plane blade upgrade

[lurcher]

hi lads i need some help i have lots of planes but i have never bothered to upgrade any blades and chip breakers i am thinking about trying the quansheng blades and chip breakers i would realy apreciate any of your dealings with these blades its only me wanting to no if it is worth the money
lurcher

 

[tobytools]

I would say rob Cosman irons are the ones for you is its a Stanley plane. The don't fit records so good unless you file the mouth ect, they where made for Stanly type planes. Hock irons are also good. Depends on budget really! And sharpening technique, on my record no6 with standard iron honed with a camber and well tuned chip breaker ect, cuts no better or worse than a LN, Norris and holtey.
im not gona say what materials make better iron as this causes huge debates, its more about what works for you, types of wood you plane ect.
I will say I don't like the shape of hock irons
Sorry I didn't answer your question, I've no dealings with those irons. I have heard for a guy I trust that they they deal in good quality tools and would only imagine that there irons would suit.
Hope this helps, tobytools

 

[tim burr]

The blades are fantastic, the chip breakers seem ok however I've only used them fitted to an actual quangsheng plane, all my other planes that have the quangsheng blades fitted have a clifton 2 piece chip breaker.

 

[tobytools]

The blades are fantastic, the chip breakers seem ok however I've only used them fitted to an actual quangsheng plane, all my other planes that have the quangsheng blades fitted have a clifton 2 piece chip breaker.

sorry to change subject, time have U ever used their low angle plane, im getting a new one as I only have old Stanley or record blocks and want a life keeper, its between LN, Veritas and quangsheng! I like the fact quangsheng comes with 3 irons

 

[Vann]

The don't fit records so good unless you file the mouth ect, they where made for Stanly type planes.

I beg to differ.

All earlier Stanleys and Records had tight mouths. When Record began producing Bailey type planes in 1931, they closely copied the Stanley planes of the day. Planes from both makers had mouths in the 4.40mm to 4.70mm range during the 1930s. All of these will need filing to fit thicker irons.
Later, both companies let their standards slip. By the late 1960 Records were still just under 5mm, while early 1970s Stanleys are around 5.2mm. By the mid 1990s Record plane mouths were out to over 6mm.

Depending of course, on how much clearance you want in front of the cutting edge, mouths of ~5.5mm (Record or Stanley, or any other manfacture's "Bailey" type planes) will take ⅛in (~3.2mm) thick irons without filing.

If your cutting irons are in reasonable nick, the best way to upgrade is a thicker cap-iron. This is cheaper than a new thick iron, and there's no hassles with filing mouths and extending yokes, and they stiffen up the blade assembly considerably.

Cheers, Vann.

 

[matthewwh]

I agree, winding the frog back is usually enough to fit a 3mm iron, if your current iron is performing well then you can still get a substantial improvement just by upgrading the cap iron.

Ray Iles now makes 2mm thick replacement irons (with an S suffix). These are a little bit thicker than most original irons but should drop straight into anything. Some of the very early American made Stanleys were incredibly thin / tight mouthed, but you would detract from their value if you opened up the mouth.

Ray_Iles_Replacement_Plane_Iron_RI023S

 

[Vann]

Ray Iles[/url] now makes 2mm thick replacement irons (with an S suffix). These are a little bit thicker than most original irons but should drop straight into anything.

I've found some very old Stanleys with 1.95mm thick irons, but most of my Record irons are between 2mm and 2.4mm.

I agree, it seems a shame to file the mouth of a plane, as it's a modification that can never be reversed - even if some sizes are common as muck.

Cheers, Vann.

 

[tobytools]

I won't argue with what anyone is saying, my record is dated about 50, and even when the frog is taken right back the rob Cosman iron and chip breaker still won't fit, the frog almost came apart from plane. But I've been told that a ray iles iron and a Clifton stay set will fit very well on my record. It even says on package of the cosman iron and chip breaker sets that they fit Stanly planes. I know that record and many other company had similar designs, its not so much the mouth but the block that the frog sits on it won't allow for the thicker blades. That being said the rob cosman set is over 60% thicker than the original
Toby

 

[Mike Wingate]

The Cosman blade is the best. But you may have to file down the base of the frog, after flattening the front, and maybe replace the yolk lever. The Quangsheng blades are almost as good, but again you may have to do some fettling. All my planes now have upgraded blades and thicker chipbreakers. Some have Quangsheng replacement yolks. If I was to start again, I would buy QS planes. I have the QS 62, it is brilliant (after changing the tote) their large chisel plane and a low angle QS block plane.

