Replacement blades for #45 Combination Plane

I picked up a Wards Master combination plane a few weeks ago. All of the research I've done says it's identical to a Stanley #45. I bought it with the intention of using it as a plow and dado plane, thinking it would be easy to find some additional flat blades.

Oops.

I've found a couple of flat blade auctions, but they're not the sizes I want. Does anyone offer new, ready to use replacement blades for these things, or am I destined to haunt Ebay for the next few months only to wind up with a blade that's seen better days?

FWIW, I've got a 5/8 blade. I'd like a 1/4" blade, and perhaps a few other smallish sizes.

Thanks!

I had the same problem and the blades I could find were very expensive. I ended up making a 1/4", 3/8" and 1/2' blade out of some scrap o1 steel. You cold also use an old plane blade. They are very simple with the one notch for the adjuster and if you use o1, it super easy to temper.

Does Jamestown Tools offer some blades for the 45?

St James Bay Tools offers blanks and maybe finished blades.

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Originally Posted by george wilson

Does Jamestown Tools offer some blades for the 45?

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St. James (?)offers blade blanks that you have to grind and harden. I'm not too keen on the idea of tempering(?) the metal myself. Big fire goes against my self preservation instincts :)

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Originally Posted by dave hunt

I had the same problem and the blades I could find were very expensive. I ended up making a 1/4", 3/8" and 1/2' blade out of some scrap o1 steel. You cold also use an old plane blade. They are very simple with the one notch for the adjuster and if you use o1, it super easy to temper.

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My metal grinding and shaping skills are poor on a good day. Adding that to my reluctance to temper stuff results in disaster. OK, maybe not disaster, but I'm sure the final product wil be less than ideal.

If I have to go that route to get what I want, will a MAPP or propane torch be sufficient?

There may be some late-model NOS stanley blades out there, and stanley may still make them.

Assuming you just want straight blades to use this as a plow plane?

Cheapest would be to find new stanley brand ones or hunt around an incompete old set that gives you what you want. Most guaranteed might be to make your own with O1 steel, but the cost of the materials, torch, good hacksaw, files, oil for a quench might be greater than the irons if you don't have all of that stuff already.

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Originally Posted by Jay Maiers

St. James (?)offers blade blanks that you have to grind and harden. I'm not too keen on the idea of tempering(?) the metal myself. Big fire goes against my self preservation instincts :)

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You can call them and see if the blanks are O1 - they probably are. If they are, you can temper them in the oven.

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If I have to go that route to get what I want, will a MAPP or propane torch be sufficient?

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That would be fastest, but with little narrow irons, you might be able to get by with propane - several other folks have commented before that they succesfully hardened O1 with small propane torches.

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Originally Posted by Jay Maiers

Does anyone offer new, ready to use replacement blades for these things,

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See item 3.a. in following link. http://www.brasscityrecords.com/toolworks.htm for hand-made / sharpened Stanley 45 blades.

Also, looks like Stanley still offers replacement blades. See http://yhst-14955502022428.stores.ya...mbination.html then click on one of the combination blade categories to get the drop-down menu of size/price of that type of Stanley 45 cutter.


Tom

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Originally Posted by Tom Hartranft

See item 3.a. in following link. http://www.brasscityrecords.com/toolworks.htm for hand-made / sharpened Stanley 45 blades.

Also, looks like Stanley still offers replacement blades. See http://yhst-14955502022428.stores.ya...mbination.html then click on one of the combination blade categories to get the drop-down menu of size/price of that type of Stanley 45 cutter.
Tom

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Lol!
I didn't even think about looking at the Stanley site. Thanks to everyone. I'll give that one a try first and see if they fit. If not, I'll give the ST. James folks a call. Tempering in the oven doesn't sound too bad. Worst case, I have a MAPP torch left over from some plumbing projects.

Thanks everyone!

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Originally Posted by Jay Maiers

I have a MAPP torch left over from some plumbing projects.

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Easy peasy with the knowledge of where to apply the heat and when to take it off, but I agree, I'd try the stanley irons first - price is right and they're probably decent quality (and someone else does the work).

