I’ve been away for awhile, this year has been exhausting which has sapped my energy for extracurriculars. Things are normalizing now, to whatever has become this new normal and there’s a long winter ahead. I needs something keep me busy and not slip into a sedentary hibernation. I’d like to try my hand at building a nice tool cabinet, however the state of my shop and tools need a little attention. This little lie nielsen sharpening jig was a good project to ease back into it. Next will come a few more krenov planes, easy to knock out while the wood is acclimatizing. And then on to the cabinet.
Stay Gold
This is my Lie Nielsen No.4 smoothing plane in bronze with a few customizations. The original A2 steel has been replaced with a Tsunesaburo blade and the knob and tote have been changed from cherry to walnut. Aesthetics aside, there are a few functional improvements which can be made. A wise woodworker shared the following fettling tips with me yesterday.
The yoke engages a very sharp steel slot in the cap iron. You can see here that it's already started to score the soft bronze of the yoke. This is on a plane that has never touched wood...
If you look closely you can also see evidence of the bite on the cap iron, the sharp steel edge has deposits of bronze.
The fix is to take a diamond file and break the sharp edge, top and bottom.
A little oil on the lever cap hinge pivot goes a long way too.