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If there's one thing I'm known for,
it's inexpensive tools
and bargain shopping.
So today,
we're going to take
a fairly inexpensive Stanley block plane
and turn it into something
that's not a complete pile of garbage.
Step one.
Perhaps the most difficult
part of this entire process
is removing the plane
from the @#$*ing packaging.
So let's see
what we're up against.
The plane seems
to be in decent shape.
The adjustable mouth works fine,
but the sliding plate
is definitely a little bit proud.
We'll have to fix that.
I'll release the cam lever
and loosen the setscrew,
so that I could pull off the cap
and get to the iron.
New planes are usually
covered in rust preventative,
so that's why
it's kind of goopy.
And while the block plane
really doesn't need
to be 100% flat
to do its job,
I'd still like to see
how far out it is.
We have three significant
high spots or low spots
depending on your perspective.
We'll have to fix that too.
I'll start by haphazardly
spilling mineral spirits
on the workbench
and getting some of it
on the plane.
I just wanna remove
any grease that's on the surface.
Now I'll reassemble the plane.
While we could push forward
with the flattening
and the sharpening process,
I think it's actually
more beneficial
to test the plane out
exactly as it comes
from the manufacturer.
After all the work you're about
to put into this thing,
wouldn't it be nice to actually
see an improvement,
instead of just assuming
that it's better?
Now, this is a piece of cherry
side grain.
The rough edge actually
cleans up pretty well.
I can add an edge profile
pretty easily too.
Now, it's a little bit rough
but honestly
it's not too bad.
Obviously this video
is more impactful if I show you
how crappy this thing cuts
but at this point,
the results are the results.
So yeah,
maybe calling it a pile of garbage
was a little bit unfair.
Now on end grain,
it is struggling a bita
The blade could definitely
use some love
but we'll get to that soon.
A mistake a lot of folks make
when doing this process,
is they strip the plane down
before flattening it,
but the sole the plane
can actually change a little bit
when it's under pressure
and fully assembled.
So we'll do our flattening
with everything assembled,
but the blade safely retracted.
So let's flatten the sole.
I'm taping some 220 grit
automotive sandpaper down
to my tablesaw.
It's a nice flat surface
that'll provide a good reference
for flattening.
A couple of spritzes of water
and we're ready to go.
Now, obviously you'll want
to clean up any water
that gets on the cast-iron
as soon as you're done here.
I keep the table pretty well waxed
so a little bit of water exposure
just isn't much of an issue.
With the blade retracted
I rub the plane on the sandpaper
as evenly as possible.
Without a doubt this
is the part that sucks.
I can see this 220
is just a bit too fine
for the amount of material
that I need to remove and I've got
a Jazzercise appointment at 4:00,
so I need to get this thing moving.
If you're careful about it
you can actually use something
like a stationary belt sander
or a disc sander to speed things up.
You have to be careful though
because it's pretty easy
to remove too much material
and really do more harm than good.
I'm using a very light touch
keeping the plane moving
at all times.
I also take frequent breaks,
let the plane cool down,
and check my progress.
While I'm here I may as well
clean up the sides too.
Now, if you don't have a powered solution,
you just have
to put in the elbow grease
and you can pick up
some lower grit sandpaper
to use for that heavier stock removal.
Now, I'll head back
to the sandpaper at the tablesaw
and try to clean up the marks
from the disc sander.
You can see the heel and the toe
aren't absolutely perfect
but I really don't want
to remove any more material
at this point.
This is definitely flat enough.
Now it's really
not totally necessary,
but I'm gonna try
to polish up the sole
a little bit using a water stone.
By the way, we're working
on a series of
beginner focused projects,
so I bought specific tools
to help with that.
That includes this plane
and this two-sided waterstone.
The stone gets
a good soak in water
for about 15 minutes
before putting it to use.
Now I can get a nice arm workout
polishing the sole,
using the coarser side
of the stone.
Now let's grab our steel ruler
and see how we did.
