Blanchard Paris - Leather Plough

[276ccm]

Oh am I lucky.. one of the most kind man I know, dropped by the shop today and asked if I wanted this Blanchard leather Plough. I really dig these old tools, and it´s in pretty good condition.. only need to sharpen the blade!

Is there any special way to sharpen these blades?

Does anyone know about how old this might be?

It´s not for sale, but what might the value of this plough be?

Anyone? :-)

[Macca]

Difficult to accurately date the blanchards, they run the same patterns for many years.

But this one is quite new (relatively !), could be 25 years old, could be 50. Its the last version of the old pattern, before they switched to the newer lever style.

Not sure if the blade is the original, looks very new, but that doesn't really matter.

its the 15cm version, which is good news.

Value, 150 Euro + in Europe.

to sharpen it, only do the inside of the blade (side with the blanchard mark), you want a very small angle so should expect to see a taper from about 10 - 15mm out from the edge.

[25b]

I bought my Blanchard plough gauge with two blades for $100 including shipping, so...

[Macca]

ok

[276ccm]

Thanks a lot for your feedback and tips, appreciate it! :-) The blade looks a little more shiny on the picture than it actually is, but.. I´ll try to sharpen it and see how it works! I have a 2000 diamond stone, dont you think that should be ok?

[DavidL]

A common way of sharpening is to use 2 stones and a strop for compound. One medium stone (1000 grit Japanese waterstone - around 400-600 American standard) for setting the bevel and sharpening a dull blade, one fine stone (6000 - 8000 Japanese water stone - 1200+ American standard) to refine the edge. cut till you dull the blade, strop and repeat a few times until you need to touch it up again on the fine stone (stropping eventually rounds the edge over).

One stone is usually okay. Some people use up to 3-4 stones and multiple diamond paste to finish - overkill for a working knife.

[276ccm]

Thanks a lot! :-)