Plane iron.

[whiskywill]

This was is a Stanley No. 5 I picked up at a car boot sale a few days ago. Are there any top tips for extending the life of what has obviously been a much loved iron.

 

[Andy Kev.]

This was is a Stanley No. 5 I picked up at a car boot sale a few days ago. Are there any top tips for extending the life of what has obviously been a much loved iron.


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It looks like it should be enjoying a well deserved retirement!

Put it on light duties: enlarge the hole for the screw head and employ it as a beer bottle opener.

 

[MikeG.]

Cut it in half lengthways and make it into two specialist irons..........say for a plough plane and a shoulder plane. Or make a couple of moulding plane irons from it.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

All the hard steel has gone, though, what's left will be soft.

 

[Jacob]

Actually probably not. I've saved a few of these and the laminated hard steel tends to go past the hole.
n.b. Felt sorry for the poor old things but I can't claim to have worn them down to the bitter end myself!

 

[MikeG.]

All the hard steel has gone, though, what's left will be soft.

Even if that is so, my experience, limited as it is, is that moulding planes had soft blades anyway. Besides, surely you could just case-harden it.

 

[Cheshirechappie]

What are you grumbling about? There's at least another 2mm left on that.

 

[whiskywill]

All the hard steel has gone, though, what's left will be soft.

You could well be right. There is a serious burr on the back although the previous owner knew how to sharpen it, evidenced by the polished edge. It looks like he/she gave up on this final attempt to sharpen it unless a burr can form whilst using it.

 

[Racers]

Looks like a laminated Record blade to me with those square shoulders.

Pete

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I would think that an iron with the hard face extending past the hole would be an exception - there would be no point in taking it up that far. I have five, maybe six laminated irons and the lamination is probably half an inch from the hole in all of them.

 

[Jacob]

My worn out examples are all old heavy numbers from woodies. I expect modern thin blades would have better quality control and not waste the better steel. Dunno!

 

[Phil Pascoe]

More than likely.

 

[Trevanion]

I didn't even know Record and Stanley laminated the thin irons, I always thought it was all tool steel and only the first 3" of the blade was hard.

 

[Jacob]

Older ones are laminated. Square shoulders as Pete M said.
I didn't know this either until one day grinding a bevel I noticed the join line, then you start seeing it on the edges of the blade

 

[Trevanion]

I'll have to have a closer look at my Record Irons. I've got a smallish collection of Warfinish planes with the square shoulder irons.

 

[custard]

I'll have to have a closer look at my Record Irons. I've got a smallish collection of Warfinish planes with the square shoulder irons.

Loads about Record and Stanley laminated irons here,

record-stanley-laminated-plane-irons-t106851.html

 

[TFrench]

This was is a Stanley No. 5 I picked up at a car boot sale a few days ago. Are there any top tips for extending the life of what has obviously been a much loved iron.

I have one hanging above my bench, its an excellent scraper for paint, varnish, gaskets - anything you wouldn't want to put a good edge near!

 

[lurker]

This was is a Stanley No. 5 I picked up at a car boot sale a few days ago. Are there any top tips for extending the life of what has obviously been a much loved iron.

I have one hanging above my bench, its an excellent scraper for paint, varnish, gaskets - anything you wouldn't want to put a good edge near!

+1

 

[TFrench]

You gave me the idea Jim!