Newbie jumping in the creek!

[Russell Svenningsen]

Hello all, this is my first post to SMC since joining recently. This seems to be a tremendous forum. I am getting used to the layout, and very much appreciate the information and pics shared by everyone.

Now, down to business. I have quite a few old hand planes of my grandfathers, and have been in the process of restoring them of late. Tonight, I received a brand new Hock, 2", A2 iron for the Stanley #5 jack plane I have been pain-stakingly resurrecting. Man, what a difference. I admit that until the last couple of months, hand planes remained just an interesting curiosity for me, but since I've spent a lot of time cleaning, sharpening, tuning, etc, I have really begun to see the attraction. Even more so with the addition of this new iron. I have only read about folks making whisper-thin shavings and hearing the plane "sing". That is, until tonight. Wow, I made a pile of shavings very quickly, and think I got to see the allure.

At any rate, that's my story for tonight. I wil be adding more of these irons to the many planes I have inherited, and would appreciate any further tips you might have for getting these wonderful and nostalgic tools working correctly. :)

Best regards,
Russell Svenningsen
Cincinnati, Ohio

[Robert Ducharme]

Welcome! I hope you continue enjoying it as much as I do.

If you are excited by allure of using them by hand, attach an electric cord and get a real tingle :D :D :D

[Tyler Howell]

Welcome to the Creek Russell. Jumpin in is the best way to get wet around here. Great bunch of folks.
Glad to have one more.

[James Carmichael]

Hello all, this is my first post to SMC since joining recently. This seems to be a tremendous forum. I am getting used to the layout, and very much appreciate the information and pics shared by everyone.

Now, down to business. I have quite a few old hand planes of my grandfathers, and have been in the process of restoring them of late. Tonight, I received a brand new Hock, 2", A2 iron for the Stanley #5 jack plane I have been pain-stakingly resurrecting. Man, what a difference. I admit that until the last couple of months, hand planes remained just an interesting curiosity for me, but since I've spent a lot of time cleaning, sharpening, tuning, etc, I have really begun to see the attraction. Even more so with the addition of this new iron. I have only read about folks making whisper-thin shavings and hearing the plane "sing". That is, until tonight. Wow, I made a pile of shavings very quickly, and think I got to see the allure.

At any rate, that's my story for tonight. I wil be adding more of these irons to the many planes I have inherited, and would appreciate any further tips you might have for getting these wonderful and nostalgic tools working correctly. :)

Best regards,
Russell Svenningsen
Cincinnati, Ohio

Welcom, Russell.

As a newbie neander myself doing some plane restoration, I found your results interesting. I have been eyeing either Hock or Clifton irons and chipbreakers.

Has anyone tried the 2" Clifton's in the Bailey-style planes?

[Alan Turner]

Welcome aboard. Tell us more about the hand planes you have inherited. Age? Types? Pix. I still use my father's Stanley No. 5, from the 50's I think; which was not the best time for Stanley, but not the worst either. I have had other NO. 5's pass throgh my hands, but have always disposed of them in favor of the one with family karma.
Alan

[Davy Barr]

I recently added a Lie-Nielsen chipbreaker to my Stanley #4 and it made a huge difference. I still have the original Sweetheart iron. I wonder what makes the most difference - changing out the iron or changing out the chipbreaker? If you could only do one, which would it be? I opted for the chipbreaker because they are cheaper. Of course the best would be to change out both! By the way, don't dispose of the old irons and chipbreakers. They make the planes more valuable.

[James Carmichael]

I think either helps as the higher-end iron is thicker.

FWIW, Woodworker.COM has Clifton 2" & 2 3/8" chipbreakers for $11.99. Tradional Woodworker has a special, 2" Clifton iron + chipbreaker for around $60, that's normally about what the iron alone runs.

[Sean Evoy]

James,
I have some Clifton planes I got from Woodcraft last year when they were clearing out their stock. I have a Hock chipbreaker and recently bought a couple of L-N improved CBs, so I have experience with all three.

The most important thing is that the CB not be in wind and that it make solid contact with the blade across its width. Surprisingly, given the cost, none of the three types are perfect.

So far, my experience with the Clifton stay-set design has not been that good. Yes, they are thick which helps. The two-piece design is supposed to make it easier to sharpen and I suppose it accomplishes that if you sharpen free-hand. If you use a jig to sharpen, you may have to take the whole CB off (depends on your jig, of course) in which case getting it back on the blade is fussier than with a regular CB. My real problem with the stay-sets is that it is hard to be 100% certain that it is making pefect contact across the width of the blade. The lever cap presses the lower half against the blade, so you have to simulate that with your fingers while looking for gaps. It takes a fair amount of wrist contortions to do it. The smaller size of the lower half makes it even harder to fettle it if the CB does have a gap (almost all of mine did, incidentally).

The L-N CBs looked fantastic out of the box. They are not quite as thick as the stay-sets (I had to tighten the lever cap screw) but they seem heavier. When I put them on my Cliftons, I realized that the small, round opening the lever cap screw fits through limits the amount of travel for my blade adjuster. I can fully retract the blade, but the cap screw comes into contact with the CB long before the adjuster nut reaches the limit of its travel. I find this annoying so when I have a bit if time, I think I will make the opening on the CB larger. This may be unique to my planes, but it is something to consider. One of them was in wind but it was easy to correct.

The Hock is thick, it has a wider opening for the lever cap screw, but it was in wind. This was the first CB I ever bought and it took me a while to figure out why it was not working well because I foolishly assumed that being new and from a well-known blade maker it would be perfect out-of-the-box. When I did sort it out, the Hock was great and it is still in use on an older Stanley Bailey that I have kicking around.

In short, any of the three is probably an upgrade from an old, thin CB. Just don't be surprised if you have to do the same type of fettling you would with any other CB. Hope this helps.

[James Carmichael]

Thanks for all the info, Sean.

I'm not sure I understand what you mean about the CB being "in wind"?? You mean it must be sitting flat on the iron?

I went ahead and ordered the Clifton CBs from WWS, figuring at $12 each for 2" & 2 /38" was an inexpensive route to try and improve performance of my planes.

Ugh, you guys were not kidding about the slippery slope when I became stricken with this sickness! Being the frugal SOB I am, this is very hard to sustain!!!

[Sean Evoy]

By "in wind" I mean that the CB was actually twisted along its long axis. You can test for this by placing it on a flat reference surface and see if it rocks when you place your fingers on oposite corners. If it is in wind, you need to knock off the high spots if they occur anywhere that the CB comes into contact with the plane iron, otherwise there is going to be a gap between them which defeats the purpose of the CB in the first place.

As to the slippery slope, I feel your pain. Or is it joy? I can't tell anymore. Now, where's that bookmark to the L-N site? "Mmmm, unobtainable tools ...."