Question about Hock Blades in Stanley Planes

[Belle City Woodworking]

Hi,

I am wondering if any of you have any experience with the Hock blades in vintage Stanley Planes?  I would like to know if the performance gains are worth the investment?  Do you use them with the Stanley Chip Breaker or with the Matched Hock Chip Breaker? Also is any work on the mouth required to use the matched set?

Any input would be appreciated!

Thanks!
John

[Admiral]

I have a couple of bench planes with replacement Hock irons; I didn't get the chipbreaker, the original one worked just fine for me, you just have to mate them properly. It is an improvement from the stock Stanley irons, likely better steel, but if you've got a laminated iron from the SW period, they are pretty good too. I've not had to open the mouth, but with earlier types (below Type 12) I've noticed you need to do a little surgery on the mouth.

[Strokes77]

First, if you do need to open mouth, it is very easy, almost dummy proof, have no fear there.
Second, yes there is a performer increase of the old iron or chipbreaker are not properly setup.

If you have the skills to properly mate, sharpen, and hone the old iron/breaker you won't see any difference in the shavings.

Basically Upgrading the iron/breaker is a large benefit to new plane users unless your restoration has been done properly.

[Belle City Woodworking]

Thanks guys for the info!

John

[Admiral]

Thanks guys for the info!

John

This is what you get with an original iron and chipbreaker properly sharpened, and mated to each other.

[AHill]

The single biggest improvement I've made to my vintage Stanleys was the addition of a Hock blade and chipbreaker.  If you need to open the mouth, just take a file and go at it.  Unless it's a rare collectible, there's no penalty for modifying to improve the function.  I bought the Hock O1 blades.  They sharpen easily to get very sharp, and retain the edge a long time.  Truth be known, I like my Hock blades in my vintage Stanleys more than I like the Lie-Nielsen A2 blades in my LN planes.

[enjuneer]

I fitted a pair of No. 7's (a Stanley and a Stanley-made Union) with Hock irons. One had the original chip breaker and the other had a Hock chip breaker. There were no issues with fitment on either one of them. The performance of both is stellar.

[bandit571]

I tend to view those thicker, "New & Improved" plane irons as nothing more than a crutch.....


The Stanley No. 4, Type 10 I have been using in most of the last projects, still has it's original iron.   As well as all the other planes in my shop.....see no reason to spend more on a cutter, than I did on the plane, simply to say  "I added brand X part and LOVE IT".  

Just bought a Millers Falls No. 900 ($4) yesterday........

   
Might take an hour or so to clean up.   And have it cutting see through shavings with it's "Solid Tool Steel" iron. 

YMMV....


Maybe some day,  I MIGHT buy a new iron for this one....
 

   
Stanley No. 7c, Type 9  with the original iron...and..

   
The No. 4.....

[mdhills]

I have Hock irons in a stanley #7 (using the hock chip breaker) and also in a #5 (original chip breaker).
I didn't modify the mouth of the #7.
The #5 was cambered heavily and the mouth opened quite a bit.

I really like both of these planes.

I *do* think it is necessary to get a good fit between the chip breaker and the iron.  Any gap will get wedged full of shavings, which gets old pretty fast.  The Hock chip breaker fit from the start; the original stanleys often require some tune-up.

The answers may be a bit different for a smoother that you want to run with the chip breaker very close to the edge.
(I've seen some posts where people prefer the original stanley profile over the modern chip breaker profiles, but I'd think the fit would be even more critical here.  I have an LN#4 and it works fine)

Matt

[Belle City Woodworking]

i probably should have added at the beginning of the post I have experience with hand planes and have used them for several years, I know how to tune them as well I was just curious apples to apples (Both tuned and adjust properly) is the Hock blade any better?

I get great thin shavings from the planes that I have, just wondering if I could improve upon that at all


Thanks again for all the input!

John