Taylor Toolworks Replacement Plane Blade: Answer to Stanley Blade Problems?
Taylor Toolworks Replacement Plane Blade: Answer to Stanley Blade Problems?
Will the TayTools replacement blade be the answer? I’ve lost faith that the stock Stanely blade will ever shape up no matter how much lapping I do. Before I give up on this plane completely, I give the inexpensive blade from Taylor Toolworks a try.
This is the third in a series of video regarding setting up this plane.
Part 1 – https://youtu.be/TqB-Zja7pM4
Part 2 – https://youtu.be/NYUCeMT2nCI
Taylor Toolworks link – https://taytools.com/products/replacement-blade-iron-taytools-6-7
If it’s out of flat at that level, I might do a back bevel instead of flattening the back, or return it. Veritas PMV11 blade is 2.5x the price of this. Is the $30 difference worth it? It varies for different people.
I was in Santa Cruz, Ca a few years back for a couple of years. While there I met and became friends with a Japanese wood worker who’s fame was rebuilding old, from the very early years of Ca. history Church doors, frames, window frames etc.
He had in his living quarters lamp shades of planer shaving. So thin not only was I afraid to touch them but light shone easily through. I unfortunately was way, way unfamiliar with the entire, “what it takes” to accomplish that let alone the skill, the sharpness, the……
I was fortunately aware enough as a former commercial fisherman/vessel owner to recognize his talent(s).
I have two hand planes. Neither of the two is usable.
Perhaps one day I’ll devote the time and seriousness it takes to refurbish them and use them.
I say, “Good on yuh!” There are times too often I recognize how a good hand plane is/would be quite helpful, if not necessary.
Thanks for spurring me on. 🤜🤛
Tom, starting around 1964, when I was 11, we lived across the road from an old farmer. He cut weeds with a Brush Master and grass with a Hay Master scythes. He also chopped wood with a pole axe and debarked fence posts with a drawknife.
Every tool he had was razor sharp. His secret?
He had a treadle powered sharpener. There were two stones for it. A coarse and a fine. It had a trough mounted beneath the stone for water. The seat was an old iron tractor seat.
It sat outside in the shade of a big oak tree. Every day when he finished work, he would carry the tools he had used over and sharpen them in the cool evening shade.
I had the treat if watching him spend hours sharpening his tools. He changed the stones depending on whether he needed to grind or hone.
He gave me one rule… you can sit in the seat and pedal the treadle all you want. But, don’t touch the stones.
It would be years before I understood the damage that an inexperienced user could do to a nice grind stone!
When he passed away, I got one of his draw knives and a scythe. They are both wall hangers, now.
Tom, I’ve never had the patience to hand sharpen tools…. So, I never developed the skill. Some of us have it (like you) and some of us don’t. But, I still like to watch…. So, please proceed!
Thanks for posting this video. I also like to get the back of blades really flat but then I have also solved similar problems by grinding the edge to remove that 0.5 mm or so of troublesome low spot. A few minutes on a wet stone grinder or even a bench grinder to establish a new hollow grind would save you hours of work to bring the whole back down to the level of that hollow. Also after flattening the back i use the David Charlesworth ruler trick where you are only removing very small amounts of metal on the back. It only changes the angle by less than one degree so not by a significant amount. All the best.
You will find that is easier to plane face grain on hardwood by skewing the plane a little. It lets the plane shear through the cut at a slight angle rather than hit it head on like a bulldozer. Give it a shot I noticed a huge difference when i tried it.
You need a diamond Atoma 140
You are a patient and persistent man. Tom! … any thoughts on the steel from the lapping and sharpening process?
I bought my three primary planes around 25 years ago, including a Record bench plane, a Stanley block plane, and a Stanley low-angle block plane. The Record has a chrome vanadium steel blade, and I’m not sure about the Stanleys, but they’re pretty good. I think they’re all different companies now that just inherited the product names. In case you have to do this again, I usually find it faster to start with sheet of 100-grit sandpaper lying on a table-saw top or other known flat reference. You can double-sided-tape a block of wood to the top of the iron for a convenient handle.
Check out the david charlesworth ruler trick…you don’t need a flat back…it makes using a plane 1,000 times easier
man, in terms of time getting things prepped to perform well, I think an expensive blade is worth it. Never planed myself except for some practice at a friends house. But screwing around with fixing a avg to mediocre product that really requires perfection, I don’t know sounds like on balance it’s a waste of money. I don’t know. I guess I lack patience.
Look for videos on the Charlesworth method, or the ruler trick.
Can’t wait to find some time for my plane! It just sits there unused. Pretty sure it needs work!
That blade sounds more trouble than its worth. I was considering a taytool blade but ill spend the extra money for a better one. Thanks for saving me a headache.
Tom, thanks for the excellent detail and effort you put into this and your other videos. I really need to visit my rustic (vintage) planes and get them up to snuff. Will re-watch this and your ‘Bench Plane Tuning By User Manual’ video for useful insights. Thanks.
I was going to ask about blade thickness, but you covered it by upgrading to a thicker iron!
I do know a Stanley blade; even an old Stanley blade is around 0.080 thick. Being that thin it will almost never stay flat in a cut. It will want to flex and cup in a decent to heavy cut. The cap iron isn’t enough to prevent that from happening.
I checked the specs; now a plane iron on a Wood River is 0.120 thick, and on a Lie-Neilsen it’s 0.140 thick; nearly twice as thick of that of a Stanley plane iron!
Plus, a thicker plane iron is much easier to sharpen than a thin one. The angle is wider on a thicker blade, so it’s easier to find the primary bevel, and hold it flat on your sharpening stone.
So, the thicker the better, even if certain parts of the plane have to be modified to accommodate a plane iron of proper thickness.
So, have you built a shooting board yet?
Please check my Community tab for answers to common questions and the latest information! – https://www.youtube.com/c/woodshopnerdery/community
Another alternative are hock irons, I personally don’t have experience with them but have seen a lot of good reviews for them, they are a thicker iron as well.
Also you might want to wax the sole of your plane such as a candle or paraffin wax, don’t give up on your plane, keep working with it and you’ll get the hang of it!!
Great video!!! Love a good plane video.