Hock plane irons

Re: Hock plane irons

Jonathan Peck - N.Y.

>I've bought them from The Best Things and opted for the free shipping, which still came surprisingly fast - 3 days if I remember correctly - even though ground freight was supposed to be 7-10 days.

Re: Hock plane irons

Fred Deadrick--Livermore, CA

>I buy my blades from Japan Woodworker in Alameda, California. See http://japanwoodworker.com/dept.asp?s=JapanWoodworker&dept_id=11874

They are a good mail order source, and Ron Hock frequently visits their store when they have their smei-annual sales.

Re: Hock plane irons

Skip in Falls Church

>Woodcraft usually has them in stock. I know there are a couple stores in the Detroit area - that's where my wife's from and you have to know where a Woodcraft is in case you need a quick hand tool fix on the road. :) If there is one anywhere close check and see if they're in stock.

Skip

Re: Hock plane irons

Dan Donaldson

>And I have the (mis) fortune to live within almost walking distance of one of the Detroit area stores ;-) (mis because it hurts my wallet every time I go there ;-))

Re: Hock plane irons

R.J.Whelan

>Moses ... I buy mine directly from Ron and unless I ask for something custom they go out the next business day ... rj

I talked with Ron about this...

Bruce, a MN galoot

>and he said to buy them where you can get them. I was thinking that he would keep a greater portion of the price if there were no middleman, but he said my local Woodcraft would be fine.

Having said that, he does most of the custom blades himself.

Bruce

Hock and LN plane

Matt Malin

>I have had an issue where the Hock blades slot is narrower than the lateral adjustment knob on a LN bench plane. Anyone had this come up?

Re: Hock plane irons

Wendell @ Murphy, TX

>Here's some other places that carry them:

Lee Valley

Joel's Store : www.toolsforworkingwood.com

Highland Hardware

I usually buy Hock blades from where ever they are cheapest. Just be sure to include shipping costs in your price comparison. You'd be surprised how much shipping varies from the different mail order places.

Wendell

A question Matt...

Scott Burr in Ben Lomond CA

>Why would you want too? I can't see putting a Hock blade in a Lie-Nielsen plane.

Question

David Miller from Iowa

>I have bought many cutters from Ron - usually direct via online. They are great and I have them in most of my "go to" users. But just one aesthetic question. Does it bother any of the rest of you that the the sides aren't tapered at the top like original equipment? The square corners sticking up ruins the lines of the plane in my mind. I know, pretty picky...

Re: Question *LINK*

Rob Brophy Niagara Falls

>I agree, they look a little clunky. It wouldn't be too hard to lop off the corners with a zip disc if it really bothers you.

My favorite replacement blade is made by Vlad Spehar. It holds an edge really well and the top of the blade is a comfortable half circle with cool laser cut STW logo. No financial interest etc...Rob


Spehar Toolworks

Blade tops

Corvin

>I have to agree with you, I can't stand the square top to his blades. I have been thinking about regrinding the top to add the proper taper.

It must save him some time and money but frankly I would pay more for a better looking blade.

Same goes for the LN 62 blade top. The Stanley original blades are more aesthetically pleasing than the new LV or LN 62 blade tops. I wonder if there is any financial interest in an equal product but better looking blade.

Re: Question

William Duffield, on the Cohansey

>I don't think you're being picky.

I noted a couple weeks ago, in another thread, that the corners of these blades can also have an ergonomic disadvantage in some situations. They get in your way when you are using a Bailey design bench plane in a shooting board, since the corner of the blade tends to poke you right in the middle of the palm of your hand. Maybe, since no one jumped up and down in support of my opinion, I'm just being picky, too.

There is a good possibility that the shape of the end of the Hock blades have disadvantages in some other ways as well, but I haven't discovered them yet, or maybe I've just learned to work around them. It is often difficult to determine which subtle ergonomic factors subconsciously affect your method of work, especially when you have a shop or two full of new, used and collected tools to choose from for most tasks.

Maybe you could drop Ron an e-mail, mentioning our concerns. I'm sure he would appreciate the feedback. I know that several years ago, there was a lot of discussion on several fora regarding some problems with flatness of his irons, and the resultant difficulties of the ScarySharpers getting the backs flat and polished. He fixed the problem, to everyone's satisfaction, AFAIK.

Re: Question

Pam Niedermayer - Austin, TX

>I don't much care for tools with sharp edges either, other than in the necessary places, of course.

Pam

Re: Hock and LN plane

Moses Yoder in White Pigeon, MI

>I have not tried putting a Hock iron on a LN plane. I think LN probably machines their planes to much closer tolerances than the old Bailey plane, and would guess that the Hock iron may not fit LN planes because of this. In my opinion, the Hock and LN irons are basically the same. I like the Hock logo on the iron, and the thought of keeping a good toolmaker going, so if I buy a replacement iron it's going to be a Hock, but if I buy a new LN plane it's not going to need a replacement iron. The difference betweeen a pitted old rusty Bailey iron and a new Hock is really astounding.

Re: Question

Moses Yoder in White Pigeon, MI

>I haven't tried shooting miters with a Hock iron, so can't really say that the square tops have bothered me in any way. In normal planing, the square top dosen't get in my way at all; if the edges at the top are "sharp" so that it bothers my finger as it wraps around the blade, I round them slightly with a file. And I personally like the way they look in the plane, but I suppose it wouldn't hurt to offer the irons in several different shapes at the top. Perhaps an angled and beveled top edge would look nicer. The only Hock irons I currently have are in a 604-1/2 and a #18.

Sometimes.

Matt Malin

>When I flattened my WW bench top I had to stop and hone the iron 3 times. Since then I have bought several irons to keep handy. I just happened to pick up the Hock irons when they were on sale. As a matter of course I would never swap out a LN iron right off the bat but only when I want to keep going on a project.

Re: Question

Jeff Schmidt (KY)

>I agree that the Hock irons are aesthetically inferior to the original shape. I am guessing that it is a cost savings to simply round over the corners. In addition, that shape has become something of a trademark at this point. One can easily spot a Hock replacement. I have often thought of grinding them to the original shape. I am not partial to A2, thus I would not purchase LN's replacments.

Thanks Matt...

Scott Burr in Ben Lomond CA

>I just knew there had to be a logical answer, I just couldn't figure it out on my own.