper begins, are touching your stone or sandpaper.  These are quite good angle up block planes with very good (O2 and A2) to excellent (PM-V11) steel blades.

See the Lee Valley Tools site for much more information, including sharpening instructions.

[Derek Cohen]

Recently picked up a DX60 used.  Beautiful plane.  The Blade is shaped such that the is a taper from front to back.  Well this little sucker won't fit in my wheel sharpening jig (Side clamping).  I can hone a microbevel freehand no problem, but this guy needs the bevel reset from the previous user, and I usually do that with a jig on the stones/paper.

Whatever shall I do?  I'm sure there is a clever reason to shape the blade this way, but why?  Does it fit in the veritas jig?

You need a Veritas honing guide. The Eclipse will not work.



LV Honing Guide Mk II …………….and Eclipse

Personally, I hollow grind and freehand sharpen on the hollow.

Full review:  http://www.inthewoodshop.com/ToolReviews...Plane.html

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Strokes77]

Derek, thank you. You are one of the reasons I love this place.


That's what I was afraid of.  

Reckon I've got a problem.

Can anyone think of a creative way to shim the sides so that the eclipse can hold it?  Just for a one time use deal?

[Alan S]

Tighten it down, and then tap in a couple of wooden wedges from the top, checking the edge for square as you fine tune the wedges?

[Steve Friedman]

Here's a simple way.

Piggy back the blade on top of an old Stanley blade with double sided tape.  Make sure the edge of the smaller blade protrudes a little past the edge of the Stanley and that the edge is square to the side of the Stanley.

Put them both into the Eclipse style guide.  The edges of the Stanley blade will register against the sides of the honing guide.

If you use the amount of protrusion to set the angle (like with the Deneb angle-setting jig), the angle will be slightly off because of the extra thickness.  If you use an angle cube, I'm pretty sure the angle will be spot on.

I have also done this with magnets, but thing that double sided tape is more secure.  Also, the magnets are thicker, which means that the top blade will be above the top edge of the guide.  Therefore, if it slips, there's nothing to stop it from flying off.  DAMHIKT.

I'm also guessing you could do the same thing with a block of wood, but the old Stanley blades work and the double sided tape is easy to peel off.

Finally, don't use too much double sided tape or you'll need to pry them apart.  Prying two sharp blades apart is not fun.  Again, DAMHIKT.

Steve

[Strokes77]

Thanks Steve, great idea.  Saved me $75.

[Steve Friedman]

It's how I sharpened spokeshave blades before getting the Kell (and then L-N) guide.

Not very elegant, but it works.

[AUswimKC]

Anyone know if the DX60 blade fits the LN jig? It is similar but bigger with more registration than the eclipse.