Broken Plane Iron

[cwarner]

Was working with my 102 today and it slipped out of my had and met the concrete floor.  I quickly retrieved it and inspected the body.  No damage.  Went to take another swipe and no shaving.  I thought maybe the iron had backed out with the fall as I was taking a very light cut.  I took the cap off and found my iron in two pieces!






As you can see from the end shot, it looks to me like the bright part looks like a new break, but half of it appears old with "patina" .  I'm wondering if the iron already had a hairline fracture halfway across before hand causing it to finish breaking with this drop ...

I guess I'm on the hunt for a new 102 iron now!

[Phil S.]

Bummer!  But as you show, it's been on the way out for a while.  Is there enough of the blade left to be re-ground into a useful blade or will it end up too short?  Not sure how hard it is to find a blade to fit a 102, but if the old blade can be made to work, it'll get you back in action until a replacement can be found.

[Stwood_]

Ooff. Yes it's been cracked for a long time.

[cwarner]

Great thought Phil,  I checked and it is about 1/4" too short to be useable after regrinding.

[Admiral]

Great thought Phil,  I checked and it is about 1/4" too short to be useable after regrinding.

Curt, what are dimensions of the iron, I have a box full of irons somewhere and might have one.

[cwarner]

Rich,

The blade is 1 11/32" wide, 1/16" thick and mine was 4" long before breaking.  Just a plane blade with no grooves in the back like a 60 1/2 blade has.

[Tynyyn]

JB weld, some 60 grit sand paper, and a litttle elbow grease and it will look like new.  

Look like new, not work like new.

[DaveParkis]

I'll check my stash as well. Probably won't get there until Monday, though.

[Phil S.]

I see some 102 irons on eBay for <$10 Buy-it-now.  Lie Nielsen also has irons for their version of the 102, but they're twice as thick and a lot more expensive.  Don't know if they'd fit a Stanley or not.

[cwarner]

Thanks for checking Dave.   I did think about JB weld as a quick fix, and I may expirement still with it.

Phil, I did notice the LN ones but wasn't sure if the thicker blade would work.