Replacing the iron in a wooden handplane

[Marc Fenneuff]

Today, on a bit of a whim, I picked a 22" wooden jointer plane. The body, wedge and tote are in excellent shape and I figured I would clean it up and make a user out of it. Here's a photo, where I'm gluing up a pretty minor crack. I plan to give it a few days to acclimate and then work on squaring it and refinishing it.

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The question I have concerns the iron; this plane was clearly well cared-for and likely used for decades, given how little of the iron is left

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The iron is tapered, and pretty thick, over 5/32" near the bevel.

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I'd like to find a replacement; could I use something like a Hock iron in this plane, if I'm unable (or too impatient) to find a vintage replacement? I've got a #6-sized Millers Falls, that I could test the fit with, if necessary.

Secondary question, while I have your attention: does the plug at the front indicate that a knob used be there?

[Jim Koepke]

The plug at the front was most likely a strike button. A place that could be hit with a mallet to retract or loosen the blade & wedge.

As far as a replacement blade goes, I did a quick search on ebay and didn't find anything listed currently.

jtk

[Rafael Herrera]

A parallel iron won't fit well on this plane.

If you search "tapered plane iron" on ebay, you're bound to find something that'll fit your plane.

It seems you have more than 1/4" of steel on your original iron. That's enough to get you going until you get a replacement.

[Marc Fenneuff]

Thanks guys, that’s what I needed to hear.

[Chuck Hill]

I have a box of antique blades, mostly tapered blades. Most have some minor pitting due to poor storage in the decades past, so a bit of elbow grease will be needed. What is the width of your iron?

[Marc Fenneuff]

Thank you Chuck. I thought at first that it was 2-3/8" but I realized that the iron is tapered in width as well as thickness. I rechecked and am reading 2-7/16" at the very tip of the bevel, and 2-7/16" strong at the mouth. I also found a partial mfg imprint on the iron:

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I'm able to make out "A.HOW-" with the next letter likely being an "E" or an "L." The "beehive" word and image is pretty distinct, but Ive had no luck with Google.

[Rafael Herrera]

Augustus Howland & Co.

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[Rafael Herrera]

Thank you Chuck. I thought at first that it was 2-3/8" but I realized that the iron is tapered in width as well as thickness. I rechecked and am reading 2-7/16" at the very tip of the bevel, and 2-7/16" strong at the mouth.

Being off by a 1/16" is not a big deal, irons were sized in 1/8" increments. What's the width of the chipbreaker?

[Marc Fenneuff]

Being off by a 1/16" is not a big deal, irons were sized in 1/8" increments. What's the width of the chipbreaker?

The chipbreaker also measures 2-7/16" strong at the widest part.

Thanks for the photo!

And, you were correct, searching for "tapered plane iron 2-7/16" on ebay did score some hits.

[Izzy Camire]

Marc,
You may want try calling Dan at Red Rose reproductions. He sells irons for these planes. I bought one a couple of years ago. I had to do some work on it but once I did it made a good replacement. Not sure he will have the width you need. If you speak to him on the phone he may be able to help you.
https://redrosereproductions.com/tapered-bench-plane-irons/

[Chuck Hill]

2 3/8" seems an uncommon size. I have lots of 2 1/4" and 2 1/2". Some of the latter are 1/64 or 1/32 shy of the full 2 1/2". How well does the blade fit the plane? Is there enough side to side room to fit a 2 1/2" and still have room for lateral adjustments to the blade?

[Rafael Herrera]

The Red Rose Reproductions double irons are not inexpensive, but they look pretty good. I wish they were branded, it'd make them as attractive as the old Sheffield ones.

I checked old Marples and Mathieson catalogs for my post above. The irons for bench planes were sold in 1/8" increments all the way to 2 7/8" wide. 2 3/8" probably wasn't a popular size.

Your 2 7/16" hints at a 2 1/2" iron. As the iron wears out, the width decreases.

My 22" Mathieson try plane has a 2 1/2" iron, the mouth is 2 5/8" wide. That gives you an idea of how much room you need for adjustment.

[Jack Dover]

You might need to replace a wedge as well. Abutments are laid using a particular blade and a wedge angle is taken from that. So if the taper of the iron assembly differs too much the wedge might not hold - you'll be able to tighten it and even have no chatter, but the wedge will be undoing itself as there's not enough friction. This could be avoided if you could go to some place that has buckets of the old iron assemblies (e.g. a good antique shop or some swap meet up) and find a matching one.

Making a wedge is a critical, but fairly straightforward operation. It's just you probably want an original wedge and probably don't want to match the colors.

[Marc Fenneuff]

Appreciate the additional info. I've got the surface rust off and have enough of the iron left to hone and test with. Also started cleaning the body. Paul Seller's YT video appears to show a nice, restrained approach to cleaning and tuning.

[Charles Guest]

Tapered iron and wedge work in unison. Use what you have but be careful sharpening. Grind a hollow but not all the way to the edge. The grinder shouldn't create a burr. Only your honing stones actually shorten the iron unless you're getting rid of nicks or a wildly out of square end. If you don't understand this, stop and figure it out before moving forward. The length you have left could last quite a while if the iron is hardened that far. If it's not you'll know in short order -- it'll take an edge but it'll be gone in two passes down a board.