Finding Sharp, a Benchmark...

[Jim Koepke]

At the woodworking show in Oakland three blades were ordered, with chip breakers from Ron Hock.
I knew the sound of that truck when it pulled up today. The UPS driver handed me the box and smiled.

It is late, but a few epiphanies went through my head while trying out the blades.

1) I have come pretty close to being as sharp as the Hock blades.

2) The thickness of the blade makes some difference, but it seems the geometry of the chip breaker has a lot of influence. Some of my Stanley blades tend to bow when clamped in place. Not sure if this is due to blade flex or too much bow in the chip breaker influencing the blade. Have to check this out.

3) The blades by themselves cost more than any of the planes for which they were bought.

So anyway, here is a picture of some shavings and the original blades.

jim

[Marcus Ward]

[John Dykes]

Wake?
Tail?
Water?
Ocean?
Churn?

Am I being baited?

- jbd

[Jim Koepke]

Am I being baited?

Hopefully, we are being invited

jim

[ralph cox]

I ordered a couple of 2" as well as a 21/4" LN blades at the Oakland Crucible;still wait'n(audible sigh) to hear the truck. I already have a couple of Hocks and thought I'd try the LN after market retro A2's. By the way Jim are your blades HC or the A2 option, and would you tell us which size CB's and blades as well as the planes you got them for! Just curious.

Cheers,ralph

[Jim Koepke]

I ordered a couple of 2" as well as a 21/4" LN blades at the Oakland Crucible;still wait'n(audible sigh) to hear the truck. I already have a couple of Hocks and thought I'd try the LN after market retro A2's. By the way Jim are your blades HC or the A2 option, and would you tell us which size CB's and blades as well as the planes you got them for! Just curious.

Cheers,ralph

I bought the High Carbon steel blades. Ron Hock and others feel these can be made a hair sharper, maybe 1/4 hair, than the harder blades.

I bought the 1-3/4", 2" and 2-3/8". The 1-3/4" will be for my #3.
I have not decided if the 2" will go into a #4 or #5.
The big iron will likely go into my #7, but it may see some use in the #4-1/2.

All in all, they are very nice blades.

Out of the box, these took hair off my arm like a fresh razor.

In use, there is a slight improvement over a sharp original blade.

Part of the improvement is in the shaving. I think the ones taken with the Hock blades are a few ten thousands thiner than the best I have ever taken with a Stanley blade.

The other part is in how the plane feels when it is taking a cut. This has to be felt, it is hard to explain. It just feels smoother.

The only problem seems to be the length of the chip breaker screw is a little long for the #3. It interferes with the lever cap when trying to take it off. A little work with a file will take care of that.

jim

[Frederick Rowe]

Wake?
Tail?
Water?
Ocean?
Churn?

Am I being baited?

- jbd

It's an inside joke with Marcus. I won't ruin a clever post. Here's a clue, search Marcus' posts for what you see in the photo. Good one, Marcus but you've got to admit, those are some thin shavings!