sharp/dull blade drawing Hock High Carbon small map
Finest abrasives.
Microbevels front and back.
Use a jig.
Copyright (c) 2002-15, Brent Beach

Test Summary

A high carbon steel blade from a Ron Hock Tools.

The edge was typical of high carbon steel blades (as opposed to modern Stanley chrome alloys), retaining a smooth edge during use.

Hock O1

Ron Hock makes after-market replacement blades for Stanley style planes. Initially he produced only blades made from O1 steel.

The Test

April 2, 2002.

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

The front bevel, 200 X magnification, after the 0.5 micron paper.

There may be a couple of 15 micron scratches that were not completely removed by 5 micron and 0.5 micron steps. A few 15 micron scratches would not affect the overall wear bevel size, but might contribute to failures at the edge itself. There are no such failures with this blade.

sharp
The front bevel, 200 X magnification, after 100 passes along 4 foot douglas-fir board.

The wear bevel is about 6 pixels wide, the edge still quite regular.

100 passes
The front bevel, 200 X magnification, after 150 passes.

The wear bevel is about 9 pixels wide, but the edge is still regular.

It is typical of these high carbon steel blades that they wear a little more than more modern steels (HSS for example), but retain a smooth edge throughout.

150 passes

LINKS

Check out my jig page for a simple jig you can make in your shop, along with a sharpening set up using sheet abrasives, that reliably produces excellent edges, for all types of irons.

Blade Testing Page

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