At the woodworking show in Oakland three blades were ordered, with chip breakers from Ron Hock.
I knew the sound of that truck when it pulled up today. The UPS driver handed me the box and smiled.
It is late, but a few epiphanies went through my head while trying out the blades.
1) I have come pretty close to being as sharp as the Hock blades.
2) The thickness of the blade makes some difference, but it seems the geometry of the chip breaker has a lot of influence. Some of my Stanley blades tend to bow when clamped in place. Not sure if this is due to blade flex or too much bow in the chip breaker influencing the blade. Have to check this out.
3) The blades by themselves cost more than any of the planes for which they were bought.
So anyway, here is a picture of some shavings and the original blades.
jim