I saw a video of a guy who made a sled and table for a power plane and he was able to flatten a large cutting board in under a minute…. made me curious.
if so what brands are good and what are crap. there’s a vast difference in price from $38 to $300.
and how hard is it to find the hardware to build your own sled? (the rods and sliding holes)
so in my other post i mentioned meeting an old knifesmith teacher who was selling off his tools. I’m now 3 weeks into making my first knives (working mostly on weekends).
I plan to make a set. Don’t own a forge yet or a bench grinder, but i do have a propane torch, a bench vise with a small 3x4” flat area, a ball peen hammer, a few files, sandpaper, an angle grinder (which i used to cut out the stock).
I’m making
#1 a texas toothpick petty
#2 a k-tip Gyuto
#3 a nakiri
all with a light tsuchime and kurouchi finish
i still have some geometry refinement to do on #1 & #3, but today i worked on the Guyto. draw filing, then hand sanding with a jig i made using my bench as a flat surface for the sandpaper and moving the jig-mounted blade… (120,220,400,800).
this is all pre-heat-treat but the bandsaw blade it all came from was likely hardened. it takes forever by hand.
how am i doing for a first attempt?
what tips or feedback do you have for a total noob?
pics get older as you scroll, last 2 show my tools.
I plan to draw file the toothpick and nakiri and then sand similarly.