Now, in case you forgot
what it looked like
from the factory,
here's the before
and here's the after.
That's a big improvement.
I'll add a nice coat of wax
as the freshly honed iron
can rust pretty quickly.
Now let's remove the plane iron.
The first thing we need to do
is flatten the back.
We'll start with the coarser side
of the stone.
The entire back doesn't need
to be flat,
but I'll at least work
on the bottom inch or so.
After the initial work,
I can flip the blade over
and see what we're up against.
Thankfully, while there's
a big high spot
in the middle there
the blade really isn't too bad.
You can see we're already
getting a decent polish
near the tip of the iron,
and that's the most critical area.
Let's continue polishing just
to see how flat we can get it.
To help gauge my progress,
I like to mark the blade
with a sharpie.
When the marker lines are gone,
I know that that area is flat.
Now we can repeat this process
on the finer side of the stone.
If you're not having
as much luck as I am,
and your plane iron
is in really bad shape,
I recommend you look up
"the ruler trick."
It's a really big
timesaver when flattening
a large section the iron
isn't panning out for you.
Now we're going
to work on the bevel.
Back to the coarse side of the stone.
Sharpening freehand does take some practice.
If you slowly tilt the blade up,
you should be able
to feel the point
where the flat of the bevel
is in full contact
with the stone.
That's the sweet spot.
From there,
drag the blade back
in a smooth pass.
Some people have better luck
doing a little zigzag dance
like this but personally
I get better results
when I reset for each pass
and pull the blade back
toward me.
Now many of you
probably already know,
that I'm a big fan
of honing guides.
These are slick little devices
that hold your blades
and chisels in fixed positions
and it makes your sharpening
much easier especially
if you don't do this stuff
every single day.
Just snug up the blade
and find the angle
that puts the bevel
nice and flat on the stone,
and then tighten it up.
I find this is not only
less stressful mentally
but also physically on my hands.
Now, we don't need the bevel
to be a perfect mirror
across the entire thing.
We really only want
to worry about the very tip.
So if you pause once in a while
and run your finger
perpendicular to the tip
you should feel
a metal burr when you're there.
Now this tells you
that you're ready
for the next grit
If you don't feel a burr,
keep honing.
We'll repeat this process
on the finer side of the stone.
Once again I'll look
for that burr to develop.
Once it does
I'll flip the blade over
and hone the back again
on the highest grit
and that'll remove that little burr.
This really shouldn't take
but a couple of passes
Now it's probably not
totally necessary,
but I like to repeat
those two steps
creating the burr once more,
and then removing it again.
I honestly don't know
if it makes any real difference,
but it certainly makes me feel better.
So now we can dry everything off,
add a little wax
to the iron
and then reassemble the plane.
If the mechanism
isn't running smoothly
you can always add
a drop of oil
or even some wax
to the screw.
Now let's test
this bad boy out.
Of course this edge
was already hit
with the plane
when it was right out of the box,
but you can probably see
and hear how much smoother
the plane is gliding
across the surface.
It's taking a lot less effort
and the resulting surface
is much smoother.
[WooHoo!]
That's smooth.
Now end grain always tends
to fight you a little bit,
and thankfully I don't actually
have the plane end grain very often,
but it's definitely
easier now that the blade
is sharpened up.
I was having so much fun here
I decided just
to do the rest of
that cherry board
on the edge
just to see if I can get
some nice continuous shavings
And those are some
pretty nice curly cues.
So as you can see,
with a little bit of sweat equity,
and a whole lotta sandpaper,
you can take
a fairly inexpensive plane,
and turn it into
something that
is performing as good as
it can perform.
Now, is this as good
as some of the
premium brands out there?
I don't think so,
but it doesn't have to be.
You could still get
great results from it
and you just gotta put
a little bit of time
and effort into it.
All right so thank you
for watching everybody,
and remember
I'm the bargain guy.
I'm the guy who recommends
the inexpensive things.
That's just what I'm telling people now.