One or two-piece chip breaker?

[Christopher Morgan]

I just recently bought a very nice Record #7, but discovered that it is missing the lower part of the two-piece cap iron. I'm pretty sure it is supposed to look like this:

175845

So it looks like I will need to get a new chip breaker that is most similar to the original (unless someone happens to have a spare bottom half of a two-piece chip breaker that they would like to sell). My question is whether I should go for the Clifton two-piece cap iron (~$38 shipped) that is most similar to the original or something like the Lee Valley one-piece (~$29) or something else. Any thoughts?

[Andrew Gibson]

I would say go with the LV cap iron.
I have not used one yet but I do have a few on my short list. That being said I do have a Hock Chipbreaker/Iron combo in my #3 and a LV A2 iron in my #4 and #7.
I would say If you have a few extra bucks, pick up the LV Iron/cap iron combo. I have been verry happy with my LV Irons.

[Tony Zaffuto]

Having planes with both types, I would say it is a toss-up. The "Stay Set" cap iron was made to facilitate honing of the iron, while working-simply pop out the blade assembly, take off the bottom section and hone (no jig, though). When reassembled, your original settings on the blade remain, hence the name "Stay Set" (unlike a one-piece that is removed from the blade, when replaced, you have to readjust how it mates to the blade adjuster). Since I don't use a sharpening jig, I find the "Stay Set" quite nice & robust.

If you use a sharpening jig, you will lose the advantage of the two-piece. If you have a two-piece already and are constantly dropping the lower section and/or don't hand sharpen, simply put a dab of silicone caulk in the groove on the upper section before re-assembling the next time you are placing the blade assembly in your plane. After curing, the silicone will hold the bottom section in place during disassembly.

[Sam Takeuchi]

I have a Stay-Set cap iron for my Record as well. I don't particularly care for the "hone without taking it off" part. But as far as cap iron design and functionality goes, I think 2 piece cap iron exerts the pressure on the blade where it matter the most: right behind cutting edge and right below where toe piece is secured. It helps to bed down the blade securely on the frog where it matters the most.

But all that aside, realistically one piece cap irons work perfectly fine. I also have and use Lie-Nielsen and Hock cap irons, too. Theoretically 2 piece cap iron makes the most sense, but really, you aren't going to lose out by getting one quality cap iron or the other. Compare to the original flimsy cap iron, replacement cap iron gives really different feedback, feels more solid, but I don't notice much (if any) difference between different brands of cap irons. So I think you are pretty safe either way.

[Jim Koepke]

My skepticism antenna goes up on something that claims material can be removed from the blade during sharpening yet the edge will remain in the same place.

Removing and resetting a cap iron doesn't take long. Readjusting the plane settings is also fairly quick.

In the shop how much time will be saved by this device compared to how much time will be wasted looking for where it was set down when it was removed?

My one piece chip breakers seem to be working fine. They are Stanley, Hock and LN.

Maybe there is an advantage to adding moving parts to something that serves a static function. If the two piece chip breaker puts pressure on the blade at the cutting edge and the middle of the frog to reduce chatter, then my interest would be increased.

jtk

[Christopher Morgan]

Thanks for the ideas, everyone. I do use a honing jig, so I guess the two-piece won't be any more convenient for me. So maybe I'll go for the LV cap iron (and perhaps a blade to match -- they do have free shipping after all ...).