Sharpening Planer Blades

[Mike.C]

Has anyone got one of these?

http://www.axminster.co.uk/veritas-veri ... tomsection

If so how have you found it, is it worth the money. If I went for it I would also need a piece of lapping plate glass http://www.axminster.co.uk/veritas-veri ... rod822780/

The only problem is I already have a Tormek but I don't really want to pay £122 for their planer jig 8-[

I have one of these for putting the edge back on the blade, but it is no good if there is a chip taken out of one.

What other options do I have?

Cheers

Mike

 

[beech1948]

Mike,

I have 3 sets of blades so one set at least is always sharp.

I take mine to the local tool shop who send them away and get them back one week later.

I.ve done this for 11 years. Cost is £4.80 per set ( last time). Job is done well, blades seem to be in balance and they last well.

regards
Alan

 

[Mike.C]

Thanks Alan I will have a look and see if there is anyone in this area who can sharpen them.

Cheers

Mike

 

[Karl]

Mike

Steve Maskery did a video about his honing jig for planer blades. Search YouTube. You could use this jig with a sheet of coarse SiC stuck to one of the planer tables and effectively dry-grind the blades yourself.

Personally, I do the same as Alan and take them to a saw doctor. If they need a freshen up I freehand each blade with a few strokes on some 1200 SiC.

Cheers

Karl

 

[cutting solutions]

Mike
not sure where you are in Scotland but you should try Saw & Tooling Services in Edinburgh.
0131 458 3886

 

[Tim Nott]

I bought the Tormek jig - it takes ages and the results are not very good. Now I do as others have advised - get them sharpened professionally. Much cheaper in terms of my tome and excellent, consistent edges

 

[jhwbigley]

I've found that my planer knives run and cut better after there first sharpening by the saw doctor.

JH

 

[tjwoodms]

the tomek jig is probebly ok for knives upto about 10" but beyond that the knife has to be unclamped and repositioned not a good idea.

really you need a staight knife grinder i have been looking for a decent one for some time now along with a profile grinder so i can expand my bussiness but it will be more of a fill in for the quiet days so i dont want to spend to much or the machines wont pay for themselves.

 

[wizer]

I think this Jig and SteveM's are only good for honing. Personally I think taking them out and putting them back in is such a chore that I'd rather pay the money and have them properly sharpened. I also have three sets, so it's unlikely that I'll ever be without a sharp set to go in.

The last thing Mike linked to is ok for 'calming down' a nick or to get the blades to last until the end of the current job. But I wouldn't rely on them to get you out of trouble. There a knack to using them too.

 

[Mike.C]

I think this Jig and SteveM's are only good for honing. Personally I think taking them out and putting them back in is such a chore that I'd rather pay the money and have them properly sharpened. I also have three sets, so it's unlikely that I'll ever be without a sharp set to go in.

The last thing Mike linked to is ok for 'calming down' a nick or to get the blades to last until the end of the current job. But I wouldn't rely on them to get you out of trouble. There a knack to using them too.

At £33 per set of 3, it looks like I would be better off spending my money on a couple of extra sets of blades and get them sharpened by a pro.

Your right Tom, I only use the diamond honer to put keep the blades sharpened a bit longer. I also use it to make the disposable blades on my thicknesser go a bit further between changes.

Thanks for your advice guys.

Cheers

Mike

 

[RogerS]

Not sure what machine you have, Mike, but I invested in these from Cutting Solutions.

http://www.barke.de/web-content/eng/sysbarkeEN.html

A no-brainer for me.

 

[The Bear]

Roger

If you can spare the time, I would be really interested in a bit of a review of that system.

Mark

 

[Mike.C]

Not sure what machine you have, Mike, but I invested in these from Cutting Solutions.

http://www.barke.de/web-content/eng/sysbarkeEN.html

A no-brainer for me.

I seem to remember a thread when these were memtiond not very long ago but for the life of me I cannot find it. I think the problem was I could not work out the exact price for the JET 54A 3 blade planer.

Thanks for reminding me about this company Roger. As Mark asks above can you give us a quick review.

Cheers

Mike

 

[RogerS]

Not much to say really. They do what they say on the tin. The turnblades are double-sided and sit in carriers. These carriers sit on top of whatever blade height adjusting mechanism you use on your planer. So you throw away your old blades...which are usually pretty thick but that's neither here nor there. You then insert the turnblades into the carrier and fit them both into your block. Adjust the height as you would do for normal planer blades. That's it. Now throwaway your planer blade height adjusting jig as you won't need it any more.

When the blade gets blunt, loosen the securing screws, turn it over, tighten. They go in at the same height. Likewise when you replace the turnblade with a new one. Economics work out OK as well for me.

here is the other thread...searched on 'throwaway'

https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/forums/post ... way#508597

 

[woodbloke]

I bought the Tormek jig - it takes ages and the results are not very good.

I agree it takes a long time to set up (around an hour to do the blades on my Kity 439) but I disagree about the results...my blades are excellent after they've been in the Tormek jig.
Setting up the jig so that's it's 'just so' is a long and protracted business, but once everything's sorted it works very well. It's essential to true the wheel with the diamond dresser before installing the jig though - Rob

 

[jlawrence]

I've got the verititas jig and it works pretty well imo.

 

[Mike.C]

Many thanks for your thoughts and the link Roger.

Hi Mike
150 mm long and assuming the resharpenables are somewhere between 25 & 30 mm high and 3 mm thick.
Holders £6.00 each nett
HSS knives (best if you are doing a lot of fancy hardwoods) £6.15 each nett
HC Knives (ok for many hardwoods and all softwoods) £2.55 each nett.
setting/adjusting screws £2.00
Holders are supplied individually but knives must be in packs of 12 as I dont keep them as stock items.
all plus carriage & VAT
delivery 2 weeks

I remember now why I did not take it further, because according to Doug's message above my blades need to be between 25 & 30mm high and 3 mm thick, but the blades fitted in my JET 54A are only 16.5 x 2.9. Even the blades in the bigger JET 60A are only 204 x 18 x 3.1mm, so this means they won't fit either of these planers. In fact looking through the blades on Axminster it seems that there are a great number of machines that cannot use this system.

So Doug are you sure that 25mm is the minimum size that your system will take?

The pricing is also a bit confusing, so if the above is a mistake and you can supply me, how much will a set of HSS knives cost (and all the other bits and pieces), including the fact that I may have to buy a set of 12 blades.

Cheers

Mike

 

[cutting solutions]

Mike
I am sure 25 mm is the smallest size my system can go.
the knives are actually 18.6 mm wide and they sit in the holder which adds another 6 mm.

the 2.9 mm is not relevant...its close enough to 3mm.

make sure that there is not enough room to put a 25 mm knife into the seating. are the screws/springs a long way out of the holes in the bottom of the seating?

the system is designed for more industrial use machines.

 

[Mike.C]

Mike
I am sure 25 mm is the smallest size my system can go.
the knives are actually 18.6 mm wide and they sit in the holder which adds another 6 mm.

the 2.9 mm is not relevant...its close enough to 3mm.

make sure that there is not enough room to put a 25 mm knife into the seating. are the screws/springs a long way out of the holes in the bottom of the seating?

the system is designed for more industrial use machines.

I'll go out and check tomorrow if a 25mm blade will fit in. Sorry to keep on, but I want to see what the best value route will be in the long run, so can you tell me how much the whole set, including a pack of HSS blades will be?
The way I see it just because it maybe expensive in the first place does not mean that it will not be better value in the long run.

Cheers

Mike