Ideas for making replacement plane blades?

[ben bothwell]

Hello everyone, I have been getting more and more into hand tools lately and recently picked up a box full of old wooden moulding planes at a garage sale. I was so excited with the find that I paid for the whole box and ran. To my dismay when I finally got the time to fully inspect the planes only two of the twelve have blades. Are there any good resources or does anyone have any tips to get me started on possibly making replacement blades. Any information on the the type of steel to use, tempering, sizes, etc. would be very much appreciated. I have always heard that automotive leaf spring steel is the cheapest/best way to go for tool steel. Is this true or is there something better.

Thanks, Ben

[James Mittlefehldt]

Don't you hate it when that happens.

Lie Nielson is making blanks for moulding planes I believe and they also have a good instructional dvd or two on the same subject, that is making wooden planes.

Good luck.

[Marc Gélinas]

Hi, went through the same questions some time ago and came up with several alternatives which I whittled down to one for best potential results (got the stuff, just haven't had time to do it yet). O1 tool steel from suppliers such as McMaster Carr can be purchased in small quantities. The advantages are that it's not that expensive, it's not rusted, it's straight, and relatively easy to cut and shape as it's not yet hardened. Hardening - tempering information is readily available on the web and seems simple enough (with, I assume some practice) and doesn't require complex nor expensive tooling. If you'd like, I can try and put together some web site addresses where I picked up some info and send them to you. There are also several books which discuss this method.

[Matt Bickford]

Lie Nielsen and Mazzaglia Tools each sell iron blanks for molding planes. I just completed making 18 planes using the blanks from Lie Nielsen. Larry Williams discusses the hardening process in his DVD Making Traditional Side Escapement Planes. You really only need a blow torch, grill ceramics, peanut oil and a toaster oven.

[ben bothwell]

Thank you all for your help. The LN blades are very nice but maybe a little more than I can spend right now. The O1 tool steel seems like a great option. I think I will order a couple of pieces and see what I can do. I will post pictures if I can come up with something that doesn't look too embarasing. Thanks again.

[James Carmichael]

You can also try Hock tools. I believe the David Finck book also has a chapter on moulding planes.

[Joe Cunningham]

There is another DVD you can get that shows you how to create hollows and rounds, includes info on creating your own floats, and most importantly, your own plane blades from steel stock.

"Classic Planemaking Volume 1: Hollows and Rounds" with Tod Herrli. toolsforworkingwood.com has it listed.

I have the Lie-Nielsen DVD and this one and both are quite informative, but I haven't gotten through the lie-nielsen completely so I am not sure what they cover for making floats or the plane blades.

I found the Herrli dvd a little better introduction for me because he didn't delve into minutae right at the beginning, but started with a more general overview of the process.

[Johnny Kleso]

Their is a new blade maker in town..

http://www.galoot-tools.com/life/blades.html

I met Chris at MWTCA show and seen his blades and all I can say is they are awesome..

The lesser expensive blades are $49 and $59 and all are laminated steel just like Japanese blades but made for him in China..

I know China has a bad name for quality buy these are hand made and first class..

[Jack Vines]

Decide if you want molding plane irons or if you want to become a blade maker.

FWIW, I've found it much easier to just buy every old chisel, plane blade and even jointer and planer blades I see at yard sales and flea markets. Then, I choose the one already closest in size and thickness to what I want to replicate. Hold the blade stock in a vise and use a die grinder with a cut-off wheel, being careful not to overheat what will become the cutting edge, cut to length and rough out the shape. Carefully finish grind on a grinding wheel and sharpen and you are good to go.

thnx, jack vines