" Dull Planer Blades " (Sharpened)

It’s very hard to sharpen planer blades due to their length. The blades on my Delta are throw away. they do have two edges though so you get twice the life out of them.

I sharpen my jointer blades, since they are much shorter, on my Tormek.

When I ever get a new planer I will get a cutter head with indexable inserts.

-- Gary, East TX -- The longest journey begins with a single step.

Try taking a smaller bite on your first passes, that may stop the slippage.

-- Dick Cain, Hibbing, MN. http://www.woodcarvingillustrated.com/gallery/member.php?uid=3627&protype=1

If your infeed rollers are correctly set, you’re not going to get the wood to go through with dull blades.
This is what I use for sharpening planer blades. It will sharpen up to 20” long blades. http://www.grizzly.com/products/G2790/images/

-- Tim -- http://tmuli.com

As far as slipping, make sure the rollers are clean too. Wipe them down with some mineral spirits if they are coated with wood chips.

Without specific equipment, there is no good way to sharpen the knives yourself. Several models of newer planers use disposable blades which are also double sided. These are a lot easier to deal with and more economical at the same time.

-- Dust collectors suck.

FWW's book on Proven Shop Tips has a few methods of doing it with a sled and a cupstone on a drill press. The jig is actually on the cover of the book. The jig looks like it would be really inexpensive to build, but I have not tried it yet. I haven’t had the time. I’ve heard so many horror stories about how each blade has to be the EXACT same weight or the machine will make terrible cuts, (or has a high speed come-apart), etc, etc… almost makes me afraid to try it. (I don’t know if any of that is true or not)

This sled would allow you to regrind it enough to take the chips out if you did try it. I would bring the jig and table up to the cupstone, and not use the drill press handles to bring the cupstone to the blade… or it will be terribly inconsistent. If you didn’t have a drill press, you may be able to rotate the jig 90 degrees and try it on a bench grinder. I wouldn’t get the blades hot or the first pass with some medium density wood and you would smoke those blades. If you find a way that works for you, let us all know.

(I bet Daren Nelson would have the answer to this, he does this kind of thing for a living)

-- As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another. (Proverbs 27:17)

i didn’t have a problem with this at first, but I’ve been planing a ton of the walnut I bought and some of it is really rough. when it is feeding through, i keep my hand on the crank. As soon as it gets stuck, I loosen the crank and it starts moving again. I couldn’t tell if yours wasn’t feeding because it was too loose or too tight though.

Dave:

I just finished planing about 100 board feet of hard maple on my Shopsmith Pro Planer with knives that I sharpened myself. I could not ask for better results. For sharpening, I use a conical disk sander with 150 grit aluminum oxide paper. The blades fit in a special jig, a small sled actually, that I lock the blade in, and then pass it along the fence with the blades just touching the sanding disk. I then finish hone by hand on my water stones. The blades can shave hair on the back of my hand. If I had to, I could hand sharpen the blade on a flat glass plate starting with 220 grit wet/dry paper. I took a tip from Nick Engler, if you get a nick in your blades, you don’t have to grind it all out. Simply position one of the blades about 1/32” offset from the others and the ridge in the wood will disappear.

In the past, before I had a dust collector, my rubber outfeed roller would get slippery and I had to clean it often with mineral spirits. The dust collector eliminated any feed problems.

-- "Heaven is North of the Bridge"

might try some paste wax (Johnsons, Butchers etc NOT automotive as it contains silicone, and will raise heck with finishing the wood) on the bed

-- Fred, Springfield, Ma

Hi David;

You probably have the answer to a bunch of small problems, which when combined are leading to the results you’re getting.

I hone the blades while they’re still mounted on the machine, but for a good sharpening, I send them out.

I keep thinking of changing the cutter head on my powermatic with one with indexable inserts. But the $ 1.200.00 keeps stopping me.

Lee

-- by Lee A. Jesberger http://www.prowoodworkingtips.com http://www.ezee-feed.com