Fig. 19.
These remarks apply to all chisels, plane bits and tools of that character, but it is obvious that a drawknife, which is always held by the handles in grinding, and hatchets, axes and the like, cannot be held in the same manner.
A too common error is to press the tool too hard on the stone. This is wrong. Do not try to force the grinding.
Then, again, it is the practice of some to turn the stone away from the tool. The stone should always move toward the tool, so as to prevent forming a feather edge.
The Plane.—Indiscriminate use of planes should be avoided. Never use the fore or smoothing planes on rough surfaces. The jack plane is the proper tool for this work. On the other hand, the fore plane should invariably be used for straightening the edges of boards, or for fine surfacing purposes. As the jack plane has its bit ground with a curved edge, it is admirably adapted for taking off the rough saw print surface.
The Gage.—The illustration (Fig. 19) shows one of the most useful tools in the kit. It is used to scribe the thickness of the material which is to be dressed down, or for imprinting the edges of tenons and mortises. Two should be provided in every kit, for convenience.
The scribing point should be sharpened with a file, the point being filed to form a blade, which is at right angles to the bar, or parallel with the movable cheekpiece.
Chisels.—I have already pointed out, in general, how to hold tools for grinding purposes, this description applying particularly to chisels, but several additional things may be added.
Always be careful to grind the chisel so its cutting edge is square with the side edge. This will be difficult at first, but you will see the value of this as you use the tool. For instance, in making rebates for hinges, or recesses and mortises for locks, the tool will invariably run crooked, unless it is ground square.