 

[marcros]

all this talk of changing blades... does anybody have a spare blade (original will do) that will fit a Stanley (I think) no 3? I bought the plane off here that had a heavily cambered blade in it. Whilst that will be handy for scrubbing, I could do with a smoother as well!

 

[Jacob]

The single most cost effective improvement is a two piece cap iron IMHO. These radically improve a standard thin iron and together they reduce sharpening time significantly. Improvement due to "better" blades always seems marginal and barely worth it - especially as they take longer to sharpen (except the laminated 'Smoothcut').

 

[matthewwh]

Thanks Vann,

I've just checked again and the 2-3/8 is a little thicker (2.5mm) than the 2".

As you can see, there was quite some variation in original blade thickness between brands and and over time, which makes it tricky to give a definitive answer to "will a 3mm iron fit in my plane - it's a Stanley/Record/Acorn etc". So far all the customers I have spoken to have been able to fit the Ray Iles 'S' iron without modification.

 

[undergroundhunter]

I ordered a quangsheng 2" chipbraker, iron and a yolk for my stanley No4 at the weekend from Matthew @Wokshop Heaven. When they arrive I will let you know how it fares, to be honest I did think about just changing the chip breaker but decided to go the full hog as my Stanly iron is getting a bit low anyway.

I will report back.

matt

 

[Mike Wingate]

I also have a couple of Smoothcut laminated blades. I used to think that they were great, and kept them for planning ebony fingerboards, however the QS and Cosman are better blades for retaining that edge. The Smoothcut blades are delicate and do lose their edge. QS all he way!

 

[lurcher]

well i bit the bullet and ordered a qs blade for an old stanley that i got at a boot sale for £3.00 in good used cond but no blade so will be able to compare as all of reply/s seem to suggest that it is a good way forward and i also see that they are available for a blockplane
now that does sound a good idea to me as the blocky gets alot of use in my workshop

 

[tim burr]

sorry to change subject, time have U ever used their low angle plane, im getting a new one as I only have old Stanley or record blocks and want a life keeper, its between LN, Veritas and quangsheng! I like the fact quangsheng comes with 3 irons

If you mean the block plane yes I have and it's also very good, I personally own a Veritas low angle block and a stanley sweetheart block but I actually found the quangsheng more comfortable to use as it's narrower even though I have quite large hands. Given the choice again I'd have gone for a quangsheng over the stanley.
As for the low angle bench planes I haven't tried the quangsheng one, but I do own the veritas low angle jack which to be honest I can't really get on with, it feels odd not having a frog to rest my index finger against :?

 

[grandad211]

I've seen the ad for toothed blades on Workshop Heaven, anyone tried them? Looks logically a good idea for difficult grains

 

[Paul Chapman]

I've seen the ad for toothed blades on Workshop Heaven, anyone tried them? Looks logically a good idea for difficult grains

Yes, I've used one for a few years. They are made by Kunz and are excellent quality. Those ones are meant for bevel-down planes. You need to ensure that the cap iron is set back a fair way to prevent shavings getting trapped between the cap iron and the grooves in the blade



I ground a bit off the end of the cap iron.

Cheers :wink:

Paul

 

[Dovetaildave]

Hi Lurcher,
I did exactly the same as you, wee while ago.
All the advice on the forum was really helpful and much appreciated, however......
I found that I had to invest a considerable amount of time on the "extended yokes", regarding the taper thickness and to remove the sand marks, thus improving the. Smooth adjustment. I did do a series of photos with the intention of posting on here, but was to desperate to make a mountain of shavings.
I was also concerned that the brass would block up my ezelap diamond plates, so you may want to buy a few grades of some abrasive sheets and I believe chalk used on a file will prevent it getting blocked up, sorry can't remember the correct terminology.
I was working on three brands and five sizes of planes and multiple blade/iron combos, Matthew ( thanks again) did tell me that the yoke pin was slightly tapered, can't remember which brand/vintage exactly tho.

Mike....if you were the gent ( i'll look through old PM's) who posted me the no 8 cap iron, I just won the hock combo last week, I'll get it in the post to you, when I'm back from Taiwan, just before next term begins.

 

[Racers]

So it was you who got the hock No8 blade and cap iron, I put a bid on that but I thought it would go much higher at the end so didn't bid again.
Looks a cracking blade let me know how it performs.

Pete