Re: 1/16" thick?
Derek Cohen (in Perth, Australia)
>Dan Clermont wrote:
"Old Stanley blades are 1/16" thick? Most of my planes came from a Luthier who had some nice old Bailey's and Bedrocks he sold to me and they all had blades around the 0.085" compared to 0.065 (1/16") and that is why I am skeptical to upgrade my blades to Hock cause they really aren;t that much thicker".
Dan
I am really no expert here, but I recall that there have been several similar threads in the past. In summary, Stanley blades appeared to vary in thickness over the years. Mostly, however, they are around 1/16" thick.
My hesitation to date in buying a Hock blade for my #18 has more to do with the demands I put on the plane than my doubt about the blade. As I mentioned above, I have a Hock blade in a #65. This block plane, along with a LN #102 (low angle), are the ones I have turned to for end grain work. The #18 only gets used for long grain, and this is much less demanding (e.g. I get much less chatter with the Hock blade than the Stanley blade on end grain). The standard Stanley blade has been OK - not great, just OK on long grain. It gets the work done, but even so it needs frequent sharpenings to stay on top of its game. So I'm going to bite the bullet and get a Hock blade for this one as well. At least I will only have to do it once, and it is not a particularly expensive upgrade to improve a classic vintage plane. Incidentally, as far as I know, only Hock make a blade for the #18/65 block plane.
Regards from Perth
Derek