Crack in plane iron
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11 January 2016 at 8:24 pm #133817
Hi
So this was really annoying!
I was honing a new 2 3/8″ plane iron for a record #4 1/2 plane – when I say it was new, it was in original Record sealed packaging but obviously made years ago – and while I was stropping it it developed a hairline crack.
I have no idea why this happened but I was wondering if there is anything I can do, or if this iron is beyond hope. The hairline crack goes back about 1.5cm from the cutting edge.
Cheers
Bill
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Hard to tell if it’s beyond hope.
You could grind the blade back beyond the crack, regrind the bevel and see…May or may not work.
Wild guess–this is an original defect, nothing you did.
Replacement irons are readily available in the US ie; Woodcraft, Lee Valley and Hock Tools.
My money would go to Hock in the O-1 steel at ~ $42.00. And the chipbreaker if needed.
Best,
Craig11 January 2016 at 11:38 pm #133826Thanks Craig – I think a session at the grinder might be worth a try. It is a lot of metal to remove though.
If that doesn’t work out I’ll try and find another one – I’m in the UK and ideally I’d like to find a replacement original blade.
Cheers
Bill
Bill,
Here you go:
https://www.classichandtools.com/acatalog/Bench-Plane-Blades-and-Breakers.htmlSecond wild guess-the defect will reappear. A properly heat treated blade shouldn’t do that.
You’re going to really like that 4 1/2 when it’s set up.
Best,
CraigIf you have access to anyone who uses a method of non-destructive testing called “magnetic particle testing” you could determine how far the crack goes through the length of the blade. Mag particle only involves spraying a very thin layer of white background lacquer onto the blade, and then placing the dipoles of a magnet so that one pole is on one side of the crack and the other is on the other side of the crack and then puffing on some magnetic particle dust onto the blade. That would tell you once and for all if the blade is worth trying to save. Dye penetrant is another technique that would also work but it looks like a pretty tight tool steel crack and you might need to increase the “dwell”time to let the penetrant soak into the crack. I would guess that if the crack runs for 10mm or more, I wouldn’t bother trying to save the blade – as it is probably quench cracked all the way through. You can sometimes get access to Liquid Penetrant at Automotive mechanics shops. Mag particle is the more reliable however.
Cheers, Mark H12 January 2016 at 2:36 pm #133856I guess most importantly how does the wood surface look after planing with it? If you can’t tell, that would be good enough for me
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