Stanley 78 blade

Re: Stanley 78 blade

Todd Stock

>Lie-Nielsen makes a 78 replacement blade - $25. You might also check Stanley for replacements, as well as check Ebay for new old stock being sold.

Ron Hock will do custom blades, as will others; however, my guess is that the LN will work just fine.

I have the LN 78 replacement blade

Dave (Arlington, VA)

>Hi Rob -

I have the LN 78 blade and am quite happy with it. However - at least on my 78 - the slot on the replacement blade was not in exactly the right place and had to be enlarged. The enlarging of the slot was easy because Joe Rogers (who posts here on WC) was so kind as to use some of his machinist tools to get the job done (thanks again, Joe).

However, Tom L-N offered to so the slot enlargement for me, too. As I recall all he asked was that I send him the original blade so he would know how much it should be enlarged. So, if you go the LN route (and I can recommend it based on my experience), I would suggest a call or email first letting them know of your concern that it might not fit and see what they suggest.

Also the L-N blade is so much thicker (and in my view, therefore, nicer) that I did have to enlarge the mouth(s) 78 so the blade could project through to the bottom of the sole. This was quite easy to do with a file (if you are careful).

Regards -

Dave

Re: Stanley 78 blade *LINK*

harpa

>Stanley has a website for replacement parts. There is a lot of NOS parts, including full castings, lever caps, fences, etc. for planes and other Stanley tools.


http://www.stanleytools.com/xhtml/literature/RepairPartsCatalog0304.pdf

Why ?.....

Todd Hughes

>Do you want a new blade if the one in it is in good condition?.....Todd

Re: Stanley 78 blade

Bill Houghton, Sebastopol, CA

>I bought a replacement 78 iron from Stanley a couple of years ago, and the quality was very low. The back of the iron had serious grinding marks that took some time to smooth out, and even now, they're just smooth at the very edge; some time I need to spend time smoothing the back out more completely. If you've got another source with a higher quality iron, go for it.

I bought the iron thinking it would fit a Millers Falls version of the 78 (it doesn't, nor does the cap iron, fence rod, etc.), so I later bought a 78 body from Alister Orme. To my surprise, it came with an iron and cap iron, so I now have one of those cool 78s with an iron ready in each position. The older iron was significantly thicker and a lot smoother (though the back side, the side opposite where the bevel comes to an edge, is very rough).

Agree!

Mark Harrison -- in Sydney, Australia

>You are not likely to wear it out in one lifetime.

Because

Jim Reed @Tallahassee

>Aftermarket blades are harder and they hold their edge longer. Sharpening takes longer, but the blade holds up better. This is important on a rabbet plane because it is often used with only part of the blade exposed. The exposed part dulls faster and makes the blade work inconsistently. In my experience, a rabbet with a poor blade often needs touch up work between projects and that is a real pain.

Thanks Jim

Rob in Ontario

>That was my thought too. Also, I like to have an extra blade on hand for some of my planes so I can just do a quick change rather than sharpening right away.

Rob