HSS plane blades for Lee Valley

[Matthew N. Masail]

any comments on the blades from this page? http://www.leevalley.com/US/wood/page.aspx?p=46322&cat=1,41182,46334

Thanks!

[Jim Belair]

The blades for those muji planes are great for making your own planes Matthew (and the planes are pretty good too). Good steel, nice thickness and a bargain price. I have no problem sharpening them on my Norton waterstones.

[David Weaver]

Well, you'd have to have something to use them in.

They're tough irons, not easy to sharpen. They hold an edge well, though.

[Matthew N. Masail]

perfect... I'll make somthing to use them in... no worries... funny how things turned out, I was going to make my own planes only to save money, yet I fell in love with the possibilities and the tools. I will work at it until I can make great planes no prob.
I like the idea of long lasting HSS edges.

[David Weaver]

I don't think you'll ever find an iron that holds an edge like a muji does when you consider the price.

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

Sounds like you've got some experience with those, david. How do they hold up in something like cocobolo or something, with some silica in it? I've had this guitar on the back burner for years now, and someday I'm going to need to do some work on the quartersawn cocobolo neck blank I've got sitting around.

[David Weaver]

Yes, cocobolo with silica in it is a very good place to use them. The only reason I have them is because I was dimensioning wood for cocobolo (not lots of it, but some for a plane at a time, or handles, etc) a few years ago and had trouble with carbon and A2 steel irons (neither lasted more than a few dozen strokes).

I'd say the muji irons last maybe twice as long in regular hardwoods, it's hard to tell, they don't wear the same way.

But when the wood is abrasive, they last probably 4 times as long as carbon steel or A2 irons. I've never counted, that's a guess, but it's not a biased guess.

[Brian Kent]

I agree with the recommendation of "muji" plane irons 100% Yes, they will hold up to cocobolo with a reverse double twist and full axel.

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

Might have to pick up one of those smoothers someday . . . too bad I can't make the blades fit my bailey-style jointer.

[Jim Belair]

The high angle (60 deg) ones are great to have around for those gnarly bits.

These http://www.leevalley.com/US/wood/page.aspx?p=46320&cat=1,41182,46334
and this one http://www.leevalley.com/US/wood/page.aspx?cat=1,230,41182,41187&p=50251

Spent several minutes trying to find this last one on the website. Finally had to get out my paper catalog to find the number. Why this isn't included with other "Wooden" and "Hong Kong" planes is beyond me. I keep harping about this to LV Cust Service. [end rant]

[Matthew N. Masail]

is there a difference between the Hong-Kong ones and the Muji ? I have the big hong-kong one but I like that the Muji ones are shorter.

[Jim Belair]

I'm pretty sure they are all made by Muijfang and, with a few exceptions (like the rabbet), use the HSS blades.

[David Weaver]

They're all made by woodwell corp (i think that's the name) in china.

One warning with the "jack" that's shown, the one that looks like a japanese plane. it is smaller than it looks in pictures, and if you get it you'll find it's smaller than you expected.

It's about 10 or 11 inches long and short. I expected it to be about the size of a japanese smoother, but didn't look close enough and figure the body itself would only displace about half as much as a 70mm japanese smoother, which is only an inch or so longer.

[Matthew N. Masail]

yeah the Hong Kong ones are HSS too. just thought there might be a difference between them, but now that I think about it it dosen't matter much if they are all good.

[Paul Saffold]

Can the HSS blades be sharpened on Norton waterstones?

[David Weaver]

Yes, the only thing that won't touch them is oilstones. They'll take more work on waterstones than does carbon or A2, though, and the less optimized a stone is for HSS, the longer they'll take in relative terms vs. carbon and A2.

[Terry Beadle]

I used one of these blades to make small wood plane. I set the bed at 57 degrees. I used japanese water stones to sharpen it with. I set the initial sharpening angle at 30 with a microbevel of 35. I use it to soften edges almost exclusively. The higher angle and the very sharp edge almost ignor grain changes on the edges of the boards. Very effective. I put an adjustable mouth on it from copying Steve Knights design but it really doesn't need it. A great bargain at around $10. Recommended. It's not as heavy as a Hock but it does the job and keeps an edge for sure. If I were making a bigger plane, like say a Jack in stead of this small 5 inch edge softener, I'd go with a Hock. Just my opinion. A larger plane benefits from some heft where as this small plane doesn't need it as it's taking 3 thou shavings that are very narrow from the edges.

I'm not saying it won't work in a Jack, but that I prefer more heft. I think you could make a nice smoother or a jack with one of these blades but it would be narrower and thus a bit inefficient. Still at such a low price, a great bargain IMO.

Enjoy the process..

[george wilson]

I always hone my metal lathe HSS cutters on an India oilstone after grinding them. I wonder if these HSS irons are harder than the usual HSS??

[David Weaver]

I guess I should've clarified novaculite oilstones. I'd imagine al-ox indias and carborundum stones would cut them, but you'd be up the creek on a fine stone.

[george wilson]

Well,Arkansas type stones are quite soft. I can easily,with no effort at all,re shape slip stones on my belt grinder.