Add a Hock Blade to Your Hand Plane
Add a Hock Blade to Your Hand Plane
Whether your plane’s blade is used up, pitted with rust or just plain no good, a Hock Iron from Highland can be the quickest way to get your hand plane cutting its best. In this short video, Jim Dillon takes a look at the Hock Plane Irons and explains what makes them so good.
Hock Plane Irons are available at Highland Woodworking: https://www.highlandwoodworking.com/hock-blades.aspx
I have no doubt that these blades are better than the originals however, I found that Veritas blades are thicker and great.
Would you replace your existing Lie Nielsen blade with a Hock blade, only if you are a complete “idiot”!
Good video though…
Thanks 4 the information
Put a Hock iron on my #7. Wow, like a night and day difference. I was dumbfounded by how much better it worked. I was instantly able to cut those long silky shavings I coveted guys like Rob Cosman was getting. Now I know the secret. Spend $300 on a high end plane or $40 for a Hock blade for your Stanley #4, 5, 6, 7, or 8
This video is actually very informational, check it out!!
Cheers mate …very informative
Great video. I was just wondering how to work out if my plane needs the mouth filing or not, please? Although I’ve been woodworking for a few years, I’ve never had the chance to swap out a blade for a Hock, so I’m unsure what to look out for. Thanks so much.
That’s pretty cool. A lot less expensive than a quality new plane, but triple what I paid for my used finds. So, put the two together and you still get a plane (with work into restoring the antique body) for less than half the cost of a new plane overall. Great option for those guys and gals who don’t have a forge themselves, or for the craftsperson who doesn’t have the time or even want to make their own blades. And likely higher quality than the average home DIY’er could come close to managing. Thanks for sharing this with the rest of us.
I’m somewhat aghast. Near the end of this video, Mr. Dillon ignored one of the cardinal shop rules for using planes. When he stopped planing, he put the plane down on the bench on its sole, not on its side, which threatens the cutting edge; there could be any manner of small debris on the benchtop that could chip the edge. At the beginning of the video, I assumed the blades in the planes he was showing us, arrayed across the benchtop, had their blades retracted. Now I’m not so sure. The best practice, if a plane’s blade is deployed and ready to use, is to always put the plane down on one of its sides. Similarly, I often see tool storage systems (toolboxes, bins or shelves) in which a rimmed pocket or corral has been made for holding a specific plane, but no accommodation or relief has been made for the cutting edge of the blade. A dedicated pocket for holding a plane should have two dadoes, coincident with the plane’s mouth, in the surface on which the sole sits: one for each direction in which the plane might be stored in the pocket.
Love the Badger pennant. Go Bucky!!
Thanks for the info – especially the tips about the plane mouth and the differences between the two steel choices.
I’ve found A2/O1 doesn’t make much difference on hand planes where the work is gentle. However, O1 do NOT hold up on chisels, chipping easily.