Stanley 71 1/2 replacement cutter

[Jason Buresh]

Hello everyone! I found a vintage Stanley 71 1/2 on marketplace yesterday and pounced on it like a panther. It has an original cutter in it and is in excellent shape. I am thrilled with it!

I would like to purchase a new Veritas cutter as the one that came with it isn't bad but looks like it has been sharpened free hand for years and is a little out of whack. I don't trust myself on a grinder and for what the veritas irons cost would rather just buy a new one.

Lee valley has multiple different sizes available. The original cutter is 1/2" I believe. Eventually I plan on buying more but if you had to pick just one is the 1/2" a good size? My immediate plans will be cleaning up the bottoms of some 3/4" dados with it, but time will tell what other uses I will find.

Thanks for the help!!

[steven c newman]

I have the OEM 1/2" straight edge cutter, that came with my 71-1/2....I have also MADE two other cutters...a 3/8" wide, and a 1/4" wide. Both started out as allen hex wrenches.

Been using the 1/4" one to level the bottoms of grooves...the other 2 for dados.

With the Veritas...you have to turn the adjusting nut upside down....then their cutters will work....me being Frugal (cheap?) I simply made my own. Along with a box to store everything in.

[Jason Buresh]

I never thought to make my own. I will keep that in mind

[Jim Koepke]

My choice would be for the 1/2" spear point blade. Don't forget the sharpening holder. You might want to consider getting another blade to get over the $30 mark for free shipping.

For a second blade think about what you will be doing in the future. If you will be installing a lot of hinges you may want a wider blade. If you are going to be making 1/4" dados you may want to consider a narrow blade.

An approximately 1/4" thick wooden base has been added to my Sargent #62 router, a clone of the Stanley #71. The added base has made it unnecessary to flip the adjuster nut.

Another helpful addition are eight lines added to the adjuster nut:

440231

This router has adjuster threads of 18 per inch. 1/18=0.0555.

0.0555/8=0.00694444" making 16 divisions has been considered, but it is easy to guesstimate moving the nut half way between the marks. The adjustment is usually made with the plane resting on a piece of scrap or in the last cut. The holding bolt is just loose enough to allow adjustment. This helps to keep the blade from dropping due to the lash inherent in the adjustment nut and the notch in the blades.

Each maker likely used a different threading on their adjuster. Don't worry about the numbers. Instead learn what your own router setup does with an eighth of a turn or a sixteenth of a turn.

jtk

[Jason Buresh]

Jim,

Would a piece or 1/4" MDF be a good choice?

Also, what is the advantage of a spear point vs a chisel point for lack of a better term? I am thinking it probably cuts easier as it doesn't plow as much

[Jim Koepke]

Jim,

Would a piece or 1/4" MDF be a good choice?

Also, what is the advantage of a spear point vs a chisel point for lack of a better term? I am thinking it probably cuts easier as it doesn't plow as much

Without trying it there is no way for me to know about the MDF.

For me the spear point is easier to work with close to an edge. It is like a skewed chisel.

jtk

[mike stenson]

I've used MDF and plywood for (added) sub bases on router planes before. Both are nice in that they're dimensionally stable. I've generally done it just to make the base bigger, not to suck up cutter height, but it should work fine.