scary sharp WORKS!
frank_shic (walnut ck, ca)
>to everyone who gave me advice over the last two days: a big thanks! i bought a cheapo home depot mini block plane just to practice sharpening on and because it looked so CUTE that i thought my wife would like it! went through the grits 120/320/600/800/1200/2000 and had marginal results - nicks and tearouts EVERYWHERE. used a permanent marker last night to highlight the blade's edge and saw immediately what was not getting enough sharpening. went through the grits a second time and skeptically placed the blade back in the plane and tried planing a scrap of maple lying around: PAPER THING SHAVINGS!!! i felt like shouting at the top of my lungs but my 2 1/2 year old daughter was sleeping! now, onward to the REAL planes...