# Nicked my plane blade



## DoMaRe (Feb 10, 2016)

I dropped the blade of my Stanley 12.960 Bailey low angle plane on my concrete garage floor. It nicked the corner of the blade (see photos). The depth of the nick is about the thickness of a fingernail.

Can I just ignore it and continue to sharpen as usual? Or do I need to take it to a griner?

I sharpen according to the procedure from The Museum of Woodworking Tools http://www.antiquetools.com/sharp/sharptoolsandequip.html

Any suggestions are appreciated...


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## hwebb99 (Nov 27, 2012)

I would just ignore it and sharpen like normal.


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## Brian T. (Dec 19, 2012)

hwebb99 is probably right.
You have two choices:
#1 sharpen past the "big ding" and move on. I'd do that.
#2 square off the entire edge, just beyond the damage and rebuild the entire edge to your specs.
This is an absolute Booger to have to do. Several times and I am really happy to say
that I got it done OK.

I'd begin with some cheap 120 grit oil stone to get the edge back beyond the damage.
Scrub the bejeezlies out of it on the oil stone. just to get some semblance of the edge profile that you had.
Then comes the finesse with 600/800/1k/2k and you should have an edge to your personal satisfaction.


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## epicfail48 (Mar 27, 2014)

I wouldn't worry about it and just sharpen as normal to get the rest of the edge sharp. The very corner doesn't matter very much in operation, most people actually radius off the corners anyway, to keep the plane from leaving tracks


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## DoMaRe (Feb 10, 2016)

Thanks, all. That is the answer I was hoping for! Just needed the validation.


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## Hammer1 (Aug 1, 2010)

A honing guide would be a big help to keep the angle straight and consistent when sharpening. Might want to go to a finer grit, too. The corner ding isn't an issue for a block plane but concrete floors can break some expensive tools. A lot less expensive to get some mats, your back will appreciate it, too.


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## gornarak (Jun 5, 2014)

I anyway lift the sided during sharpening. It gives the iron a smoother "entry" on big surfaces.


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## allpurpose (Mar 24, 2016)

I too would round it off a bit like I almost always do anyway..
I was planing down a chunk of old door jam wood just last night and ran into a bit of broken off finishing nail. I initially figured I'd be spending days on end trying to grind it back out, but just my good fortune recently I had purchased a slab of diamond honing plate which made easy work of it. The nick is gone and the blade iron even better than before the nail episode.


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## Jig_saw (May 17, 2015)

One way to get rid of the nick is to put a camber on the blade. Use a figure 8 type of motion while sharpening on a stone, and the corners will get rounded out. This blade can then be used in a smoothing plane without any trouble.


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## Oneal-Woodworking (Apr 14, 2013)

DoMaRe said:


> Thanks, all. That is the answer I was hoping for! Just needed the validation.


That would be about a total of 5 minutes on a Tormek to make disappear...

And the entire edge would be sharper (and more true) than before when you got finished.


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## hwebb99 (Nov 27, 2012)

OnealWoodworking said:


> That would be about a total of 5 minutes on a Tormek to make disappear... And the entire edge would be sharper (and more true) than before when you got finished.


 Unfortunately most of us can't afford a Tormek.


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## Oneal-Woodworking (Apr 14, 2013)

hwebb99 said:


> Unfortunately most of us can't afford a Tormek.


Like many tools here lately - There is also a much lower cost Chinese version of the same thing available. 

The Grizzly brand version is the closest copy to the Tormek and can be used with any of the Tormek jigs. For a LOT less money.


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## Jig_saw (May 17, 2015)

Like Oneal said, this blade can be repaired in minutes using a bench grinder and an oil stone. I do this almost once every month, and don't have a Tormek either.


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