# sharpening the planer thicknesser blades



## LarryS. (17 Dec 2008)

all,

how do you sharpen your planer / thicknesser blades ? too big for any jig I have for my grinding stone


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## ProShop (17 Dec 2008)

Find a good local saw doctor & let them sharpen them, it's not that expensive imho.


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## Saintsman (17 Dec 2008)

Hi Paul,

You're not a million miles from Tewkesbury Saw, who recently sharpened my 12" planer blades for £12 plus VAT

Paul T


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## Steve Maskery (17 Dec 2008)

Yes, let the pros do it.

If you really want to do it yourself:

Take a piece of wood 10" long and 2 or 3" wide. Bevel the long sides to the angle of your blades (30 deg? I'd have to check).

Screw it to a baseboard

Rip another two pieces to 30 deg too.

Screw them to the baseboard so that they trap the blades. The bevels of your blades are now dead horizontal.

Rub them with an oilstone. Each helps keep the stone flat on the other.

When you have ruined one set of knives this way, buy a new set and let the pros do it


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## Racers (17 Dec 2008)

Hi.

I have done mine by hand just holding them on the bevel on waterstones but it takes a long time, off to the sharpeners next time.


Pete


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## woodbloke (17 Dec 2008)

I've always done mine on the Tormek jig. It's a bit of a fiddle to set up, but each blade is spot on when done - Rob :ho2


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## Jake (17 Dec 2008)

How do you ensure they are balanced, Rob?

That's what's always put me off - well, that, and the fact that the jig pays for loads of sharpenings at a doc's (or indeed a fair few pairs of new blades for the even lazier) - and the time, and the large pah can't be bothered I'll send them off factor.


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## Lord Nibbo (17 Dec 2008)

Jake":3dtfxf7p said:


> The fact that the jig pays for loads of sharpenings at a doc's (or indeed a fair few pairs of new blades for the even lazier)



Saintsman quote £12 a pop, :shock: I think I paid about £80 ish for my tormek planer blade jig so half a dozen sharpens and it paid for it's self. Now I reckon I've done the same set at least 15 times so I'm £100 up on the deal. :lol:


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## Jake (17 Dec 2008)

I paid £6 last time. £12 for a pair of new blades from Method.

At that price, balancing and pah-etc factor is enough for me.


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## wizer (17 Dec 2008)

I don't want to bad mouth Bedford Saw until I have double checked, but I suspect they have ground my blades convex somehow. It's cheaper to get it done local anyway.


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## Lord Nibbo (17 Dec 2008)

Jake":36ahkrwk said:


> I paid £6 last time. £12 for a pair of new blades from Method.
> 
> At that price, balancing and pah-etc factor is enough for me.


 I've never had any issue with balance, I'm not saying it won't happen but everything I've read about being concerned about upsetting any balance from over grinding of one or more of the blades has been said by people who don't regrind their own blades. Do you really think any blade doctor measures how much they take off or match set a set of blades? I really don't think so. :-s


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## woodbloke (17 Dec 2008)

Jake":115l28hq said:


> How do you ensure they are balanced, Rob?
> 
> That's what's always put me off - well, that, and the fact that the jig pays for loads of sharpenings at a doc's (or indeed a fair few pairs of new blades for the even lazier) - and the time, and the large pah can't be bothered I'll send them off factor.


Jake - when the jig is set up correctly, the stone simply won't cut any more metal off the blade...when you pass it across the face of the stone, nothing happens, so both blades _ought_ :wink: to be identical. The proof of the pudding though, is in the planer as anything that's even slightly out of balance will cause the machine to vibrate, assuming that you've been dead accurate with setting them up. So far, all my sharpenings over the last 10 years have caused no difficulties with the p/t. Even if your blades were professionally ground (which _assumes_ they're going to be balanced) you still have to set them into the p/t so that it runs true...set one blade even the tiniest bit out and you'll get an out of balance planer block *or* one blade will be dominant and do all the cutting, which is what I think happened to Waka when we were discussing this issue at the Bash the other day - Rob :ho2


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## ProShop (17 Dec 2008)

Lord Nibbo":37r6jip5 said:


> . Do you really think any blade doctor measures how much they take off or match set a set of blades? I really don't think so. :-s



The good doctors do indeed do just that. They need to as they are sharpening blades that are 500mm long plus. 
And sharpening as a set of up to 4 knives per block.


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## WellsWood (17 Dec 2008)

Lord Nibbo":1mc9p17x said:


> Jake":1mc9p17x said:
> 
> 
> > Do you really think any blade doctor measures how much they take off or match set a set of blades? I really don't think so. :-s



Well mine certainly does. It's intrinsic to the process actually as all 3 blades are bedded simultaneously on a horizontal grinder.

The result, whilst very good (and damn cheap at 25p/inch), is improved by honing a secondary (micro)bevel with a rexon horizontal wetstone grinder. This makes resharpening a breeze untill such time as they need a proper re-grind, then I just pop them back down the road to the saw doctor.


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## ByronBlack (17 Dec 2008)

When I had my p/t I didn't faff around with taking the blades out, I used the david charlesworth method of sharpening them whilest still in the block, i did this after planning about 200meters of pine and they were as good as new. I wouldn't bother taking them out of the cutter-block unless there were some serious nicks or damage to them, just use a diamond or waterstone on them in situ.


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## OPJ (17 Dec 2008)

Paul, get in touch with Ian at Dragon Saws - he should do you a good price with a lightning fast turnaround! :wink: He also mentioned something to me once about re-grinding the blades to a higher angle (60º) for working with hardwoods. Not something I've yet tried myself but, it may be worth considering? I'll give it a go whenever I buy myself a spare set.

Whatever you decide to do, you should be chuffed with the results and find the finish is even better than when you received the machine brand new!


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## Saintsman (18 Dec 2008)

I should have made it clear that Tewkesbury Saw's charge of £12 was for four 12" blades (i.e. £3 per blade)
And a very nice job they did too!

Paul T


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