Joseph Moxon, who wrote the first English instructions on woodworking, discussed this issue in “Mechanick Exercises or the Doctrine of Handy-Works” (1678). (The Stanley instructions above are typical, which are from a 1941 booklet.) You are supposed to work the bevel and then remove the wire edge by rubbing the back flat on the stone. Most 20th century instructions don’t talk much about the backside of the tool. But not flattened and polished like I was taught. Sure, some of them looked like they had been pushed over a stone to remove the wire edge after sharpening the bevel. I’ve examined hundreds of vintage planes and chisels, and I can recall only one or two that had the backside of the blade flattened or polished. When I started buying vintage tools, however, I looked at the backs and thought: I don’t think those people had the same teacher. It was a whole damn day of my life I wish I could get back.

I was told to get them all dead flat and then polish them up like a mirror. When I learned to sharpen, the entire first day of my lesson was all about flattening the backs of my chisels and plane irons. I promise this post is not about sharpening. The coarse grinding scratches from manufacturing still extend all the way to the tip of the tool.

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