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thauburger said:
Working on cleaning up a Stanley #48 tongue and groove plane. After removing rust, one of the cutters is still in pretty rough shape. Anyone know where I can get a replacement?
Thanks!
Tom
The #48 came with three cutters. Two at 5/16" and one at 5/8". Normally you use it with the two 5/16" cutters to do everything from 3/4" and thicker.
Other than the notch that appears in Stanley #45 and similar combo/plow blades, you can substitute any 3/16" thick (or are they 1/8" thick, again I forget because my coffee cup is empty) straight 5/16" wide blade. The notch isn't necessary, just becomes the nib of your #48.
You can find individual blades all day long on eBay or order some ground 01 stock from McMaster-Carr, etc. and just make them.
(edit to correct size of 3rd blade)
Don't sweat the petty things and don't pet the sweaty things. -- G. Carlin
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I made a couple from 1/8" x 5/16" O-1 steel. Small enough that they are easy to heat treat.
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Cutters for the #48 were my first blademaking product. Made hundreds until the competition came around with a cheaper and inferior product. O-1 steel that is 1/8 thick and 5/16 wide is what you want. Originals were a little thinner, maybe 3/32, but thicker is better. As said, heat treating is pretty easy for these small blades although I sent mine out in big batches to the pros. Go for RC56-58 or RC58-60. That approaches the practical upper limit for O-1. Originals were much softer and needed more frequent sharpenings.
I used my #48 a lot. You can get a rhythm going and the blades will heat up--just don't get them too hot to touch.
As for the auxiliary blade, I made mine a full 1". It was hard to push but does enable you to put a tongue on a 2x4.
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