# hand plane blade damage. Repair or replace?



## tke663 (May 26, 2014)

Ive never used a hand plane before so i bought a buck bros cheap hand plane from big orange. I know they are junk but i knew i wasnt ready for a good one so i got it just for practice. i knew there would be some tuning involved but i wanted to see how it cut out of the box. So i grabbed some scrap and gave about 3 passes before i hit a nail i overlooked in my excitement. Now it has a dent in the blade. Is this fixable or should it just be replaced. Its gonna have to be hammered or ground down. I think the replacement is only like $10 but if its fixable id like to try for practice.


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## tc65 (Jan 9, 2012)

We like to see pictures, but even without one, I'd say go ahead and grind it back to re-establish your bevel. It will be good practice in rehabilitating planes. Just be careful when you grind it not to get it too hot and loose the temper. Proceeding through the sharpening process after grinding is also good practice.


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## JQMack (Sep 24, 2011)

Your going to do something like that to a good plane too. Better start practicing fixing it.


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## epicfail48 (Mar 27, 2014)

Best to practice on the cheap ones anyway


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## timetestedtools (Aug 23, 2012)

Grind it back. As bad as the Buck Bros. Planes are, the blades are not bad.


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## Fastback (Sep 2, 2012)

These things do happen. Treat it like a chisel or saw and just re-sharpen. Like the others have said it is good practice.

Paul


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## Brian T. (Dec 19, 2012)

Buy a replacement blade to keep your original plan alive.
Figure out how to repair the damaged blade.


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## Gilgaron (Mar 16, 2012)

The new irons are only $2 or so as I recall. You could get a new one to finish your project like Robson recommends and then when repairing your original you could add a camber to it so you can use one blade for course work and the other for fine.


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## Brian T. (Dec 19, 2012)

Rounding the handles in my kitchen spoon production, I use a pair of spoke shaves exactly like that = one cuts coarse for the shape and the other cuts fine to kiss off the ridges left by #1. The best part is there's no sanding to do!


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## acowboy (Nov 20, 2013)

+ With all,

A good point has been made, learn how to sharpen... and then more practice.

Then watch out...when everything come together and it is just right...your plane will sing..! You can get carried away making curly's.


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## Brian T. (Dec 19, 2012)

Sharp edges sing in the wood.
I didn't realize that until I started pulling spoke shaves in birch.
Even my old ears can hear it.
When that "singing" sound goes away, time for a tune-up.


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## tke663 (May 26, 2014)

Great advice. Thanks! I was able to file down the bump on the blade but not get rid of the divit. ive seen the sandpaper sharpening technique but the lowest grit i can get is 220 around here. I have one of those diamond sharpener things (forget the name) and it seems to have helped. im pulling ribbons but man do i have to muscle it. Could be the pallet wood im testing on


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## timetestedtools (Aug 23, 2012)

tke663 said:


> the lowest grit i can get is 220 around here.


By lowest, if you mean finest, you're not sharp enough. Auto parts stores will sell up to 2000.


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## Gilgaron (Mar 16, 2012)

You're looking for black wet/dry sandpaper, not the garnet paper for sanding wood.


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## tke663 (May 26, 2014)

timetestedtools said:


> By lowest, if you mean finest, you're not sharp enough. Auto parts stores will sell up to 2000.


Yes that is what I meant. I never thought about an auto parts store. That's even closer to my house. thanks!


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## Brian T. (Dec 19, 2012)

3M makes a wide range of wet and dry sandpapers for the automotive paint finishing industry.
Auto stores that cater to finishing usually stock up to 2000. 
Look in the Lee Valley catalog for finer grades than that.

To fix a really banged up edge, step one is to joint the edge to just behind the damage.
Step two is to re-establish the entire bevel. Do you know what that bevel angle needs to be?
Refine that to an edge adequate for the job.


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