I just got in an order of Hock blades. I got one for a Stanley 4, 7, and 112 scraper. I've spent over an hour trying to flatten the backs of the 4 and 112 (the 112 was way out and still not flat)! I called Hock and the owner answered. He was agreeable to swap blades if I wasn't happy, but agreed that flat is hard to achieve. I guess I misunderstood and thought I was paying (a total of 140 bucks) for precision. But I really don't see these being any more flat than the original blades. I finally got the #4's blade relatively flat and sharpened it up and put it to the test. It does seem more stable.......I don't know if it's that much ($$$) more. It's hard to tell. To encourage me, I took the #7 blade out of the package and pushed it a few times on the course DMT dimond stone and it's the same. What makes matter worse is the back edge has be back beveled (slightly) back about 1/4".
My question, how much do you have to spend to get some precision?....All I'm asking for, is to take the back of the blade down a stone and see it's hitting fairly even. Mr. Hock said he liked the ruler trick and it seems that is what was done to the 4 and 7 blades. He also said the specs he gives to the French company is 1 mil per inch flat on the edge. I feel the ruler trick is a shortcut for a bad blade, not a quality one.
Ok I feel better now.....I've vented.
Josh