#4 replacement blade: .095 or .130?

[Danny Thompson]

I need to replace the blade on my recently acquired Stanley Bailey #4 Type 11. I noticed that Lie-Nielsen sells a replacement blade specifically for S/Bs that is thinner than their normal blades (0.095" rather than 0.130").

What has my curiosity up is that the yoke that came with the plane, which I bought from a mysterious character hanging out at the 'bay, was longer than the standard. It made me wonder whether he/she had used a much thicker blade.

Is it common to replace a Stanley Bailey #4 blade with a standard Lie Nielsen blade (0.130") or other thick blade rather than the ones sold specifically for Stanley Bailey's? If you have you tried it, what is your recommendation--do it or no?

[Mark Stutz]

Danny,
The problem with the stock LN blade is that it won't fit unless you open up the mouth on the usual Stanley/Bailey with a file. Some have no problems doing this...others will cringe. That is why they make the "Stanley replacemant"...it will fit, but still thicker than the stock Stanley blade.

[Ron Brese]

Danny,

I ordered a new iron and improved chipbreaker for my L-N #4 and used the iron and chipbreaker that came with the L-N in my pre WW2 #4. It dropped right in with no problem and my #4 has not been modified. It's a odd thing, I have heard of people trying this and having to modify the mouth and others like myself having them drop right in no problem. What makes one work and others not?, I have no idea so maybe someone else can shed some light on this subject.

Ron

[Jason Beam]

Ron, I believe the others are talking about putting a LN blade into a Stanley #4, not a LN #4. That might be the answer to the inconsistency you've noticed :)

[Mike Henderson]

Danny,
The problem with the stock LN blade is that it won't fit unless you open up the mouth on the usual Stanley/Bailey with a file. Some have no problems doing this...others will cringe. That is why they make the "Stanley replacemant"...it will fit, but still thicker than the stock Stanley blade.
Mark is correct. On some Stanley Bailey planes, there's a center rib under the frog. If you slide the frog backwards to try to get the edge of the blade to fit into the mouth, the blade hits on that center rib, preventing it from moving backwards. If that happens you'll see a gap between the blade and the frog.

Another problem, which you don't seem to have, is that the lever on the yoke may be too short to engage the slot on the chip breaker when you use a really thick blade. That prevents you from making depth adjustments.

Sometimes the lever will "just" engage, allowing you can make small adjustments but then the lever slips out of the slot on the chip breaker - so the amount of depth adjustment is very limited.

Mike

[Ron Brese]

Jason,

As far as I know there is no such thing as a Pre WW2 Lie-Nielsen #4. I put the L-N iron and chipbreaker in my Stanley #4, went in without a hitch. But I do understand that for some this is not the case.

Ron

[Jeff Cord]

I ordered the replacement blade for my Stanley #4 (pre WWII era) as well as the chipbreaker from LN at a recent show.
It is the blade they say is designed for the Stanley #4 and it, and the chipbreaker, fit just fine, no adjustments necessary.
Other than the fact it took forever (OK, maybe a few hours) to hone the blade to remove the machine marks it is great.
Jeff

[Danny Thompson]

Jeff,

I know what you mean. I have about two dozen sheets of sandpaper and an equal number of hours invested in the sole of this #4, and it still isn't flat. I find myself redoing the calculus on a used Stanley Bailey v. a new LV or LN.

[Eddie Darby]

"Replacement blades for Bench Planes must be thinner to fit the original Stanley, Record or other makers' Bench Planes. If the blade is too thick, the yoke on your plane will not properly engage the slot in the Chipbreaker, The Chipbreaker Screw may not be long enough to install the Chipbreaker at all, but most important the mouth opening may not be large enough to allow the blade, or a shaving, to pass.
Therefore, Bench Plane blades ordered from the list above, identified by width, will be .095" thick, which will work fine on most Bench Planes."

From this page: http://www.lie-nielsen.com/catalog.php?cat=512



1-Yoke Problem
2-ChipBreaker Problem
3-Mouth Problem

I have run across here at SMC a poster that did some welding work ( extend the yoke # 1 problem ) to overcome this difficulty. I think a good search for your subject here might prove fruitful.

Trying the LN chipbreaker might help with # 2 problem.

A file will open the mouth for # 3 problem.

If you do get everything working to your satisfaction, then I would suggest stocking up on an extra blade.

I put a LN blade and chipbreaker into my LV Paragon plane #5 Jack, and I had to open-up the mouth. That was all, but the worst one is the yoke being too short.