Problem with a No 8 Stanley jointer

[Bob Glenn]

I've got a No. 8 Stanley jointer that I love. I've always had a 25 degree grind on the blade with a slight 1/64th radius. I will be jointing some two inch thick stock and wanted to grind a straight bevel across the 2 1/2 wide blade to get good continuous contact on the gluing surface. After an hour of trying with both my Tormek, then a single wheeled grinding jig with both sandpaper and glass and water stones, I couldn't get the radius out of the blade.

I finally checked the back of the iron and found it to be slightly cupped. This was surprising, since the plane has had little usage and is in new condition.

Anyone know where to buy a replacement blade that is flat?

[Jim Koepke]

Some of the original blades from Stanley are not the greatest.

There are many blades on the secondary market. Since meeting Ron Hock at a LN tool exhibit he has been my blade maker of choice for replacement blades. That doesn't mean others are not as good or better. It only means I like to do business with people I have met face to face.

If ten more people respond to this post, you will likely be presented with ten more choices for excellent replacement blades.

You might find the cupping is removed when the chip breaker is attached.

You might give it a try on some scrap pieces just to see how well or not so well it works.

jtk

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

For the money, I love the Lee Valley / Veritas irons - the lapped back is perfect; and means your attention to the back only needs to be whatever you would need to remove whatever working the bevel makes. I've worked with one of their irons right out the box after a quick strop. Knowing I don't have to do anything to get it working makes the 40 bucks worth it to me.

[steven c newman]

You might also check out nhplaneparts, and see if eric has a SW 2-5/8" jointer blade in stock. That plane, being the #8 size took a wide-assed iron. Hard to find. Until it sold last month ( too big for the work I do) I had a type 9, #8c. It was a little bit older than the SW era one. Good luck finding a good iron...

[Bill Houghton]

You might also check out nhplaneparts, and see if eric has a SW 2-5/8" jointer blade in stock. That plane, being the #8 size took a wide-assed iron. Hard to find. Until it sold last month ( too big for the work I do) I had a type 9, #8c. It was a little bit older than the SW era one. Good luck finding a good iron...

It was true for a time that the 2-5/8" wide irons were hard to find in the aftermarket. Not so now. Lee Valley lists them in three different metals, Hock lists them, Clifton seems to offer them; quite a few choices.

I'm another Lee Valley fan: the blades come Bonneville-Salt-Flats-flat on the back side, and sharp enough out of the box to put in the plane and try out (although you should hone them before actual use).

[Paul Saffold]

+1 for both Lee Valley and Ron Hock. Both have great products and customer service.
Paul

[Chris Vandiver]

Here's a vote for a Hock carbon steel blade(O-1). They're great!

[don wilwol]

I've had good luck with Hock as well. I like the fact he will answer your emails and phone calls. His irons are quality and he stands behind them. As said before, there are many others to. All that said, I really don't think a 1/64" radius will hurt you gluing up 2" stock. There is a following that intentionally does that when gluing. I'm like you and like my jointers square, but it should work as is.

[Adam Cruea]

+1 for Lee Valley's A2 blades.

I've not tried their PVM-11 yet, so I can't comment on that. I can say that the 5 or 6 plane blades and chip breakers I've purchased from them were nice. I think one of the chip breakers might be slightly skewed, but meh. It's not enough of an annoyance for me to send it back and waste the money on shipping.

With the LV blades, though, you *might* need to widen the mouth just a touch.

[Chris Hachet]

For the money, I love the Lee Valley / Veritas irons - the lapped back is perfect; and means your attention to the back only needs to be whatever you would need to remove whatever working the bevel makes. I've worked with one of their irons right out the box after a quick strop. Knowing I don't have to do anything to get it working makes the 40 bucks worth it to me.

It's not to thick to fit with the original Stanley lateral adjustment? Been thinking of trying those blades myself.

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

It's not to thick to fit with the original Stanley lateral adjustment? Been thinking of trying those blades myself.

I haven't had any problems with the planes I've used them in. (Miller Falls 7-size jointer and mid-century Stanley Bailey #4)

[Bob Glenn]

Thanks for all the input. I just ordered the Hock blade and cap iron.

[Sam Stephens]

you may want to note the mouth opening b/c most of the replacement blades are considerably thicker. I have a #7 bailey that I bought an LV blade for as an upgrade. The LV blade was just too thick to allow a shaving to pass through. The same would be true of a Hock and other blades for this particular plane. I could have filed the mouth a bit, but couldn't bring myself to do this. Note that I have LV blades on a #4 and #5, which are great.