Lake Erie Toolworks blades

[Andrew Hughes]

I received my order this past week of 2 replacement blades for LN block plane and my#4 bronze smoother.
My two most used planes.
The CPM powered metal is really tough stuff. Thank god the backs came perfectly flat. I used my Tormek with black silicone stone to grind a hollow for my #4. It does have a different feel on Shapton pro stones I like so far. I’ve seen no chipping of the edges.
I think it’s better steel then A2.
Anyone else get their order this month?

[John Keeton]

Interesting….and pricey!! $80 for a 2” blade. I would be curious to see a comparison against PM-V11 from Veritas.

[Rafael Herrera]

That's the CPM Magnacut steel. If you're interested in its development, check out its developer's, Larrin Thomas, design story.

https://knifesteelnerds.com/2021/03/25/cpm-magnacut/

[Rafael Herrera]

There's another powder metallurgy plane iron in the market, made using CPM 10V. The steel composition is not a brand new design, it's been around for a while. The iron is $50.

https://dfmtoolworks.com/products/cpm-10v-2-plane-blade

[John Keeton]

The consensus among woodturners is that there may be slight differences in the various CPM steels from a metallurgical viewpoint, the differences are hard to quantify in actual application. As an avid woodturner and user of a couple of the major CPM tool steels I agree.

My guess is that applies here as well, and the real comparison among various blades may have more to do with flatness, cost, etc.

[Tony Zaffuto]

There's another powder metallurgy plane iron in the market, made using CPM 10V. The steel composition is not a brand new design, it's been around for a while. The iron is $50.

https://dfmtoolworks.com/products/cpm-10v-2-plane-blade

Been using it for years for tooling components (dies and pins) at my powder metal fabrication plant. It is a lower cost alternative to carbide (for components mentioned), than carbide. Wear is not as good, but is much cheaper and easier for tool makers to machine. My concern is brittleness.

[Andrew Hughes]

I didn’t know about CPM 10.
I also didn’t know Lee Valley made a replacement blade for LN #4. This will be my 3 blade for my #4 the first two from LN A2. Some reason I thought everyone does as much hand planning and sharpening as I do. Maybe not?
Lake Erie CPM is very tough it might give a newer woodworker trouble to sharpen. The good news once that hurdle is done nothing will stand in their way.
Good Luck Happy 4 everyone

[Kent A Bathurst]

I also didn’t know Lee Valley made a replacement blade for LN #4.

Ron Hock sold out to them several months ago, so that may be the LV product source.

[Andrew Hughes]

Thanks Kent for the heads up.
I met Ron at woodworking show some years ago he’s a cool dude very nice guy. Although he did use some colorful language when I offered him 25$ for the James Krenov plane sitting on his table.
Good Luck Always

[Kent A Bathurst]

....I offered him 25$ for the James Krenov plane sitting on his table...

"You're a better man than I am, Gunga Din"

[Derek Cohen]

Henry Eckert have been selling 10V blades in Australia for some years already: https://www.thetoolworks.com.au/pma11v-plane-blades/

Lee Valley do make a #4 replacement blade in PM- V11. I have one in a LN #3: https://www.leevalley.com/en-gb/shop...s?item=05P3192

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Patrick Baney]

I picked up a few last summer, and my second order came in last week as well. I live in Erie PA. It’s nice to run over and just pick up my order. Nick is a nice guy and I felt bad he had such troubles getting this batch out.

About the blades, I think they’re great. I value one in my 51 the most. They are very difficult to chip. Sharpening aside, I think they’re superior to pmv11. The downside is obviously the price, and yeah…they’re tough to sharpen. You really really want to get some slurry going on the stones before sharpening. I don’t let my secondary get half as big as usual before grinding as it simply takes too much time to reset a large secondary with these. Luckily I have a great grinding setup, thanks Derek.

[Andrew Hughes]

I picked up a few last summer, and my second order came in last week as well. I live in Erie PA. It’s nice to run over and just pick up my order. Nick is a nice guy and I felt bad he had such troubles getting this batch out.

About the blades, I think they’re great. I value one in my 51 the most. They are very difficult to chip. Sharpening aside, I think they’re superior to pmv11. The downside is obviously the price, and yeah…they’re tough to sharpen. You really really want to get some slurry going on the stones before sharpening. I don’t let my secondary get half as big as usual before grinding as it simply takes too much time to reset a large secondary with these. Luckily I have a great grinding setup, thanks Derek.

Good to hear Patrick. What stone are you using to build the slurry? Do mind sharing what your polishing stone is.
I use all Shapton up to 12k. The best part of Lake Erie Toolworks it’s made in America.

[Patrick Baney]

I use a shapton 16k for polishing. Ideally I’ll build slurry with the flattening plate, but probably more often I’ll use these little mini diamond plates from DMT. I think they’re called mini sharp or something. I think they come on a keychain? I just broke that piece off and use it like a nagura stone. I looked into actual nagura stones for a while but that market is kind of weird. The coarse mini sharp works great.