Hock A2 Bench Plane Blades

Took these out of the box and honed them once, then ran a dozen passes on some gnarly oak end grain—still shaving cleanly with zero chatter when I finally stopped. The A2 steel really does hold that edge longer than the old O1 blades I’d been fighting with.

The A2 steel holds an edge noticeably longer than the old O1 blade I was using, which has cut my sharpening sessions way down. The grind was square right out of the box, and it seated perfectly in my No. 4 with zero fuss.

After honing this A2 blade on my water stones, the edge it took was noticeably sharper than the cheap factory iron it replaced, and it held that keenness through a full session of end-grain work. The extra hardness really shows in the durability, and it’s been a solid upgrade for my #4 plane.