Replacement Blades?

[Calpol]

What's the best (2" if it matters) replacement iron for a jack plane? The Clifton one looks tasty with the two piece cap iron but of course it would be the most expensive! T'others I've seen are Ray Iles and Ron Hock but I'd assume there are probably some more as well...

Thanks a'body 8)

 

[Paul Chapman]

Hi Calpol,

The Clifton blades and cap irons are excellent - I have them fitted to all my planes (Clifton and Record). One snag is that the blades are 3.1mm thick which means that the 'Y' lever might not be long enough to fit in the slot in the cap iron.

It is possible to lengthen the 'Y' lever (mine were done) but you need to be aware of this potential problem.

Some of the other replacement blades are thinner, so you wouldn't have this problem. You could still fit the Clifton cap iron, which I reckon is an excellent design and helps to make the blade more rigid, thereby reducing chatter.

Hope this helps.

Cheers :wink:

Paul

 

[woodbloke]

'Y' lever might not be long enough to fit in the slot in the cap iron.

It is possible to lengthen the 'Y' lever (mine were done)

Cheers :wink:

Paul

:wink: - Rob

 

[Karl]

:wink: - Rob

Hey Rob - can you post those pics again showing how it is done? I need to do one, and all I can remember is silver solder. Unless you fancy doing one via post?

Cheers

Karl

 

[MIGNAL]

Not a lot wrong with the Ray Iles blades and they are cheaper than most of the alternatives. I have one in a Stanley No. 4 (modified Y lever) and paired it with the Clifton chip breaker.

 

[Paul Chapman]

Hi Karl,

Rob used two methods. One was to drill the old Y lever like this

Then drill a piece of metal and fit it with some metal rod and industrial superglue like this

Then file to shape like this

Here it is fitted to my Record #04 with Clifton blade and cap iron

Still going strong 8)

I'll look up the other pics in a minute.

Cheers :wink:

Paul

 

[Paul Chapman]

Found 'em

Here's the silver soldering

And here's the finished 'Y' lever

The problem with the silver soldering technique is that it depends what sort of metal the 'Y' lever is made from. Some are very soft and the metal melts Others are harder and it's OK

Rob might want to add some comments as he's the expert :wink:

Cheers :wink:

Paul

 

[Karl]

Cheers Paul - the superglue (or epoxy) method looks like a safer bet to me.

Cheers

Karl

 

[Paul Chapman]

Cheers Paul - the superglue (or epoxy) method looks like a safer bet to me.

Yes, probably. The very old Record and Stanley 'Y' levers seem OK for silver soldering. The 'Y' levers Clifton use are quite soft and don't stand up to heat. I think palum had a more recent Stanley one that melted as well.

But if you are really clever, you could always do what Pete (newt) did and make one 8) 8)

Cheers :wink:

Paul

 

[OPJ]

Another something you need to be aware of is that by fitting a wider blade you will almost certainly need to widen the mouth with a file, no matter how far back you set the frog. I've just done this with an old Stanley no.4 - I bought the 2" Clifton iron from Workshop Heaevn and it really is superb. Once sharp, it'll hold its edge for much longer than any of the thinner irons I've used and it'll cut beech unlike any of my other planes. 8)

I don't believe in replacing both blade and cap iron on a single plane - you'll notice an immediate difference in replacing one or the other. Preferably the iron, in my opinion.

I did buy a Clifton cap iron for my no.6 plane but, sadly, I've found that my yoke/Y-lever is too short. Mick Hudson has agreed to send me a Clifton lever to see if that'll do the trick... Otherwise, it looks like I'll be taking Rob and Paul's advice on board. :wink: All I can add is that honing is quick and easy, thanks to the removable section. I cannot comment on the performance just yet.

By the way, if you were to replace both parts on an old Stanley or Record then, you'd also need to be a longer screw, to compensate for the extra thickness. Otherwise, you wouldn't be able to attach the lever cap!

Axminster sell Victor blades, which are also forged in Sheffield. I think they're close to the Clifton irons in terms of cost but, I have no idea how they compare... Anyone?

 

[Paul Chapman]

Mick Hudson has agreed to send me a Clifton lever to see if that'll do the trick...

