Stanley No 7

[zdorsch]

I picked up Stanley no 7 years ago when we was just getting into woodworking. This morning I went to sharpen the blade and think the blade have been shortened.

Picture attached. Has this blade been severely shortened?

 

[MarkE]

Looks well used to me. I have seen quite a few planes that have been sharpened so many times there is very little metal left between the slot and the cutting edge.

Lots of choices available for replacement irons. Hock, Veritas (Lee Valley), Stanley, Wood RIver, etc. Or you can pick up an original Stanley on ebay.

 

[Graywolf]

Yep, that one has been well loved. I've tried all of the after market blades that Mark mentioned and I have had great service from all.

 

[Mike Davis]

I think you may be able to get one more use out of it...

 

[Pop Golden]

Kinda like the "Velvateen Rabbit" you can tell when a tool has been loved.

Pop

 

[zdorsch]

Thanks all!

When I bought it I never even looked at the blade apart from ensuring it wasn’t chipped.

Now for a new blade!

 

[zdorsch]

Leaning toward the Woodriver.

I hoped that one in my stash of extra parts would work, but the blade is too thick and seems backward from the other blade. The cap screw from the original will not fit either. The thick blade also tapers away from the cutting edge. The thicker blade only fits bevel up where the original seems to be bevel down.

Will the replacement blade be thicker like this? I’ve never replaced a blade only sharpened them—so forgive my ignorance on this. I planned to use the no 7 to edge joint the boards for my new workbench top.

Edit: The original still cuts—surprisingly (last picture). I tested it on the old workbench (an old solid core door).

 

[Graywolf]

Some or most of the replacement products are thicker, Pinnicle, and Hock blades are the thickest. The Veritas blades are a little closer to the stock blades but some thicker. I'd recommend that if you go with any of the after market blades that you buy the matching chip breaker with it. Having been down this alley before you will save yourself some time and headaches. What does having a thicker blade mean for your plane?, you will have to open the mouth some to get clearance for the blade. On the plus side you will experience less chatter from the plane and more mass with the thicker blade, and lastly you will probably know that the plane if cared for will last several generations past all of us. Now with all that said, you could continue to use the blade you have as long as its cutting well and you're happy with the results

 

[Gofor]

That thicker blade appears to be a tapered iron for a wooden bodied plane. For after market, remember that you sometimes have to pay for what you get. The cheaper blades usually have deep tool marks on the back (flat) side that take a good amount of work to remove. A significantly thicker blade will most likely require some frog adjustment to open the mouth.

 

[Ed Fasano]

It's likely that the steel that far up the (original) blade is substantially softer than the first two or so inches. As such, there's no question.... replace it. And there's no question either (in my view) about replacement plane irons. Veritas (Lee Valley) or Hock are first rate steel. Moreover, they are not time vampires when it comes to new blade prep. You wont have to spend mind-numbing hours getting the back flat and polished. As for upgrading the chip breaker, my jury is out. I have opted for Veritas blade/chip breaker combinations for my Record 07, 06 and 04 planes. I went ahead and splurged on the PMV-11 versions too. I have no regrets, but I'm reasonably confident that the better (and thicker) blades alone might have been a sufficient upgrade. However, I rationalized the added chip breaker expense as being far less than the cost of new Veritas or Lie Nielson planes. Over the years, I've become exceedingly proficient at rationalizing a wide variety of things in my favor.