Thread: ThumbSuckers Blades IRL !

Originally Posted by Basilg

These M2 steel blades, are in my opinion the best blades by far with regard to edge retention & are equal if not marginally better on quality of cut than the Hock blades.

High praise, indeed!

Congrats, Helmut.



.....

I have fitted 3 planes with the irons so far and the steel is performing very well. Edge holding properties are very good. I still opt for the original blades in my smoothers but this may be that they are favorite planes and I know them too well. I gave up on the TS cap irons on the larger planes and just use the originals from the planes.. I was pondering making up some removable tips ala the Record SS cap irons if I ever get around to buttering up a friend with metal work orientated shed. fwiw if the second lot of these blades gets under way (it may well be already, I have been seriously "forum lazy" recently) I'd like to see the blades a tad thinner. The more I use them the more the slop in adjustment is becoming an issue for me and the more I think that 2.5mm of this awesome steel is going to perform 99.9% as well as 3mm.

Originally Posted by Slow6

I'd like to see the blades a tad thinner. The more I use them the more the slop in adjustment is becoming an issue for me and the more I think that 2.5mm of this awesome steel is going to perform 99.9% as well as 3mm.

I agree with you on this Luban.
This is an oft overlooked downside to thick blades.
One other thing that I have had happen is for the blade depth adjuster to jam on the cap iron hole in the thicker cap iron. The top of the depth adjuster gets stuck against the inside of the hole and won't go any further.
Things can be too thick sometimes.
Remember this one from Rob Lee:

Luban

I used the cap irons, enlarging the slot by cutting out a small section to allow the cap iron to move down to the correct position, then brazing in a small section of 3mm thick mild steel at the rear of the slot to give the correct dimension for adjustment. It was not at all difficult, and could be done using solder or epoxy if preferred.

Regards

Originally Posted by Slow6

I was pondering making up some removable tips ala the Record SS cap irons...

I've been contemplating the same thing for some time - even before the TS Stanley irons order. I've also just bought some Clifton SS cap irons from the UK.

Originally Posted by Slow6

I'd like to see the blades a tad thinner. The more I use them the more the slop in adjustment is becoming an issue for me and the more I think that 2.5mm of this awesome steel is going to perform 99.9% as well as 3mm.

I note that TS said the next order will use 3mm sheet which, after grinding, will result in irons around 2.8mm thick. The last lot had .5mm ground off (which cost an extra $5 each). Possibly that could be an option this time around.

Cheers, Vann.

Good idea Basil

@Vann. I'd be very Interested to see what you think of the clifton caps.

@ Tom I do like the way Rob can laugh at himself.

In the Second Stanley Batch Order will have options for the following blades:

• 1 3/4" Blade For Stanley/Record Bench Plane
• 2"" Blade For Stanley/Record Bench Plane
• 2 1/4" Blade For Stanley/Record Bench Plane
• 2 3/8" Blade For Stanley/Record Bench Plane
• 2 5/8" Blade For Stanley/Record Bench Plane
• 2 1/8" Rebate Blade For Stanley/Record Bench Plane
• Block Plane Blade for a #102 Block Plane
• Block Plane Blade for a #103 Block Plane
• 2-1/8" Spokeshave Blade

Cap Irons

Cap Irons are optional for all the Stanley/Record Bench Plane Blades. The problem with the short Cap irons has been resolved. The cap irons will come in longer lengths relative to there widths.

The critical dimension (distance from the bevel edge to the rectangular slot) moves from 92 mm @ 1 3/4", then 95 mm @ 2", then 98 mm for a 2 3/8", then 104 mm for a 2 5/8" blade. The cap irons increases by about 3 mm every time the blade jumps up one size.

Slop in the Adjuster

The slop in the adjuster is a pain, however it will be resolved by making slot 2 mm instead of 3 mm wide.

Steel

The Steel will be 3 mm thick M2 steel, and the blades should have a nominal thickness after grinding of about 2.8 mm. The thickness is limited to sheet material. I am not willing to use anything less then 3 mm, the risk of the steel turning into a banana is to great. The average dimension for after market stanley blades is 2.8 mm which is about the thinest I dare go.

