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I have several old block planes and I have 2 questions about them.
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They are pretty old (10 yrs?) but otherwise well built I cant seem to find replacent blades at the depot, it appears to be in the middle of the 2 sizes they offer.
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Some are sharp but have a nick in the blade. Would you bother getting these sharpend (where?), replace them if I can find the proper size, or should I not bother and just buy some new block planes?
Just trying to keep my costs low.
Also, every dad burn time I log on the next time I go to the site I have to log on again? Anyone else have this prob.
It happens on numerous PC’s so its not a security issues and i check the box? Just curious its no big deal
thanks
Ok, they are old and they are awful - get rid of them, definitely. Get rid of them by shipping them to the Official Old Block Plane Disposal Site:
Doc
PO Box _____
Eastham, MA, 02642
Seriously, if they are any good at all, they can be resharpened and are meant to be resharpened. Some of my planes - well, I have had them for over 25 years, and I am by no means the first owner. A half-decent plane iron can and should last 10-20 years of regular daily use including sharpening when needed. Infrequent use, they can and will last several lifetimes before they need the blades replaced.
Equip yourself with some good sharpening stones ( see the Arkansas stones at http://www.discountcutlery.net/ - they are what I use ) , though there are those who like the Scary Sharp system described in the Archives. You will also need some light oil, like 3 in 1 oil but NOT wd-40 or motor oil. Me, I like industrial sewing machine oil - nice, clear stuff which has about the right viscocity, around that of whole milk.
There are those who like the Japanese water stones, and I can’t fault the edges their tools have, just pick one system and get good and above all consistent with it.
For getting deep nicks out, nothing beats a slow-turning water cooled machine like http://www.grizzly.com/products/item.cfm?itemnumber=G1036 - the hard work is taken out of the problem while the water-cooled sharpening wheel ( turns in a water bath, you see) keeps your blade from heating up, losing its hardness and becoming a worthless piece of scrap steel.
Oh- there is always Some Idiot around who says they can take care of it for you on their high-speed grinding wheel. be polite, but say no. Seen more good tools ruined that way…
As an aside, new blades are often shipped incompletely sharpened to keep the edge from chipping when banged around in transit and even new tools come with an edge I consider to be ‘kinda sad’. Once got One Heckuva Deal on some nice English bench chisels that came that way- the tool sales guy didn’t understand and I did. I rather enjoy sharpening them top their real potential. Was the first real skill The Old Man taught me -
It’s not especially difficult either. Sharpening one of these - http://www.classicshaving.com/catalog/item/522940/190301.htm - is harder. Best shave you’ll ever get, too. http://www.knifecenter.com/knifecenter/sharpen/instrazor.html
As to the log in thing.
Okay, what happens is when you log in and check the ‘remember me’ box, your computer gets a cookie called name@swaylocks.com , where name is your user name on that 'puter. When you get to Swaylock’s again, what happens is that the cookie pops forth in all its glory and sez 'remember me?? ’ and there you go.
But if you are using several machines, not one that is primarially yours, maybe that cookie won’t be there, due to the fact that you never used that particular machine to sign in here.
Also, if it’s a public machine like those found in schools and libraries and such, it may be that it is set to not accept cookies or to get rid of them after every session. Understandable - would you want just any dweeb sitting down at the computer after you leave and using your log-ins? Right. You get the picture. Some security settings will do the same thing -
Hope that helps - and if not, give us a shout, see what we can come up with.
doc…