So I’ve been interested in acquiring a few hand tools and developing some finer skills that don’t require an electrical outlet. I bought a couple of cheap, used, planes to get started (mainly because I am still in school and can’t afford anything with Lie-Nielsen engraved on it) and frankly, it’s been a blast. Although the planes obviously don’t perform as well as high quality planes, I’ve spent a lot of time tuning them up, flattening the sole, sharpening the irons through multiple grits of sandpaper, etc.
Here’s my question: the planes aren’t ideal, but I can’t afford to replace them with high quality planes yet. However, the most frustrating piece is the iron, which cuts well when sharp but dulls rather quickly. Can I buy a replacement iron that is of higher quality and use that in these planes>
I have no idea what brand these planes are and I think they are probably some knock offs from China or something. I’m not doing any fine woodworking with these, but they have convinced me that at some point I would like to invest in something good. So is it worth the money to buy the better irons? Will that even work? Or should I just save my money for something better in the future?
Thanks for your help!
Replies
Yes, you can get replacement irons. Sources include Lie-Nielsen, Lee Valley, and Hock.
Tuning up a really low quality plane can be frustrating, (ie. those from China), but there are lots of older Stanley planes out there, and they can be obtained in good condition (but still needing tuning) on E-bay for reasonable prices--perhaps $40 for a basic smoother (no. 3 or 4). If you have tuned it well, you will be hard pressed to tell a performance diffence between these and the high end planes, at least until you get to the most challenging of woods. To a certain extent, the principal advantage of paying the big bucks for a plane is that there is little tune up needed out of the box.
The short answer is YES. You'll still be better off fettling your plane (i.e. sorting out the frog bedding, lapping the bottom, etc.) but that in conjunction with a decent thicker iron make a lowish-cost upgrade. Try Ron Hock for carbon steel blades - don't hold the edge as lonk as the HSS blades some prefer, but will give you a superb sharp edge which cuts beautifully. There's some good stuff on his site about sharpening, too. You'll find info about plane tuning over at Wood Central's RJ's 19 Steps to Tuning a Hand Plane as well as loads of other places. You'll never turn an Anant into a Lie-Nielsen, but you can make them more effective and more enjoyable to use.
I agree with what Steve says about not being able to turn a sow's ear into a silk purse, but it may be a bit "Irish" to say "well if I were you, sir, I wouldn't start from here" <G>
Good planing
Scrit
Edited 11/20/2005 10:50 am by Scrit
I just purchased a Hock iron and cap for my old Stanley Bailey #3. It was like night and day. I am pretty good at sharpening and I could shave with the Stanley blade, however, it never realy held an edge and it chattered a bit. Not so with the Hock! Some day I will get some better quality planes, in the mean time, the Hock blades and caps are a great improvement and they can be used in the new planes, when I can afford them (the new planes that is).
Robert Salamy
Tupper Lake, NY
Jay,
""which cuts well when sharp but dulls rather quickly. "" What do you call rather quickly and what wood is it that you cut ?
Hilmar
Edited 11/21/2005 9:22 pm ET by h12721
Rather quickly... it's all relative I suppose, but for my current project I'm beveling some panels that are about 15" long. I have only beveled the two sides with the grain (not the end grain), and can generally run four or five "bevels" before I notice a definite decline in quality due to dulling. The panels are made of ambrosia maple. I have also planed some yellow pine and found that it lasts a bit longer but not much.
I went out today and picked up a stanley replacement plane iron just to see if it would make an improvement and it makes a night to day difference. My plane slides through the maple like butter and it is staying sharp a lot longer. (I realize that now most of you must be asking yourself what kind of a piece of crap plane I am using if a Stanely replacement iron makes such a marked improvement).
Anyway, the point is, I will be able to upgrade by current plane until I can afford a decent tool which is exciting because I enjoy hand planing, but cannot yet purchase a really good tool.
You can pick up used plane irons for substantially less than new replacement ones. If you get older stanley irons, they are likely to be excellent. Here is a good source of used hand tools. You might want to treat yourself to an older stanley plane.
http://pages.cthome.net/bcrgraphics/toolindex.html
(There are plenty of other good sources, but I like Walt.) He may not list them, but if you call and ask, he has plenty of plane irons.
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