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Thread: Replacement blades for #45 Combination Plane

  1. #1
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    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!

  2. #2
    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.

  3. #3
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    Does Jamestown Tools offer some blades for the 45?

  4. #4
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    St James Bay Tools offers blanks and maybe finished blades.

  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by george wilson View Post
    Does Jamestown Tools offer some blades for the 45?
    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

    Quote Originally Posted by dave hunt View Post
    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.
    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?

  6. #6
    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.

  7. #7
    Quote Originally Posted by Jay Maiers View Post
    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
    You can call them and see if the blanks are O1 - they probably are. If they are, you can temper them in the oven.

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

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jay Maiers View Post

    Does anyone offer new, ready to use replacement blades for these things,
    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
    Last edited by Tom Hartranft; 09-15-2011 at 2:14 PM.

  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tom Hartranft View Post
    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
    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!

  10. #10
    Quote Originally Posted by Jay Maiers View Post
    I have a MAPP torch left over from some plumbing projects.
    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).

  11. #11
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    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.

  12. #12
    And I thought we were talking about jamestown distributors, the marine supply place that has a bunch of hand tools (including stanley).

  13. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by David Weaver View Post
    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).
    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?)

  14. #14
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jay Maiers View Post
    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?)
    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.

  15. #15
    Quote Originally Posted by Gary Kman View Post
    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.
    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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