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thanks Custard , that is a very clear demonstration of the kind of issues that are typical with used bailey irons and require you to do something to fix them (whacking with a hammer, grinding, flattening with abrasives etc ) also a salutary reminder about what an arse-ache it is to flatten them...

I have completely forgotten what this thread was about - was it something to do with polishing? in other news i have completed a thrilling calculation on the costs of making a laminated iron in 1850 and will report back soon (as far as I know they could not get rust remover in those days so...

the rust remover is expensive, but I only use mine for my extensive collection of sharpening jigs and chisel back-flatteing equiptment so it is lasting ages!

it is odd that the change from laminated to solid steel seems to have gone largely unremarked upon - the only written statement from any modern manufacturer that has turned up is Stanley's slightly apologetic advert for laminated irons in the 30s which seems designed largely to anticipate the...

a good 'etch' which may be close at hand for tool collectors/fiddlers is Sheild rust remover which discolours the two metals to different shades of grey

thanks for the tip Rafezetter! RM also has his own special recipe so I'll let you know how I get on. I did the joinery at the weekend - made a couple of mistakes: overshot when cutting one shoulder and accidentally pushed out a chunk of the bottom edge of a mortice when 'tidying it up' with a...

thanks Dave, at least it is consistent with the theory that Bailey/Stanley started off with solid steel cutters, then introduced laminated blades later on having realized/remembered that they are quite a good idea (1900s-1920s? No one seems to know for sure) only to going back to solid steel in...

apparently Stanley made similar for about 60 years so someone must have liked them! https://archive.org/details/StanleyDowelingMachineNo77

top tip! Also I may have been a bit hasty about our Tasmanian friends - for the sake of argument let's assume the cast-on/pre-welded ingots were sent to Australia to be rolled out, stamped, ground and heat treated. Is it conceivable the women were doing one of the last two activities by hand...

actually, now you say it Custard that is surely right - particularly since we now know that until 1946 (at least) the laminated steel was pre-prepared in a mill based in Sheffield. I wonder if the Tasmanian outfit were experimenting with the 'gobbed on' HSS steel blades mentioned before? One...

there was an interesting comment on the old-tools thread that I mentioned earlier where it was suggested that the mechanism of hand-forge welding a cast steel bit on to an iron backing lent itself to creating a tapered iron (presumably it is easier to exaggerate an already started taper by...

yes you are right Andy, this thread took a slightly different turn than I expected and now overlaps a lot. I also noticed that you made another relevant observation on dates too in the last post on the other thread regarding the subtle change in later editions of Planecraft in the description...

that would be a very interesting data-point DW. there is a bit of discussion on identifying laminated irons below, but for the old thick irons in wooden planes it is often very visible since the two metals generally corrode differently and have been around long enough for the differences to be...

hmm that is a good point - I just assumed the mark on mine was put on by the manufacturer, but my only reason for thinking this is it is very neat and aligned exactly (as is the stamp on your BIL's plane, mind you) - not exactly proof now I think of it!

on a more serious (non-sharpening) note , I suspect the first part of Custard's question is going to very hard to answer without some more info. I think it would be instructive to know the dates that the laminated Bailey irons were in production, as it might give us a clue to why Stanley...

I would guess it is a date - I have a startett rule that was also marked with a broad arrow and a year (1971) and I know it is the year because it came with a receipt from 1971! I wonder if it was a MOD requirement to have the date stamped?

arghh Custard, that question is a border-line sharpening-discussion provoker! Nonetheless I'd be very interested to hear from MusicMan on whether the softer steel back might help reduce the risk of splitting the cast steel even if it was made harder than would have been wise with solid steel...

ah, I see!

:) and good point about the marketing peeps. that process does sound efficient, but wouldn't you end up with a thin strip of hard steel across the whole length of the iron, rather than just a section at the cutting end? Or did I misunderstand the description?

... the most puzzling thing about the advert for the Stanley 'composite irons' is the subsequent comment that 'Both parts (A and B) are welded together when originally cast in the Ingot and positively cannot be separated.' Can anyone think of how this could be done so you would end up with the...