Replacements blades for old Stanleys

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I've been looking at all these options. The published thicknesses of replacement blades are as follows:

Clifton - 3.1mm
Lie Nielsen - 3.75mm
Lee Valley - 3.25mm
Hock - awaiting reply from classic hand tools but probably similar to others.

So if the Clifton requires the mouth to be filed it seems so would the others.

I've also been trying to find a uk supplier of Lie Neilsen chip breakers but no avail yet, emailed Axi to see if they can get them.

What steel do you suggest, I realise it is personnel choice but what have you all gone for? A2 or 01?

Finally, if I up grade both the blade and chipbreaker, is the lever cap screw likely to be long enough (as opposed to the cap iron screw) with all the extra thickness.

The answers have been really helpful so far, please keep them coming :)

Mark
 
The Bear":3gq0e0np said:
I've been looking at all these options. The published thicknesses of replacement blades are as follows:

Clifton - 3.1mm
Lie Nielsen - 3.75mm
Lee Valley - 3.25mm
Hock - awaiting reply from classic hand tools but probably similar to others.
The Lie-Nielsen and Lee Valley blades you're looking at are replacement irons for their own planes. Both also supply replacement irons for Record and Stanley planes. The Lie-Nielsen blades are .095" (2.41mm) thick, while Lee Valley's are .094" (2.39mm) thick. My Stanley and Record bench plane irons range from 1.9mm to 2.4mm thick, so these LV & LN irons should fit without opening the mouth.

Lie-Nielsen make theirs in A2 steel, while Lee Valley make them in both A2 and O1 steels. Clifton's O1 is said to be superior however, due to the hand forging process which better aligns the granular structure of the steel (or something... :roll: )
The Bear":3gq0e0np said:
Finally, if I up grade both the blade and chipbreaker, is the lever cap screw likely to be long enough (as opposed to the cap iron screw) with all the extra thickness.
Trial and error I'm afraid. You'll have to try it to see if you need a longer lever-cap screw; a longer cap-iron screw; and/or a longer 'Y' lever (Clifton can supply both the latter items). HTH.

Cheers, Vann
 
The other advantage with the 2 part cap iron is that because you haven't unscrewed it to sharpen, the slot in the cap iron engages with the depth adjuster such that the blade is in the same place (less any material removed by sharpening). So it saves you having to fiddle excessively to get it back to the same cut.
 
The Bear":n3lfpuyu said:
What is the advantage of Cliftons 2 piece cap iron over a standard one?
One disadvantage is that the slot for the adjuster is in a different place compared to standard cap irons. On my smoother this means that I can only just retract the iron far enough, and the adjuster mechanism works at a funny angle. Make sure that your plane can cope.
 
One thing worth keeping in mind is the cost of upgrading to better blades and cap irons and how much they will improve the performance of the planes compared with buying better planes. Years ago I upgraded my Records with Clifton blades and cap irons and the improvement was significant. However, I then bought a Clifton #7 and the difference in performance between that and the upgraded Records was even more marked. I now have four Cliftons :wink:

Based on my experience, if I had my time over again I wouldn't bother upgrading the Records - I'd just buy the Cliftons.

Cheers :wink:

Paul
 
Vann

Can you post the links to the Lie Nielsen and Veritas pages where you got the thicknesses as I can't find them. (and therefore wouldn't know where to buy them).

Thanks

Mark
 
If you can bear to part with your plane, Ray Isles will make and fit an iron to give a tight mouth.
He can also mill the soles if needed?

Rod
 
The Bear":118mg7s3 said:
Vann

Can you post the links to the Lie Nielsen and Veritas pages where you got the thicknesses as I can't find them. (and therefore wouldn't know where to buy them).
Hi Mark, I'm a ******* when it comes to posting links (and photos), but if you go to www.leevalley.com in the left hand column there's a box "Jump to item#". type in 05P3105 and the page with Stanley/Record replacement blades will come up. For LN go to www.lie-nielsen.com and again in the LH column (10th item down) is "Replacement Blades".

I understand Hock irons are also around 2.4mm thick, but I just hate that square top shape :D .

Cheers, Vann.

edit - okay, so the partial links showed up - I must have done something right :shock: :oops: :lol:
 

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