Stanley #80 scraper

[Dale Cruea]

I have a newer type Stanley #80 scraper and the blade appears to be fairly soft. It does not like to hold a burr very long.
First question:
Should this blade be soft. Less hard than my card scrapers.
Should the burr last a little longer.
Second question:
Are the replacement blades from Hock any better or worth the price.
I have tried using an old saw blade but it was warped too bad to flatten.

Dale

[Trevor Walsh]

Seeing as it's a card scraper holder I would say you want it to be as hard as a card scraper, if you're not into hock prices find some flat saw steel and use that. McMaster also sells hardened 1095 in almost any thickness you'd want. It comes as blue spring temper which is saw steel.

[Dale Cruea]

I don't mind the price if it is better than what I have. Maybe I will look into McMasters.
Thanks
Dale

[jason thigpen]

The Hock blade was a great improvement over the original for my #80. The thickness helped reduce chatter big time. as far as hardness goes, i didn't notice any difference between the two blades. maybe someone in the past tried to do some grinding on the blade and it lost temper.

[Mike Holbrook]

Lee Valley makes some nice scraper cards/blades, not sure if they would fit without some work.

[Bill Houghton]

Lee Valley makes some nice scraper cards/blades, not sure if they would fit without some work.

The blade for the Lee Valley version of the #80 fits the Stanley original - I asked them. It's quite reasonable, and Lee Valley, in my experience, makes good cutting tools: http://www.leevalley.com/US/wood/page.aspx?cat=1,310&p=46266

[Harvey Pascoe]

I call that the Veritas wing handle cabinet scraper and after buying that I could take all my old card scrapers and trash them. Its a delight to use, holds an edge and is quick and easy to sharpen. I can also take off quite a thick shaving with it. The large handles let you get a lot of power behind it without a huge effort.

[James Scheffler]

I bought a LV blade for my old No. 80 and it fit fine. It was the exact thickness as the Stanley one, so you won't get the benefit of buying a thicker blade like the Hock. The LV blade seems to hold an edge well. I was kind of surprised at the coarse milling marks in the LV scraper blade, as the plane blades I have bought from them came perfectly smooth and flat. It took longer than I wish it did to remove them. I guess they don't use the same lapping process for the scraper blades as they do for the plane blades.

Jim S.

[Dale Cruea]

Thanks to everyone for the information. I will check into both LV and Hock.

[Dale Cruea]

I bought a Hock blade. WOW it made a big difference. Easy to sharpen and stays sharp for a long time. The first time I sharpened it I put way to big of burr on it. Looked like chips coming out of a plane. Gave it a smaller burr. Works great.

Thanks for the help.