What motivated them to keep on with this old technology? Cost would have been a factor, of course, as it was for the older manufacturers of traditional tapered irons and no doubt would have been a significant consideration for Stanley and Record as long as they continued to use expensive crucible steel to form the cutting part of their plane irons. the joint between the two metal part is just visible as a thin silver line showing on the bevel. In this case the blade has been dunked in a proprietary rust remover and the high carbon steel bit has turned black. it is often difficult to tell if a cutter is laminated or not, however the higher carbon content of the steel bit used for the cutting edge can cause it to tarnish when exposed to certain chemicals. However companies like Record and Stanley chose to use laminated irons in their metal planes right up until the 1950s. Following the previous articles about iron, steel and plane cutters it may be tempting to view laminated cutters as an historical curiosity from a forgotten era of wooden planes, wrought iron and crucible steel.

Laminated steel used intools