We are on a Breaker

It's What's Between You and the Wood - Quality from Your Hand to Heirloom

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Greetings!

Let me thank you once again for keeping us busy at Hock Tools.

We are fortunate and grateful even with challenges to our supply chain, consistency and accuracy with shipping, and everything else.

Please look at the feature below about chip breakers. I receive many phone calls with questions about breakers: will they fit a specific plane; what do I do about all this clogging?

Also, FYI, we sell chip breakers both individually and in sets.

Once again, thank you for your orders and support of Hock Tools. Perhaps we do not keep out of trouble, but thanks to you, we are busy.

Of course, if there is anything you need from Hock Tools, please let me know.

Ron Hock

Hock Tools

(888) 282-5233

(707) 964-2782

We Are on a Breaker!

Retail 2-2022 Frog 1 - Plane Sample Detail

Breakers are part of the plane, while blades are temporary visitors. A blade will move a couple of inches through the plane over the course of its life, while a breaker moves back and forth a mere fraction of an inch and must stay sharp and flat against that itinerant blade.

Retail 2-2022 Drawing of Blade and Breaker Alignment

Experience has probably shown you that shavings and dust clog up your planing action if any gap exists between your plane's blade and breaker - as though a tiny presto log packed itself in there. Any gap at all will likely catch a shaving and clog the throat of the plane. You may be able to re-shape the breaker's sharp edge by bending and honing, but it is challenging to repair an errant breaker. If you do attempt it, you may try to flatten the underside of the breaker. Be very careful only to straighten and not to add a back-bevel because when tightened against the blade, a back-bevel could open a tiny gap anywhere along that interface. If necessary, hold the breaker off the edge of your abrasive to hone it at the proper angle. That means making it sharp but not adding a bevel. The breaker must meet the back of the blade with no gap at all.

Breakers are plane-specific. Many woodworkers own Stanley or Stanley-type planes, and many own non-Stanley planes. That is because old and new, these bench planes work hard and well over lifetimes. A thicker chip breaker can maximize your plane's performance. It stabilizes the blade's cutting edge, which reduces vibration and chatter. (Tip: set your breaker very close to the cutting edge to prevent tear-out).

Hock Tools Chip Breakers are 3mm thick (.118"), almost twice as thick as a stock chip breaker, and have a knurled cap screw.

5 shortcuts to our measured drawings

for the Hock Tools breakers/cap irons:

BK175 -- 1 3/4" wide for #3

BK200 -- 2" wide for #4 & 5

BK225 -- 2 1/4" wide for the older 5.5 (same as BK238 except the width)

BK238 -- 2 3/8" wide for #4.5, 5.5, 6 & 7

BK262 -- 2 5/8" wide for #8

Chapter 6 of Ron's book The Perfect Edge; The Ultimate Guide to Sharpening for Woodworkers Ron covers plane irons and chip breakers, including tips and methods for making them work at their best together.

For other resources, check out these videos on YouTube:

Hand Plane Parts: How a Chip Breaker Works, Bob Hoellwarth's YouTube explanations about chip breakers and lever caps.

Wood by Wright: How to Fix Chip Breaker Clog on a Hand Plane Iron, James Wright's YouTube explanation of flattening a breaker.

Chip Breaker / cap iron preparation for flawless function, David Charlesworth's YouTube demonstration on preparing a chip breaker for use.