Yes,St. James,not Jamestown. Senior moment augmented by lots of pain meds!! My right knee has me really crippled right now. Jay Gaynor,who used to be the curator of tools in Wmsbg.,had a company for a while called Jamestown tools. They made a few types of brass planes. A miter plane and a small "thumb" plane are all I can recall.

And I thought we were talking about jamestown distributors, the marine supply place that has a bunch of hand tools (including stanley).

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Originally Posted by David Weaver

Easy peasy with the knowledge of where to apply the heat and when to take it off, but I agree, I'd try the stanley irons first - price is right and they're probably decent quality (and someone else does the work).

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Sigh.

Now y'all have me thinking, and that can be a very bad thing.

Does the heating and quenching process tend to deform the steel or pull it out of flat? (ie: many of the old Stanley blades I have are cupped along the length; is this caused by the tempering process?)

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Originally Posted by Jay Maiers

Does the heating and quenching process tend to deform the steel or pull it out of flat? (ie: many of the old Stanley blades I have are cupped along the length; is this caused by the tempering process?)

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I'd just harden about 1/2" at the business end to prevent warping. If I live long enough to sharpen off that half inch I could do it again.

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Originally Posted by Gary Kman

I'd just harden about 1/2" at the business end to prevent warping. If I live long enough to sharpen off that half inch I could do it again.

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Yeah, this.

Irons will warp a little in O1, but not much. I polish unhardened backs (so I can see well,it's awfully easy to hone to a polish the back of a precision ground unhardened iron), cut part of the bevel (but not all the way down - yes, I know george), and then harden and reflatten - I haven't done wide irons, but the narrow ones haven't been much work to touch up the flattening after hardening.

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Originally Posted by Tom Hartranft

See item 3.a. in following link. http://www.brasscityrecords.com/toolworks.htm for hand-made / sharpened Stanley 45 blades.

Also, looks like Stanley still offers replacement blades. See http://yhst-14955502022428.stores.ya...mbination.html then click on one of the combination blade categories to get the drop-down menu of size/price of that type of Stanley 45 cutter.


Tom

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I'd be careful with the stanley site -- the blades for their last-gasp plow planes, plastic-handled versions of the #50, may not actually work in the 45. I have one of those up at my camp in VT, and I seem to recall their blades not fitting the 45. The 'bay lists cutter sets all the time, so that may be your best bet, even if it means picking up another 45 along with the cutters!

I bought a 1/4" cutter from stanley for a project and it fit well worked good (in poplar). I cut about 20' of 1/2" deep groove with it. I don't know how it would hold up in harder wood though. For 7 bucks it's worth a try.

Mark
Attachment 207924

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Originally Posted by Jay Maiers

...many of the old Stanley blades I have are cupped along the length; is this caused by the tempering process?)

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I recall someone, on another forum some time back, or maybe it was elsewhere (brain like a steel colander anymore), suggesting that combination plane blades SHOULD be slightly curved, convex on the back (side opposite the bevel) so that, when the blade was clamped in place, it would bed properly.

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Originally Posted by Bill Houghton

I recall someone, on another forum some time back suggesting that combination plane blades SHOULD be slightly curved, convex on the back (side opposite the bevel) so that, when the blade was clamped in place, it would bed properly.

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Yeah I know this thread is old, but I was searching for Stanley 45/Record 405 blades.

To affirm that Bill said, take a look at this page that shows the curvature of the blades, be it good or bad.

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I'd be careful with the stanley site -- the blades for their last-gasp plow planes, plastic-handled versions of the #50, may not actually work in the 45.

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My #50 is pre-adjuster. The #45 blades are too long to work in my #50. The #50 blades might work in a #45, but they have a different adjuster.

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The 'bay lists cutter sets all the time, so that may be your best bet, even if it means picking up another 45 along with the cutters!

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Sometimes it is handy to have a full set of blades and a second body with the #45. This allow for different set ups for a job without having to change back and forth.

jtk