Combination plane blade compatiblity?

[Peter Travis]

Does anyone know if the Stanley 45 combination blades will fit or be made to fit a Craftsman version (which I think is a Sargent 1080)? I'm specifically looking for a 1/4" plow blade.
Thanks

[Jonathan McCullough]

I have one of those. The Sargents have two notches at the top of the iron. If you look, you'll see that the depth adjusting nut has provisions for those two notches. On a Stanley 45 iron, there's only one notch, so you won't be able to fit it in the Craftsman.

There are a couple of fixes to use the Stanley iron in the Craftsman/Sargent plane. You could grind a small notch in the iron with a Dremel, which would probably be the easiest fix, or you could fashion a depth adjustment nut that would accommodate a Stanley blade. Finally, you could just not use the depth adjuster nut. The threads are pretty coarse and 1/8 of a turn can mean the difference between way too much and way too little, so I've been known to tap the iron just a bit to get it just right.

Let me know if you need more info, I could take pictures of my irons so you could see.

[Lamar Keeney]

+1 for doing without the adjustment nut. I have the same Craftmans Sargent made with a full set of irons. I also have a Stanley 45, 50, and a 48 that came without. The adjustment without the nut is a minor issue to me and they all work well. Plus I saved a bunch on the Stanleys being bladeless.

Regards Lamar

[Peter Travis]

Thanks guys- that's what I needed to know.