Sargent 306 Blade

[Tom Blank]

My son acquired a Sargent 306 block plane a while back which you all helped identify. It recently found it's way to my bench for sharpening.

The plane is in nice condition, but the blade (iron) is cupped, concave on the bevel face, convex on the back side. I have worked on it some, but it is gonna be a long process to get the back flat and I'm not sure it's worth it. The cup makes it cut like a cambered iron and is pretty abrupt for a block plane. I did some Google work looking for replacement blades and found nothing.

Any good ideas out there?

Thanks,

Tom

[Jim Koepke]

Hi Tom,

There is one Sargent block plane blade listed currently on ebay with 4 days left, item 401319710367 is from a Craftsman plane and doesn't have the built in lever some Sargent planes have.

It all depends on how close to original you want to keep the plane.

Are you anywhere near Longview, WA? Only one of my planes is a Sargent. Not sure if one of my Stanley block plane blades of the same size would work, but you would be welcome to come by and try.

Other than that you might try people like Patrick Leach at www.supertool.com or nhplaneparts.com.

jtk

[steven c newman]

For irons that are cupped....I have a very simple remedy.....Lay the hollow side down on the bench. Hit the "high spot" with a ball pean hammer's "ball" end. Check for flat, and repeat until it is..

One of the hardest irons to find is a Sargent block plane's iron with the attached lever cap.

[Tom Blank]

Jim, thanks for the offer, I get down I-5 to Portland once in a while. That ebay iron looks to have a much coarser pitch for the depth adjustment lever than on this one. There is a complete 306 for sale at $35. Could get a bunch of spare parts in one shot.

372636

Ran across several blades with the coarser pitch including new ones on Ron Hock's page. Coarser must have been a more common pitch.

Steven, I suspect your solution is the simple answer. I could do without the lateral adjust lever and teach son Ryan how to adjust with a light tap. Depth adjustment engagement is more critical.

Tom

[Jim Koepke]

There is a complete 306 for sale at $35. Could get a bunch of spare parts in one shot.

More than once a plane has been bought for parts and ended up being one of my regular users.

jtk