What to use to sharpen planer knives?

What to use to sharpen planer knives? · 10-26-2009, 08:12 AM

Hi Y'all, I would be interested in how you all sharpen your planer and joiner knives? What tools and or jigs do you use? I can not find anyone locally to do a good job of sharpening these and would like to be able to do it myself. Thanks. Steve

ScottM · 10-26-2009, 08:33 AM

Steve, I do not sharpen my own. I take them to a local sharpening service.

scsmith42 · 10-26-2009, 09:13 AM

Stevie, for planer knives, go to Grizzly's website and check out these products:

T10010 10" wet sharpening system (German mfg) 189.99
T10025 Jig for sharpening up to 16" planer blades (German mfg) 159.95
T20880 Straight edge sharpening Jig 19.95

JackLeg · 10-26-2009, 09:29 AM

There are several places where you can send them to be sharpened, Steve. I'm betting there's a place in either Charleston or Clarksburg. If not, check out Charlotte, NC. Some of the other guys on here can also probably recommend some places.

dino drosas · 10-26-2009, 09:56 AM

If you are going to sharpen your own, the Makita 9820-2 is the only way to go. It is a horizontal motorized Japanese wet stone and comes with a fixture for sharpening J/P knives up to 16" long. It is not only easy to use but accurate. I have owned one for 15 years and it does a great job; especially with chisels and carving tools. Go to www.highlandwoodworking.com website where you can see it as well as getting a full download of the operating instructions.

CarvedTones · 10-26-2009, 10:00 AM

This thread mentions a few ways:

http://lumberjocks.com/topics/4638

The manual for my antique jointer suggests honing on the machine by setting the front table slightly down, turning the head by hand until a stone lays flat across the bevel, clamping the belt to hold it in place, taking the same number of strokes across each blade and then taking the burr off with an abrasive stick.
This will keep a blade sharp, but will not remove dings or deep scratches.

Travis Porter · 10-26-2009, 11:45 AM

You can do it with a Tormek, but it is not an inexpensive proposition with the jigs and diamond truing stone needed for set up.

JimD · 10-26-2009, 10:23 PM

For my Inca jointer I use a horizontal wet stone I got from Woodworkers Supply and a jig I got somewhere. For my Ryobi AP-10 I don't need the jig because it came with a simple little plastic jig to put both knives together on a jig so you can sharpen freehand. Works very well on the same horizontal sharpening wheel.

Jim

Cuprousworks · 10-27-2009, 12:41 AM

Originally Posted by CarvedTones

This thread mentions a few ways:

http://lumberjocks.com/topics/4638

I've been searching for a simple and what looked to be effective touch-up jig that you should be able to do with sandpaper (scary sharp). The link above describes one such jig, this link has some pics:

http://www.superwoodworks.com/Projects/JKnifeJig.htm

I haven't found the jig I was looking for, it used the same saw-kerf feature as this jig, but with opposing kerfs to hold both knives. When both knives were inserted the ground edge would both sit flat on sandpaper, eliminating the need for the fence. Since both were on the sandpaper the same time there would be no need to count strokes.

That might be better for touch-up rather than complete sharpening, and I would imagine you can only use it so many times before you would need to regrind. I has a set of knives that I use for first cut, and this type of honing might work well enough for that set.

Mike

steviegwood · 10-27-2009, 07:07 AM

Thanks for all of the input. I am reading all of the suggestions with great interest and welcome all suggestions. I will watch this thread closely until I find something that either works for me or that I can afford. I have two lunch box craftsman thickness planers; one 12" and one 13" and a 6 & 1/8" joiner to keep sharp. I just purchased a new set of knives for the 13" and they were $64.64 delivered. I thought that to be a little expensive. Steve

FredP · 10-27-2009, 07:49 AM

Originally Posted by steviegwood

Thanks for all of the input. I am reading all of the suggestions with great interest and welcome all suggestions. I will watch this thread closely until I find something that either works for me or that I can afford. I have two lunch box craftsman thickness planers; one 12" and one 13" and a 6 & 1/8" joiner to keep sharp. I just purchased a new set of knives for the 13" and they were $64.64 delivered. I thought that to be a little expensive. Steve

that sounds kinda high to me too steve. do a search for global tooling. [sorry I dont have a link handy] I get 20" knives for not much more that that! I am watching this one too cause I got some sharp;nin to do as well!

Glennbear · 10-27-2009, 04:10 PM

I did a quick search but could not find a thread someone posted a while back where they shapened blades by cutting a slot in a board that matched the bevel angle and width of the blade and then sharpened using a ROS. Hopefully the author will see this and chime in.

Ken Massingale · 10-27-2009, 04:38 PM

Originally Posted by steviegwood

Thanks for all of the input. I am reading all of the suggestions with great interest and welcome all suggestions. I will watch this thread closely until I find something that either works for me or that I can afford. I have two lunch box craftsman thickness planers; one 12" and one 13" and a 6 & 1/8" joiner to keep sharp. I just purchased a new set of knives for the 13" and they were $64.64 delivered. I thought that to be a little expensive. Steve

Steven, do you think theres enough 'meat' on those blades to sharpen? The ones on my old Delta and the new Dewalt are 1/16" thick. Plus after sharpening, the position of the edge will be different from the indexing pins on the cutterhead.
I'm not saying it ain't doable, just seems like if the disposable blades could be done practically everybody would be doing it.
For the jointer, if yours is the same 6 1/8 that I have, I called the 800 number in the manual and was told the blades should be replaced, not sharpened. They said something about the blade thickness and stuff, but they did send me a free set of blades after I cried like a 12 year old girl about a friend running ply across the blades and putting dozens of nicks in them.
I hope you find a way to do this, I hate throwing blades away.
Ken

FredP · 10-27-2009, 04:58 PM

Originally Posted by Glennbear

I did a quick search but could not find a thread someone posted a while back where they shapened blades by cutting a slot in a board that matched the bevel angle and width of the blade and then sharpened using a ROS. Hopefully the author will see this and chime in.

funny you should mention this! I just got done with 2 sets of jointer knives and a set of 20" planer knives. cut a slot and layed them in it. glued a stop at each end to keep them from moving and ran em through the drum sander.

worked like a charm. layed waste to about 4" of the sandpaper on one end but it was cheaper than sending them out.

CarvedTones · 10-27-2009, 05:19 PM

Ken,

If it makes you feel any better, I will take a couple off your hands. I am in the learning mode on annealing, hardening and tempering and would rather ruin a few pieces of tool steel that were already on the way to scrap heap instead of new ones if possible...