Best vintage plane irons that'll fit a modern plane

Status
Not open for further replies.

jonnyfontaine

New User
Jonny
I know a lot has been written about how so old irons are as good if not better than new and aftermarket planes. There's a plane iron called STS (I think) that tapers to 1/4" thick at the cutter. Does anyone know of that would fit with a modern chip breaker. Or can anyone recommend any other vintage/old irons that are really good and work with modern planes and chip breakers? Thanks
 

ehpoole

Administrator
Ethan
Rubbish. Get a Veritas PMV-11 blade and don't look back.

Agreed, the quality of modern quality tool steels (not to be confused with cheap rubbish alternatives out of China) are light years ahead of what was even achievable a century, or more, ago. We have much better control over impurities, grain size , and hardening than could even be dreamed of back then. Do not confuse the robustness of old tools -- overbuilt back then because the equipment was often industrial oriented and they did not have good stress modeling software a century ago so tools were simply overbuilt to "be safe" as cast iron was not a forgiving metal if over stressed -- with the quality of the metals as quality modern metals are vastly superior to the old in nearly all cases.

Trust me, you would not have wanted to chuck a turn of the previous century router bit (had such existed in a rotary form back then) in a modern router at 25-30,000 RPM as there would be a great chance of such disintegrating before you could even use the bit, unlike modern steels that can easily handle those stresses just fine. The metallurgy and control processes were far more primitive back then (save for some of the laminated Japanese steels produced, one at a time, by true artisans at considerable cost and labor and which were well ahead of their time but also exceedingly labor intensive to produce). Had the Titanic been built of modern steel it might still be afloat today more than a century after its sinking in 1912.
 

Jeff

New User
Jeff

jonnyfontaine

New User
Jonny
What blade do you think is the best i.e. Hock, IBC, Pinnicle, Veritas? And what kind i.e. A2, O1, pm-v11 etc? Thanks
 

TENdriver

New User
TENdriver
Jonny,

What are you putting this blade into?

What's your "modern" chipbreaker?

What are you planning to plane?

For the short answer, I'll +1 on getting the PM-V11 blades and encourage you to also get the Veritas chipbreaker.
 
Last edited:

Mike Davis

Mike
Corporate Member
When I got my Pm-V11 blade and chip breaker I couldn't believe the finish I was getting then I kept waiting for it to get dull. I started to dread sharpening because the steel is so tough, but it sharpens like a dream on diamond stones.

It is the perfect balance of hardness, toughness, abrasion resistance, and fine grain.
 

jonnyfontaine

New User
Jonny
Actually a K4 or K5 plane, haven't deicieded yet I did see a blade from an original Keen kutter blade and I could be grossly mistaken but it seems they could have a few advantages of Japanese plane blade and I don't know many peeps with the experian e of Japanese iron but it really does seem to have a common element that yes somethings have improved, but if you haven't seen the do come close to the now famous Viking sword. on the "viking sword,where even modern metallurgy cannot explain how some of the best modern metal coUld not even comes close to thousands of years old technology, and keep in the front of my mind that's was a tv show not meant as a real test. But I got the blade chipbreaker set. I will comprehensive test with my 2 varieties with hock Iron I will also compare to two vintage keen kutter blades one tapers to 3/16" at the bevel. I'm really interested also,sorry a bit off subject has anyone else runnIng into trouble well maybe 10 minutes, at most getting the backs truly flat (on the hock blades? Also I'll try experiments with switching up the irons and breaker, hate bringing it up I really appreciate all the input again "nicest website online", absolutely true. I'll let you all now my finds get my finds.
Jonny,

What are you putting this blade into?

What's your "modern" chipbreaker?

What are you planning to plane?

For the short answer, I'll +1 on getting the PM-V11 blades and encourage you to also get the Veritas chipbreaker.
 
Last edited by a moderator:

FlyingRon

Moderator
Ron
Trust me, you would not have wanted to chuck a turn of the previous century router bit (had such existed in a rotary form back then) in a modern router

worker1: They don't make them like they used to.
worker2: They didn't used to make them.

Router bits are an example of something that's come around in my lifetime. I remember the massively heavy motorized router and the HSS bits that lasted minutes. Nothing like today's modern carbide (even the cheap ones).


 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Premier Sponsor

Our Sponsors

LATEST FOR SALE LISTINGS

Top