Sent both Byrd and Lux a question on Ridgid planer. Parts manuals on-line have the same link errors, so I suspect they are the same, one made by Tectron, the other by Emerson. ( JP06100 vs 06101)
Thumbnail cost. If a carbide edge lasts 10 times as long as steel, and it takes an hour to set up a set of knives, then a professional could never justify the labor for sharpening and setting up strait knives, let alone whatever the difference is in cost. A nick on a steel means slide it sideways, but probably replace soon. Carbide, just rotate. No full setup. Single carbide much cheaper than a blade. Still, it is the labor. I am retired, so my time is my own. At least on my jointer where I can do a decent sharpening job, sticking with steel for now. As I seem to nick a planer blade about every third or fourth time, if I upgrade my planer, it wil be helical.
Thumbnail cost. If a carbide edge lasts 10 times as long as steel, and it takes an hour to set up a set of knives, then a professional could never justify the labor for sharpening and setting up strait knives, let alone whatever the difference is in cost. A nick on a steel means slide it sideways, but probably replace soon. Carbide, just rotate. No full setup. Single carbide much cheaper than a blade. Still, it is the labor. I am retired, so my time is my own. At least on my jointer where I can do a decent sharpening job, sticking with steel for now. As I seem to nick a planer blade about every third or fourth time, if I upgrade my planer, it wil be helical.