Academy Saw Works

	Academy Saw Works
	Finest abrasives.
	Microbevels front and back.
	Use a jig.

	Copyright (c) 2002-15, Brent Beach

Test Summary

This test is of a current production M2 High Speed Steel blade provided by the Academy Saw Works (ASW) in Australia. These blades are sold through HNT GORDON in Australia.

This is a 2-3/8" wide blade, which I tested in a Stanley #604-1/2.

ASW sells HSS blades in two thicknesses. This one is 0.104" thick (they sell it as 2.6mm); they also sell a 3mm thick blade (about 0.12").

This blade has received a Cryogenic treatment.

Pro	Additional support for my view that High Speed Steel produces a superior plane blade. This blade may be durable enough to use with a substantially smaller included angle.
Con	Like all HSS, a little harder to sharpen, but no problem with 3M microfinishing abrasives. A little difficult to locate, since Academy Saw Works has no direct web presence and appears to sell only from Australia.

The Test

March 6-7, 2005.

As with all my other tests, I honed three front and back microbevels using 15, 5, and 0.5 micron 3M abrasive paper.

The front bevel, 200 X magnification, as delivered. The angled scratches are the machining marks for the primary bevel - at 24 degrees, as delivered. The edge appears to have been lightly honed with a fairly fine abrasive - somewhere between 5 micron and 0.5 micron. The edge itself is a little jagged.
The back, 200 X magnification, as delivered. The machining marks on the back run parallel to the edge, so do not show up well with this lighting. The back has not been honed at all.
The front bevel, 200 X magnification, showing the sharpening steps. The top is the 15 micron microbevel. The scratches angle up, a bit to the right. The wire edge is visible in this picture -- the last 1/32" at the edge. The second image is the 5 micron microbevel, with scratches that go straight up. You will notice that almost the entire 15u microbevel has been honed away. This is a consequence of having put fresh 5 (and 0.5) micron paper on my glass plate, but not new 15u paper. The wire edge is gone. By raising the iron and beginning this honing step at the edge, the wire edge gets removed first. The third image was taken after the 0.5 micron abrasive. The difference in scratch density is small, but you can see that most of the scratches from the 5u abrasive now stop about half way across the 5u microbevel.
The front bevel, 200 X magnification, after 100 passes along 4 foot douglas-fir board. The wear bevel appears as a faintly darker band along the edge, with a few glints (characteristic of M2 and A2 blades). It is 1 to 2 pixels wide.
The front bevel, 200 X magnification, after 200 passes. By enlarging the picture (digitally) I can see that the wear bevel is about 3 pixels wide.
The front bevel, 200 X magnification, after 300 passes. By enlarging the picture (digitally) I can see that the wear bevel is between 3 and 4 pixels wide.
The front bevel, 200 X magnification, after 400 passes. By enlarging the picture (digitally) I can see that the wear bevel is between 5 and 6 pixels wide.

Bottom Line

The ASW M2 steel blade is twice as durable as A2 steel blades I have tested. Better than that, at the point at which the lower wear bevel is nearing 6 pixels wide, the wear bevel is less fractured.

The ASW M2 steel blade was comparable to the Hobart Stanley HSS blade, as far as that test went. To distinguish between these blades (which were tested using the same plane on the same board about 2 weeks apart) based on identical sharpening angles and abrasives, I would probably have to do 500 or more passes. Even then I expect the differences would be small.

Is this blade durable enough to be sharpened and used with a substantially smaller included angle?

Test Summary

The Test

Bottom Line

LINKS

Blade Testing Page

Home again

Lost?

Questions? Comments?