Hello All,

I seem to be having a boat load of trouble getting my bench plane irons square. I am using the Veritas grinding table/jig with a slow speed grinder. I have several plane irons that are all very close to square but one corner always seems to be higher than the rest of the iron or I get a hollow in the middle, with both corners high. And when I try to work that corner down I end up burning it. Does any one have any suggestions or tricks to getting the iron square?

When you say "slow speed grinder" are you refering to a bench grinder? Burning is caused by grinding too long in one area. You should be quenching the blade quite often to help remove the heat.

I typically mark the end of the blade with a sharpie marker, blacking in the entire area I will be working with. Then I use a machinist's square held across the blade close to the edge and score a line in the marker. This line should be square to the side. Also, the marker shows exactly where I am grinding so I can easily see where the action is taking place.

Lastly, check and be sure that your grindstone has a square, flat face. If it is uneven, it will be difficult to hand grind a flat square edge off of it.

Hope this helps,

Ralph

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