Stanley no4 blade equality?
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Hello
I have a couple of Stanley no4 planes. One is from the early 1970s and the blade is a joy to sharpen and use. It’s my pedigree racehorse and one of the last tools to touch any piece. However, the blade has a couple of mms left and so I’ve taken the other blade, sharpened and used. Not happy with this one. I find it more difficult to get an edge on it and any edge seems very fragile and brittle.
It’s probably just me but is there any significant difference in the steel between blades of different eras that would affect sharpening and use? I’ll post a picture of the blades later if that helps. I don’t know the age of the other plane or indeed if the blade is even original. I could just buy another plane or blade but I’d rather try to get a better understanding of this first.
Thanks
DB
There are lots of differences in irons.
Not to be stuffy but the sweetheart irons are of better quality than the handyman blades. And a couple other makers blades also vary. Some is abuse some is steel makeup. If buying a new one, i bought a veritas blade for one, the 01 standard, not the thick one, and really like it. Holds a good edge and sharpens up nicely.
I also got a used sweetheart for an old 5&1/2 that the temper was screwed up because of grinding.