Cost

The price for any of the blades minus a bevel is $40, and the price for a blade with a bevel is $45. As a few people have discovered grinding bevels on M2 is not an easy task, and for the $5 it cost's to get it done for you, is well worth it.

The cost of the Cap iron is $15 per cap iron, and this will come beveled and tapped for a 1/4" 28 TPI UNF thread and a matching cap screw.

3rd Party Manufactures

The 3rd party manufactures will be the same as we used for the first Stanley Bench Plane Order. Dj is happy to do the running around for us. He has however declined to grind the bevels again. Which is completely understandable.

ETA

Having worked out all the bugs in the process, and the technical challenges faced in the first batch order, this should be a much smoother and shorter thread.

Originally Posted by thumbsucker

The slop in the adjuster is a pain, however it will be resolved by making slot 2 mm instead of 3 mm wide.

I said I'd shut up.... but

One thing I picked up on while playing with dummy blades a while ago and talking to a few much more learned chaps than myself, is that because the stanley adjuster yolks are tapered as soon as the blade thickness changes so does the requires size of the slot in the cap iron (along with the amount of travel you get). What did surprise me is how little you have to change the thickness to make a noticeable difference. There is of course a margin of error but if you settle on the exact blade thickness.. it's all just good maths from there.
Exactly what maths I'm unsure.. unfortunately I'm Mathematically Challenged but you get the idea.

Using dummy wooden blades and Stanley cap irons explained it to me enough that I can understand what's happening but explaining it to a third party is where I fall down.

Awfully nice little piece of work the Stanley adjustment yoke

Originally Posted by Slow6

What did surprise me is how little you have to change the thickness to make a noticeable difference.

It would be great if someone like Bobl could have a go at calculating an exact width for the slot for a 2.8 mm thick blade.

It is also my impression that the yokes are are differently sized. This makes finding an ideal width more difficult.

Maybe a slightly to narrow slot (1.5 mm) would be the way to go and then members can file it to fit each individual yoke.

Helmut

I suggest making the slot a little narrower as filing it wider only takes a minute or so.

Making the slots different widths to suit different planes and manufacturers sounds like a lot of hassle for someone to gather data and coordinate order details.

Regards

I'd suggest that 2mm would probably be a good size - if you get much less than that then you start needing very thin jewellers files to get in there. The tip of most adjusters are about that size also.

Incedentally I have been playing around a bit with my blade/cap iron set up and have found that the standard cap iron slots can be narrowed very quickly and simply by some gentle peining. this brings the centre of the edge towards the other side of the slot and eliminates slop quite quickly. Performance is good with the thicker blades alone, so I havent bothered fixing up the capirons yet.

After one false start and letting the TS blades 'mature' for a while, I have started putting TS blades in my Stanley/Bailey planes. Grinding the bevel is a knack I am having to learn, but i seem to be getting there - I have only done two and I reckon the second was much faster and more accurate than the first and I think that the third will be pretty good.

I have put one in a Carter C4. I also spent last night fettling the plane in general - gettting the sole nice and flat, all the bearing surfaces mating etc. It was in pretty good nick, but I thought that the new blade deserved getting the plane right for it! I particularly focused getting the mouth tight (much easier with the thicker blade!) to try to make a supersmoother. The result is very pleasing - I took some gossamer thin shavings from some gnarly Sydney blue gum and there was no tearout at all and the blade seems to hold its edge very well indeed.

The false start was one of those problems of a short backing iron on another C4. I have extended the adjuster on that plane in the way Derek Cohen suggested and will try again tonight. One effect is that the adjuster takes up more of the slot in the backing iron, which should help get rid of slop. My goal for this one is a general smoother - not quite as finely set as the supersmoother, but able to take a surface to finishing stage subject to final scraping.

After that, I have a C7 that needs to be set up as a jointer and also a Stanley #8.