Your new blade comes off my surface grinder ready to hone. You don't need to flatten it or regrind it. Here's how I'd set it up.
1. When it arrives
- Unwrap it and mind the edge. It's not shaving sharp but sharp enough to cut you.
- Compare it to your old blade: same width, and the slot lines up with your plane's adjuster. If something doesn't look right, email me before you put a stone to it.
- CPM MagnaCut is highly rust resistant, but a wipe-down after using it on green wood is a good idea.
2. Hone a secondary bevel
- Use a honing guide to hone a small secondary bevel a few degrees steeper than the primary.
- Diamond plates, diamond lapping film/compound or CBN work best on MagnaCut.
- From here on, you only need to touch up that small secondary bevel. When it gets too wide to hone quickly, regrind the primary bevel back to its original angle and start again.
3. Polish the back at the edge
- The back is surface ground flat, so there's no need to lap or polish the entire back. Using the ruler trick will save you a lot of time and get you back to planing much quicker.
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The ruler trick: lay a thin steel rule along one long edge of your finishing stone. Set the blade back-down across the stone so the far end rests on the rule and the cutting edge sits on the stone near the other side. The rule tips the back up a hair, so only a narrow band right at the edge touches the stone. A few strokes back and forth along the stone polishes that band, which is the only part of the back that matters.
- Use the rule again whenever you take off the burr, and keep it in the same spot on the stone. That keeps the polished band narrow, so it stays quick every time.
4. Fit it to your plane
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Bevel-down planes (Stanley, Bailey-pattern bench planes and similar): set the chipbreaker so it seats tight against the back with no gap at the edge. Close it right near the edge for fine work, or set it back a little for heavier cuts.
- Make sure the blade sits flat on the frog with nothing under it.
- A thicker blade may sit a bit differently than your original. Take a few test passes first. If the mouth is too tight, move the frog back slightly.
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Bevel-up planes (block and low-angle planes): the bevel faces up and there's no chipbreaker. Check that the blade seats fully on the bed and the adjuster engages the slot.
- Use the lateral adjuster to set the cut even across the mouth, then advance the blade until you're taking a thin, full-width shaving.
5. Keeping it sharp
- Touch up the secondary bevel before the edge feels dull, not after. A few strokes on a fine stone or a strop takes a minute and saves you a full resharpening.
- Store blades where their edges won't knock against other steel.
Questions?
If your blade isn't performing the way you expected, or you're not sure it fits your plane, reply to any of my emails or contact me here. It comes straight to me.
Your blade comes with a full year, risk free guarantee. Full warranty details are on the Warranty page.
Nick Dombrowski, toolmaker
