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Anybody have any experience in upgrading planes to Hock irons and chipbreakers. I bought one of those low-cost Anant smoothing planes from Highland hardware over a year ago. I lapped the sole and sides to perfect flatness and have had no complainte but one...the blade is soft and needs constant attention. For about $60 to $70 can change the guts and wanted to get opinions (hopefully Sprockett can chime in).

Also, I'm considering purchasing another Anant plane. This time the #7 or #8 jointer for $90. I'd love to get the L-N model... but at $400+ plus the spell that the Zootman has on my wallet, I'll just have to wait. Can anyone comment on the merits of retro-fitting these 22"+ monsters. TIA

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JJ
Napa, CA
http://www.DonohueGuitars.com

JJ, I use Stanley Bailey planes with hock blades. I must say I really like the hock blades. They sharpen well, hold and edge, and have little chatter. I change every blade to a hock as soon as I buy it.

Best wishes,
Joshua

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Instagram: @jfrenchluthier
Web: https://www.jfrenchguitars.com/

last I looked on ebay the used ones were pretty reasonable. Don't know if I'd bother with the chipbreaker, not much they can do to mess that up that you can't fix. You certainly need to make sure that the chipbreaker is shaped properly.

Thanks guys...

Josh...thanks for the endorsement. After experiencing the joy of using high quality steel on my Japanese chisel as well as my new L-N 102 block plane, I just have to get the Hock blades.

Eric...the Hock chipbreakers are thicker than the originals and designed to be in perfect alignment with their Hock iron counterparts. It seems like it should all add up to more precision, stability and less chattering. In reality, does it make sense? For an extra $20 for the chipbreaker, Im going to give it a try. If nothing else, I'll be able to get a true comparison between the two chipbreakers.

Besides getting the sole flat and polished and upgrading the blades are there any other tricks I should consider?

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JJ
Napa, CA
http://www.DonohueGuitars.com

there have been a number of articles in fine woodworking over the years on how to tune up a plane. You might want to see if you can track those down.

The things to worry about on a Stanley style plane are that the mating surfaces are properly mated on anything that holds the blade. Since the frog is adjustable, the surface it slides back and forth on needs to be flat. It usually isn't. It's possible that the part of the frog that the blade sits on isn't flat. You can check both of these things with Prussian blue.

The mouth needs to be square, smooth, and properly shaped.

I like the Hock blades except when planing bone or ivory: they're so hard they chip. I use my Stanley low-angle for that.

What Eric said about setup. I use a microbevel on the plane that's set up for hardwood, and keep the throat opening as small as you can and still clear the chip, particularly on low-angle planes: this will help give a smooth cut.

I hate to think about how many acres of wood I've pushed my old Stanley 04 through. I don't have a sander, and do all of my stock prep with that plane and a drill press planer. I use the 04 for jointing, too.