Improve the Cutting Ability of your Woodworking Hand Planes with Hock Blades

Hock Tools has been making exceptional quality blades for woodworking tools since the 1980’s. The quality, high carbon tool steel used in making their blades is far superior to the chrome vanadium steel used in the blades found on economy priced hand planes. Hock irons will hone more easily and can be honed to a sharper edge than blades made with sub standard tool steel. Hock blades are also thicker than most original equipment irons (3/32″ thick) and give a much improved cutting action by lessening vibration and chatter as you cut. Hock irons come prepped from the factory with flat backs, precisely ground bevels and need only the lightest final honing to remove any factory machining marks and be absolutely razor sharp. (Many folks just use them right out of the package, without any initial honing.)

Hock blades fit the Stanley, Record and Bailey planes made over the decades (and many of the clones of the these planes made over the years).

Hock blades for block planes are 4-1/2″ long. Measure the width of your existing blade, along with the width of the center slot to ensure a correct fit. Hock block plane irons

Hock blades for bench planes measure 7‵ long. They are available in a range of widths for Stanley / Record / Bailey bench plane models going from a Number 3 to a Number 8 - 1-3/4″ to 2-5/8″ wide. Hock bench plane irons

Hock blades are the best upgrade for your bench planes and block planes so they may create wispy thin shavings rolling off your work. And to get even greater performance from your bench planes, consider the Hock Chip breaker (cap iron). At .118″, they are nearly twice as thick as standard chip breakers. They are milled flat and have a slight spring along their length, so they can bear fully right at the blade’s leading edge. A beveled front edge of the chip breaker lets you position them more closely to the leading edge of the blade (and the mouth opening of the plane) to stabilize the blade for less chatter. Hock chip breakers (cap irons) are sold separately or as part of a matched set with a Hock bench plane blade. Hock Chipbreakers

Reasons for considering a Hock iron in your existing block plane or bench plane:

• Your original blade is missing or is so degraded it cannot be made serviceable (It’s ground down too short, pitted too deeply from rust / corrosion, the edge has been overheated & the temper of the steel is ruined, the iron is cupped, bowed, bent or twisted badly.)
• You want improved cutting results: The original iron, even when prepped and honed to a keen edge, is still falling short in some planing operations during use: You experience blade chatter as you cut, excessive tear out of the wood grain and / or lack the ability to retain a sharp edge.
• You have a new economy priced plane that will need its factory “new” blade worked over a good bit before it’s ready for use (the blade’s back will need to be fully flattened and the edge fully honed and sharp) and you’d rather get on to using the plane, versus spending time trying to get a substandard “new” iron tweaked to a working state. And sadly, once you spend time honing the blade, you find the metallurgical make up of the blade and / or it’s tempering is so poor, the honed edge fades quickly.

Hock also sell blades for spokeshaves, cabinet scrapers, your own handmade wooden planes and more!

Check out all the high quality blades, irons and wooden plane & knife kits from Hock Tools.

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