NOS Sheffield iron?

[Dave Gardner]

Hi all,

I'm slouching toward assembling what I need to make a poor man's infill from a Diamond Edge #5 1/2 body. Looking at a well known auction site, I saw this [it would need 1/16th filed off each side]: 120876437415.

Even with postage from England it's still a little better than Lee Valley--and I don't think Hock has an equivalent.

My hope is it would have good quality carbon steel--any opinions?

Thanks, Dave

[David Posey]

If it is properly heat treated, you will not be able to file it. You could grind it, but you risk tempering the blade when doing that, and with most setups it will take a while to do it right and will not be easy to keep the edge straight.

In order to file it, you would need to anneal it, file it, then heat treat and temper it again. It would likely warp somewhere in the process since the bevel is already ground. If you're going to that trouble, it would be easier and cheaper to just buy already annealed steel and use that. If you aren't already set up to do that and you aren't planning on doing heat treating again, it's much easier and cheaper in the long run just to buy a properly sized iron.

If you're set on using that iron, is there any way you could let the body of the plane be a little bigger?

[Jacob Reverb]

Sheffield steel is some sweet stuff, in my experience.

David Posey - Rather than going through all the trouble of heating to critical, normalizing, filing, heating to critical again, quenching and retempering ... couldn't Dave Gardner simply take 1/16" off each side on a water-cooled slow grinder?

That's what I would do in the same situation. 30 minutes and done. I might even go at it judiciously with one of those cool-running Norton stones on a bench grinder, with a Dixie cup full of water on the side...

[David Posey]

If I had the plane iron already in my possession, then yes, I would try to grind it. I was only pointing out what you'd have to do to actually file it. I don't think the Norton stone would matter that much. You can still burn an edge on a friable stone. I certainly wouldn't go out and buy one just for this task. All you really have to worry about is the bottom third or so anyway, as you're not likely to be able to sharpen past that in your lifetime.

If you're thinking about the same LV blade I am, it looks like it'd be around 45 shipped. The other blade would be around 28. It really comes down to whether or not it's worth the hassle and your time to modify the other blade.

[Jacob Reverb]

Dave G - My only concern would be any surcharges that your credit card might hit you with for currency conversion .. I almost got bitten that way, once. I think they wanted $35 or some crazy amount like that simply for the international transaction...might be worth looking into before making the leap...

[Dave Gardner]

Yikes, I hope there's no insane charges--I've ordered from England before with no ill effects. I am going the wet slow grinder route, thanks for the mention. I have to admit part of my reason for this iron is the cool stamping at the top. Also, I'm not too skilled at delaying gratification--that makes patient watching for a 2 1/4 blade unlikely.

Thanks for the thoughtful input,

Dave