Thread: Hock plane blades: Which steel?

All the steels are capable of getting equally Sharp - when you use the appropriate honing media.

O1 can be honed the most easily. It is the least abrasive-resistant of the steels and will hone up quickly on just about anything you care to use (waterstones, oil stones, scary sharp, diamond). It will not hold an edge long on Australian hardwoods. Be prepared to re-sharpen more often.

A2 is a mid point. It is more abrasion-resistant than O1 and the blade will hold an edge longer in timber such as Jarrah, which contains a higher level of silica. They hone up quickly on most waterstones but are not good on oil stones. I tend to favour A2 for many of the Australian hardwoods.

The next step up is HSS. This is resistant to the side effects of heat, which is particularly generated when scraping. For plane blades they do require something along the lines of ceramic stones or diamond paste for best results, but I have also had good results on waterstones.

Another choice, similar to HSS, is D2. Similar comments apply. I have a D2 blade in my fore plane because it will take all the abuse thrown at it.

Like Ian,I will say that Lee Valley make excellent blades. Hock are great as well, as are the LN Stanley-Replacement versions. You really will not go wrong with any of these. Both LV and LN are well known for A2, but have recently released O1 versions as well.

Regards from Perth

Derek