Fitting a Victor blade to a Stanley 4 1/2 plane.

[Sparky Marky]

Hi, i have acquired a Victor forged blade to replace my original blade on my old faithful Stanley 4 1/2 plane but when i have tried to fit it there doesnt seem to be room in the mouth to accept the thicker blade. I have tried moving the frog back as far as possible and am at present a little stumped........
Any info would be great and apologies if this question makes me appear really dumb!

 

[AndyT]

I think you have a simple choice - use the sort of thin blade the plane was designed for, or file metal away from the mouth to accommodate a thick blade.

I have never found a need for a thicker alternative blade on my nice old 4 1/2.

 

[Sparky Marky]

I think you have a simple choice - use the sort of thin blade the plane was designed for, or file metal away from the mouth to accommodate a thick blade.

I have never found a need for a thicker alternative blade on my nice old 4 1/2.

Haha, see your point! It was listed as being a direct replacement in the axeminster catalogue when i bought it but that is quite some time ago. The old blade has very little left in it in the way of sharpening so it needs to be changed and the victor blade looked like a nice alternative.
Thanks for your reply, has anyone else encountered a similar problem or am i just trying to re-invent the wheel by pimping my plane?

 

[bugbear]

I think you have a simple choice - use the sort of thin blade the plane was designed for, or file metal away from the mouth to accommodate a thick blade.

I have never found a need for a thicker alternative blade on my nice old 4 1/2.

Haha, see your point! It was listed as being a direct replacement in the axeminster catalogue when i bought it but that is quite some time ago. The old blade has very little left in it in the way of sharpening so it needs to be changed and the victor blade looked like a nice alternative.
Thanks for your reply, has anyone else encountered a similar problem or am i just trying to re-invent the wheel by pimping my plane?

You're in a good place to own a super tuned smoother; set the frog so the surface forms a single plane (Euclidean) with the slope of the sole; then VERY slowly, file the front of the mouth until the blade will ONLY just go through; a 5-8 thou gap is big enough in a full-on smoother. Job done.

This is adjustment by filing, and is not reversible!

BugBear

 

[Sheffield Tony]

A Clifton iron (the Victor ones are Axi branded Clifton ?) did not fit my Record #6 without a bit of filing. But the plane came with a really thin and not terribly flat Stanley iron, and a cap iron that is the thinnest I've ever seen - blued, like spring steel. The plane had also been repainted, the handles vigorously sanded etc, so it seemed like it was definitely just a user anyway. Works a lot better, though I suspect that the 2 piece cap iron is a big part of it.

 

[David C]

Another rather important detail to check, is whether the Y lever is long enough to go through the thick blade and engage the c/b slot.

Longer Y levers are available from Mike Hudson of Clifton.

best wishes,
David Charlesworth

 

[carlb40]

My clifton blade fitted both my previous stanley 5 and record No 4 without any mouth issues. I have found that some of the earlier pre war stanleys had smaller mouths than the planes you get now.

 

[Vann]

I think you have a simple choice - use the sort of thin blade the plane was designed for, or file metal away from the mouth to accommodate a thick blade.

Or a third option: I didn't want to file the mouth of my Record 08, so I had a friend with a surface grinder grind my Clifton iron down from ~3.2mm to 2.75mm. It now fits without requiring filing the mouth; it's still considerably thicker than the original; and it's still hand-forged steel. No need for an extended yoke either.

Cheers, Vann.

 

[bugbear]

I think you have a simple choice - use the sort of thin blade the plane was designed for, or file metal away from the mouth to accommodate a thick blade.

Or a third option: I didn't want to file the mouth of my Record 08, so I had a friend with a surface grinder grind my Clifton iron down from ~3.2mm to 2.75mm. It now fits without requiring filing the mouth; it's still considerably thicker than the original; and it's still hand-forged steel. No need for an extended yoke either.

Cheers, Vann.

It does require a friend with a surface grinder though...

BugBear

 

[matthewwh]

The Ray Iles plane irons with an 'S' suffix are a bit thicker than most originals but still thin enough to fit without making alterations. Some of the early American made Stanleys had very thin irons and can be valuable enough that it would be unadvisable to modify them.