Sharpening Planer Blades

[nickg]

Can planer (and jointer) blades be re-sharpened? Can I do this myself or is it something best left to a 'pro'.

I happened to have a new set of planer blades that I must have bought many years ago. I installed them (glad I could lay my hands on the owner's manual) and was quite pleased with the way they cut. I didn't realize how dull the old ones were until I started using the new ones. Anyway, I have the old blades (or are they called knives?) and was wondering if they can be re-sharpened.

Nick

[Tom Slick]

Planer and Jointer knives can be sharpened but they have to be the standard, adjustable type knives. if they are the non-adjustable set-it-and-forget-it or double sided knives they cannot be resharpened. you either need a special sharpener setup, like a tormek with a jig, or you have to send them out for sharpening. they have to be perfectly straight, level and balanced to work correctly after sharpeneing, that is hard to obtain with the tools an average guy has.

[Lee4847]

I checked on this when I had my Joiner knives sharpened. The place I took them charged so much per inch of knife. So my 6 in joiner with three knives was a total of 18 inches time a price per inch which was a little over $8 total. They would also do the planer but the cost came out to be more then new knives. I have a DW735 with three 13 inch knives which are double sided. That comes out to 78 inches of sharpening service.

Lee

[FEDSAWDAVE]

In general, a quality sharpening company will charge between $.65 and $.85 cents per inch. Of course, the knives are done on an automated grinder and the knives are indexed so that they are dead on even. Prices may vary depending on how dull or beat up the knives are.
Many double-sided knives, Made in China are simply not worth sharpening this way.
Single sided, non-laminated M2 steel knives made by the like of Amana, Freud, FS Tool, CMT, etc...are certainly worth the above cost of sharpening.

[Jeffrey Schronce]

They would also do the planer but the cost came out to be more then new knives. I have a DW735 with three 13 inch knives which are double sided. That comes out to 78 inches of sharpening service.

Lee

These can not be sharpened. They are indexed blades and would not have the proper height adjustment if ground down during sharpening. The steel is also not thick enough to hold up to even slow sharpening. They are disposable. On the up side, there are a couple of companies that are now offering much higher quality blades for the 735 than the DeWalt knives for about the same amount of jingle.

[hermit]

I've "tuned up" my disposable 12.5" knives by running diamond stones across the backs. Kind of like sharpening router bits on the flat side. I lay them on a flat surface and run the stone across (I have those big stones) I even go to the Norton wet stone to finish off. I get a little extra use out of them, but they don't last likenew ones. I tried a jig to get the angle (bevel saw cuts in a piece of oak) but it was too hard to get right. The flat side works pretty well, and keeps the original angle.

todd

[John Hunter]

I have a Delta 12" planer with the double edged knives. I resharpen them all the time using Makita Sharpener http://www.amazon.com/Makita-Blade-S...9762586&sr=8-2 It does a good job and saves me a lot on new blades. A friend and I went together on purchasing it at a Wood Show and we are very pleased with it.

[Carlos]

So what's a good way to know when your planer knives are too dull?

[Jeffrey Schronce]

So what's a good way to know when your planer knives are too dull?

Easy. Tear out. If you are happy with what is coming out of your planer your knives are sharp enough. If you are not happy, then they need to be replaced/resharpened. Now if you are getting a lot of tear out in figured hardwoods you may need a fresh set of blades, however the old ones may be fine for soft/unfigured woods. A set that is too dull for birds eye maple would often be perfectly fine for mahogany (which I am currently in love with after working with highly figured woods in all of 2007).

[FEDSAWDAVE]

We see a lot of knives come in that are simply not dull. They have quite a bit of pitch build up on them that can simply be cleaned off. There are pitch removers on the market that work quite well. Have seen quite a few folks use oven cleaner. That goes for bits & blades as well.

[Carlos]

I'm getting a bit of round tear outs from Zebrawood on both my jointer and planer, but none with Wenge. I can't decide if it's just the nature of the wood or that the blades are getting dull.