new blade for an old woodie?

[Mike Cherry]

Hey yall, picked up a couple wooden jacks a couple weeks ago for a song. I finally had some shop time and decided to flatten the blades and now I know why I got them so cheap lol. One blade is beyond repair, it is essentially bent it would seem. How this happens, I dont know. I cant remember whats wrong with the other one...

Anyhow, can I get new blades for these guys? If pictures of the planes are needed I can provide some. I saw Lee Valley has free shipping and I think they might have some plane blades that might work. Can anyone steer me in the right direction?

[Jim Koepke]

Pictures almost always help.

Blade size and whether it is a single or double iron might be of help. You never know who may have what lingering in their junk bin.

If it looks like, or sort of similar to an old Stanley blade, my advice would be to give one a try.

jtk

[Jim Belair]

Anyhow, can I get new blades for these guys? If pictures of the planes are needed I can provide some. I saw Lee Valley has free shipping and I think they might have some plane blades that might work. Can anyone steer me in the right direction?

If I was looking for a replacement blade for an old woody, I'd contact Josh at hyperkitten.

[Mike Cherry]

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Heres some photos, sorry they are sideways. The blade measures 2 1/4".

[Reinis Kanders]

That does not look too bad for a jack plane. Find a spot where chipbreaker does not clog and it should be ok..

[Mike Cherry]

Thing is, there is a serious gap on the right corner between the blade and breaker. On the order of about 1/8"

[steven c newman]

I'll look in the shop tomorrow, but....I THINK I might have a spare iron like that. I can send just the iron, IF it is the correct size you have. PM if you want it......

Edit: Have two. one is 2-3/16" wide, the other is 2-1/8" wide. Both are Ohio Tool Co. irons. The wider one does have it's chipbreaker, as well. Both are tapered irons.

[Mike Cherry]

That's mighty kind of you Steven, pm sent.

[Allan Speers]

You didn't take a pic of the actual problem, so I'll take your word for it, but that blade looks fine to me. Better than most, in fact, just needs a good overhaul.

If there's a 1/8" gap under the breaker, I wouldn't even worry about it as the blade itself is beefy enough to not NEED a breaker. If you think it will collect chips or something, just fill it in with JB Weld.

that's a FINE old blade, and probably laminated. (I have three from the same maker, and they are all laminated.) As long as the "business side" (which you didn't show us) isn't pitted, you should put that baby to use.

[steven c newman]

Late start to today. I boxed up the parts, and ship them out Monday. Sending along the other chipbreaker as well. These are Ohio Tool Co. irons and cb.

Details later...

[Mike Cherry]

Thanks Steven, very kind of you. Let me know how I can compensate you buddy.

Allen, I'll take some pics and post them when I get home of the actual blade. Apologies, but as a new-ish woodworker I was under the impression that having a chip breaker mate with the blade was of significant importance. I understand we're talking about a roughing plane and not a smoother. My only experience is with metal planes, and I have experienced clogging in the past with a chip breaker that didn't seat well.

[Mike Cherry]

I went to check the breaker and remembered it was the blade that was out of whack.

[Allan Speers]

That's weird, but if the blade's back is flat, I don't think you have a problem. Again, that blade is thick enough to not even need a cap iron / breaker. I'd slather on some JB Weld "just because" and get on with it.

And it does appear to be a laminated blade, though hard to be 100% sure from that pic. (Look from the side, for a light / dark dividing line.) If so it will be easy to sharpen, and likely take a very, VERY sharp edge.

[steven c newman]

Two irons and their mated chipbreakers left this morning's mail. Dropped off at the Post Office while I was out running errands. Padded envelopes for each set, stuffed then into a small flat rate box.....send Mike the tracking number.

Enjoy.....maybe thursday's mail?

[Mike Holbrook]

Nice old woodie Mike, nice find. I had a Stanley 4 1/2 arrive a few days ago. I was disturbed, at first, to find that the chip breaker was apparently bent. Closer inspection later revealed that it may have been bent on purpose. The metal in many of those old chip beakers wasn't all that hard. After x number of years of hard use they can start to loose the ability to tighten down on the plane blades edge. I have read that it might be necessary to make an adjustment to some of the older chip breakers to regain function they may have lost over years of use/misuse. You might be able to bend that chip breaker back into a more functional shape in a vise, with an anvil....

[Mike Cherry]

Thanks again Steven!
Mike, A couple posts up I mentioned my mistake that it is the blade, not the breaker that is the culprit. Although I suppose I could bend the chip breaker to match the blade. I'm not sure how the back of the blade got that far out of whack.

[Mike Allen1010]

Mike, I completely agree that a dead tight fit between chip breaker and iron is essential , not optional. Without same , you will get shavings stuck in the gap, which IMHO is no fun.


I could be reasonably burned at the stake by vintage cast steel fans, but some of the best tool $ I've spent has been for Hock/ Matsumura blades. My experience has been the edge quality is typically better/ longer lasting. You have to check the size of the slot in the iron to make sure your chip breaker will fit, or buy corresponding modern chip breaker.

Some may say you need a tapered iron for vintage woodies but I'vevnever had a problem that a little adjustment of the wedge didn't fix 100%. Disclaimer: if Steve Voigt writes in and says I'm full of crap, then go with what he says - he's forgotten more about this than I know and builds beautiful planes everyday, including custom spec irons.

Cheers, Mike

[Mike Cherry]

Thanks Mike A.! I remember picking up dozens of planes in your shop and just about all had Hock blades haha. I do have a 2 1/4" blade and cap from a type 11 5 1/2 Bailey I could try. I guess I was under the impression that a tapered iron was mandatory due to the wedge design. I wasn't sure if the hump in modern chipbreakers would interfere with the the wedge.

[Robert Engel]

How about a replacement Japanese plane blade?

I've been in this situation and there were planes I bought cap irons/blades that weren't really worth it in retrospect - especially with a wood plane.

If there is enough personal inherent value then go for it, but I still hope you can get an excellent deal on a replacement blade.

[Steve Voigt]

Some may say you need a tapered iron for vintage woodies but I'vevnever had a problem that a little adjustment of the wedge didn't fix 100%. Disclaimer: if Steve Voigt writes in and says I'm full of crap, then go with what he says - he's forgotten more about this than I know and builds beautiful planes everyday, including custom spec irons.

Cheers, Mike

LOL, you're not full of crap Mike. But thanks for dragging me in. :p

A couple comments on this thread.
* No reason you can't use a parallel (untapered) iron. Tapered irons adjust more smoothly but a parallel iron will work fine.
* A Stanley cap iron will not work, because of the hump. Use an old woodie cap iron, or a new one from LV, LN, etc. If you do the latter, you'll need to make sure that the slot is long enough to allow you to set the cap iron close to the edge. You'll also need to put a steeper microbevel, say 50*-ish, on the cap iron.
* You can't turn a double iron plane (like Mike C's) into a single iron, so no, you can't just leave out the cap iron. At least not if you expect the plane to function well. The mouth would be huge, the new wedge you'd have to make would be enormous, and the geometry of the abutments is all wrong.
* You can't use a tapered Japanese iron. To short, and it's tapered the wrong way.
* The best option here is to probably to use the blade that Steven nicely sent you. You will almost certainly need to make a new wedge or modify the old one, but that's pretty standard for an old woodie.

[Mike Cherry]

Excellent info Steve, I will report back when I see the goodies that Steven sent me!