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Thread: Straightening bench plane blade

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jan 2016
    Location
    Asheville, NC
    Posts
    92

    Straightening bench plane blade

    I'm fettling a No. 5 1/4 plane and had a good look at the iron. It has a potato chip quality to it with a wave from front to back and a slight cup at the edge -- bending down at the sides. I milled the chip breaker straight across and the chips just jam into the corners

    I really like junior jacks and wouldn't have any problem getting a modern thicker replacement iron. Still, I'm up for some percussive maintenance with nothing to lose. Usually I'd shim one edge on the anvil and give it a couple light smacks with a heavy BP hammer. If I can get it closer to flat, the stones will finish the job.

    If anyone has a better way to reason with that cup, I'd love to hear it. I'm not so worried about the front-to-back wave since the iron always deflects under the tension of the breaker screw anyway. It's that first inch I need to get right.

    Thanks and cheers, sh

  2. #2
    Ive had perhaps 25% success rate straightening plane blades with hammers. Ymmv.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Apr 2013
    Location
    Issaquah, Washington
    Posts
    1,320
    I've given up on futzing with old irons. I'm too old myself and have made the decision to spend more of my remaining time using my tools rather than failing to bring an inferior old blade up to an acceptable performance standard when LV and Hock make really nice replacements. Sacrilege?

  4. #4
    No Bill, a bad blade is an opportunity to upgrade the blade & cap iron, which, although doubted by some enthusiasts, IME definitely augments the overall performance of a Stanley plane..

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jun 2010
    Location
    twomiles from the "peak of Ohio
    Posts
    12,120
    Provided you get the ones that will FIT a Stanley plane. Something about the tab that sticks up from the depth adjustment yoke NOT reaching far enough to engage the new chipbreaker, as the iron is too thick. And, IF the tab don't reach to make any depth adjustments....worthless expense. Wasted more time with the new irons than just fixing one that is on hand.

    A picture of the bad iron would help.....I also had at least one "spare" 2" wide iron in my spares box, IF the OP wants it. Even trade, and I will fix his up and use it for one of my planes.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Aug 2007
    Location
    Dickinson, Texas
    Posts
    7,655
    Blog Entries
    1
    I put the Lee Valley iron and breaker combination in all of my bench planes. It made new planes out of them.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    Longview WA
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    27,347
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    1
    Usually I'd shim one edge on the anvil and give it a couple light smacks with a heavy BP hammer.
    A softer approach may yield better results. Instead of a Ball Peen hammer how about a rubber mallet. My fear is the BP is more likely to cause cracks than bending.

    Many of my planes have replacement Hock blades. ( http://www.hocktools.com )

    Lee Valley sells blades many here recommend highly. ( http://www.leevalley.com/us/wood/pag...182,43698&ap=1 )

    With a plane that has been well tuned, the blade becomes the real determinate of work quality. In my case the main difference is the modern blades hold an edge longer than many of my older blades. They also arrive in much better shape for getting down to work than the blades that came with my old planes.

    With a noncooperative blades such as yours, my tendency is to cut it with a Dremel cut off wheel and use it to make a marking knife.

    http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthre...s-Just-Dove-In

    Here is a picture of three shop made marking knives:

    Shop Made Knives.jpg

    The top and bottom knives are made from an old plane blade. The one in the center is made from a saw blade.

    jtk
    "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
    - Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Jan 2014
    Location
    Graham, NC
    Posts
    68
    I agree with Jim. I split a #8 iron with a lead hammer using pine as a backer. Its remnants live on as marking knife as well.

    Broken Blade.jpgMarking Knife.jpg

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Jan 2016
    Location
    Asheville, NC
    Posts
    92
    Thanks all, a light tap on a wooden caul and the blade cracked. Walked back upstairs and ordered a PM-V11 from Lee Valley. The blade must have been tempered harder than I expected because I've abused Stanley blades for years. This was a newer iron with the rectangular logo with inset square corners -- newer than the plane which is a Type 15. Most of my Stanleys are vintage Type 6 to Type 11 but I don't think the Junior Jacks were made in the low-knob era. Maybe the steel is a little softer on the older vintage.

    Either way, the old one went into the steel bucket for future parts and the next one is on it's way. FWIW, clipping a pair of Vise Grips to the top of a chip breaker as a stop and running it on a Tormek (or clone) grinder works great for truing the mating surface. Do it so it just clears the stone until the edge. I rub it on a 1500 stone for a minute to smooth the scratches and it's done. sh
    Last edited by Skip Helms; 01-20-2017 at 7:11 AM. Reason: 9th grade English

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