I have a Companion 9 3/4″ bench plane bought at Sears many years ago. The iron is too beat up to grind and I can’t find a replacement. There are other manufacturers but their irons cost more than a replacement plane.
Sears cannot use the model stamped on the plane, “C557MP”, or the item and model numbers that appear on their web site. Nor can they look up the manual because the retail and parts departments do not share databases. So I cannot order a manual to look up the part number to order the part.
Any and all advice would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Carlos
Replies
Begin here... ;>)
http://collectibles.shop.ebay.com/items/Planes__W0QQ_sacatZ13874
and post this query over in 'Knots' (look in the yellow line in the page header) - there's a 'hand tool' folder - after they get done deriding the quality of your tool, they'll give you a source of an iron that costs 10X the value of the plane - but someone will get you what you want -
Hock irons are considered good quality.
http://www.thebestthings.com/newtools/hock.htm
You might have to email them with the dimensions of your iron to get your blade you want.
Sounds like its either 1 5/8 wide or 2" wide, thats all ya need to know. Yard sales, flea markets, or buy a new 30 dollar Stanley plane and snag it's iron.
for yard sale and FM finds, look closely at the back of the blade, you should be able to discern where the soft steel ends and the hard steel begins..if it has a 1/2" even of hard steel, that should last the rest of your life, unless you are a grinding maniac.
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