That 'Y' lever in the picture above, modified by drilling, was a replacement Clifton one. It was little longer than the Record one I was replacing but still not long enough. Might be OK on your plane though.

I think the Clifton Victor blades are the same as the standard Clifton blades. I have one that I bought in a second-hand shop, unused, for a fiver. Seems identical to my other Clifton blades. Don't know why they call some of them Victor :? Must ask Mike Hudson next time I see him.

Edit: I'm surprised no manufacturer seems to supply longer 'Y' levers. There's a lot of interest in fitting better, thicker blades to planes but invariably people come up against the 'Y' lever problem. I know that there are some blades that are a bit thinner and the standard 'Y' lever can be used but, in general, a thicker blade will always out-perform a thinner one.

Cheers :wink:

Paul

 

[woodbloke]

Paul's pics show the process pretty much completely as I developed it. Some of the older Record 'Y' levers were made from cast iron and could be silver soldered, the newer ones and 'specially the Clifton variations appeared to be made from a material closely resembling Edam, hence the reason for the rod and superglue approach. If you decide to do the superglue variation, then a piece of gauge plate is ideal and the rod going down the middle should be sprung steel (available from a decent aero-modeling shop) Which ever way it's done it's a real fiddle as the components are small, but easy enough with a methodical approach - Rob

 

[Mikey R]

The big reason that Ron Hocks blades are just a little bit shy of 3mm is so they work with the old Y leaver.

The Hock blade in my Stanley no 4 works fine, but theres several turns of backlash on the adjuster.

I fitted a Ray Iles blade to my no 7. The Iles blade is over 3mm thick, but the Y leaver still does just about engage. Tons of backlash here also.

So, from my really small sample of Stanley Y leavers, it seems that they will work, even with the thicker blades, just not very well. At the moment I dont get to use them enough for the backlash to be a real problem.

Edit: I'm surprised no manufacturer seems to supply longer 'Y' levers. There's a lot of interest in fitting better, thicker blades to planes but invariably people come up against the 'Y' lever problem. I know that there are some blades that are a bit thinner and the standard 'Y' lever can be used but, in general, a thicker blade will always out-perform a thinner one.

They do seem to have missed a trick here!

 

[Paul Chapman]

but theres several turns of backlash on the adjuster.

Jarviser did a nice modification to his Record #6 to reduce backlash http://www.jarviser.co.uk/jarviser/tools1.html

However, it involves soldering, so there might be a problem with some 'Y' levers, depending on the type of metal used.

Cheers :wink:

Paul

 

[Boz62]

I do something similar to Jarviser above on a 1960's Stanley No4, but rely on gravity to hold a bit of bent tin over the Y lever. I flare the tails of the n shape so they goes under the blade and help hold it in place - more "top hat" shaped. I have in the past put a dab of hot glue under to hold it on the lever, but it tends to give up after a while. It does take out a lot of the backlash, so is worth looking for every time I forget and drop it when I take the blade out to sharpen...

Boz

 

[Vann]

What's the best (2" if it matters) replacement iron for a jack plane? The Clifton one looks tasty with the two piece cap iron but of course it would be the most expensive! T'others I've seen are Ray Iles and Ron Hock but I'd assume there are probably some more as well...

Lee Valley make replacement irons for Stanleys and Records in both O1 and A2 steels. Lie-Nielsen make them only in A2 (I think). In both cases they're about 2.4mm thick.

In between the cast iron and edam Y adjusters, both Stanley and Record had fabricated adjusters made of two pieces of sheetmetal. I've successfully built up one of these with brazing rod (and filed to shape) for my Clifton iron.

Cheers, Vann

 

[OPJ]

Might be OK on your plane though.

Well, Paul, you certainly know your stuff... :wink:

My Clifton lever arrived this morning and I'm very pleased to say that it works well with my Stanley no.6! It's not an awful lot longer but, in the photo' below, you may just be able to see a slight difference in the length... However much that is, it's enough to prevent the sloppy fit and backlash in the mechanism!

(It's the one on the right.)

Many thanks to Mick Hudson at Clico.