Planer Blade Sharpener

[Dewey]

I am now planning my lumber with a 4 sider and would like to  sharpen my own blades....  Any recommendations ?????  I am looking at a Viel Tool Sharpener but I would like something from the U.S..
What are you guys using ???

[beenthere]

You are "planning" to do some planing... ;)

[Tree Dan]

I didnt think it was posible to sharpen planer blades.
You may get them sharp, but what id one end of the blade is ground more than the other.
Or even if one blade is ground more than the others

[Ianab]

My DW733 has reshapenable blades. You only get a few reharps before they are ground down too much though. The blade has slotted mounting holes and you use 2 jigs to install it at the correct height. So if one blade is slightly different you have that adjustment. Unless the blades been abused it will only take a very light grind to put an edge back on. Other planers use disposable knives with no adjustment. Can't do much with those although I have heard of guys giving them a touchup with a stone or diamond plate to get a bit more life out of them.

[Dewey]

oooops....  yep I am planing....  good eye....
I think can sharpen these several times ... they are held in place with Gib Bolts.
I adjust there depth with a dial indicator

[jdtuttle]

I use a tormek sharpening system for my woodmaster & ph 260.

[GeneWengert-WoodDoc]

I have seen many homemade planer resharpening devices.  They are permanently fastened to the planer and use a small motor with a sharpening wheel.  The key is to recognize that as the wheel diameter decreases while sharpening, the knives will be longer.  We need all knives the same, so two passes, with the second being really light, are suggested.

For major sharpenings, the knives are removed.

Between sharpenings, and also to get all the knives in the same cutting circle, many planers use a light touch on the tip of the blade, called jointing.  The flat spot or "land" should never be wider than 1/32".

Because planer knife sharpening is not easy and HSS knife life is short before needing sharpening, carbide is the knife that most larger planers will use.  They also use many small knives mounted on a spiral instead of straight across...helical carbide.

Note that in many less expensive planers, the bed plate is too soft and will quickly wear, especially in the middle where most of the lumber is fed.  This wear leads to chatter when running narrow pieces.  This wear pattern is lessened by running pieces that alternately are positioned fully to the left and the fully to the right of the planer, or on a wide planer are fed in diagonally.  This provides more even wear across the bed plate and knives.

Remember that when sharpening or working on a planer, the power needs to be off at the main breaker and not just the machine's off-on power switch.  Also, if there are hydraulics, there can be residual hydraulic power that needs to be drained before work begins.

[red oaks lumber]

my concern would be knives that aren't weight balanced correctly, which will take the planer head bearings out fairly quick.

[Brian_Rhoad]

Try this grinder.

http://www.grizzly.com/products/Universal-Knife-Grinder/G2790

[WDH]

This is what I used for planer and jointer knives before going to the carbide inserts.  Works great. 

http://www.amazon.com/Makita-9820-2-Horizontal-Wheel-Sharpener/dp/B0000223JC

[Kcwoodbutcher]

I use the Grizzly universal sharpener. It's OK for the money but there's a steep learning curve.

[21incher]

This is what I used for planer and jointer knives before going to the carbide inserts.  Works great. 

http://www.amazon.com/Makita-9820-2-Horizontal-Wheel-Sharpener/dp/B0000223JC

That is the same one I have and it does a excellent job on my 12 inch blades. Having the wheel flat like that keeps the blade from tapering, and being wet it does not affect the blade temper.

[Dewey]

Will the Makita do up to a 20" Blade ???

[Jim_Rogers]

Will the Makita do up to a 20" Blade ???

Specs on page say: Sharpens planer blades (knives) up to 15-3/4-inches long

[Larry]

Last time I took blades in to be sharpened I hung around while they did the job.  They laid the blades in a magnetic chuck preset at the correct angle.  Its easy to change if the customer requests something different.  Than they turn on the lubricant.  Its a water based emulsion.  Next the grinder comes down the track over the chuck.  The grinder looks similar to a really big router.  It runs about a 10" grindstone.  The head makes 60 passes over the knives.  Each pass removes .0005....that's half a thousandth.  It takes about 15 minutes but its all automatic and the attendant can be doing something else.  At the end the attendant inspects the knives.  They have a scale to weigh the knives to insure they weigh the same.  The scale is to impress the customer as the knives always come out the same unless something is serious wrong.  All for 70 cents an inch.  It would be hard to beat the quality/price.

I brought home an old Delta Toolmaker surface grinder a few days ago.  It would probably cost 10 grand today.  Gonna clean it up just to see what it will do.  In good condition they can do a pretty good job.

I'll still patronize the local sharpening shop.  I've spent too much time putting in knives that didn't cut as well as they should because of something I or somebody else didn't do right.

[GAB]

The last quote I got for sharpening the knives in my 718 it was $5. less than for new blades.  I ordered 2 sets new blades.
Gerald

[barbender]

I have the Grizzly as well. It definitely has a learning curve, as the depth adjustment is quite coarse. Also, I use my bigger planer for mostly rough planing so I don't notice if it isn't doing a pefect job. I just know if the blades are sharp or not, and the Grizzly definitely gets them sharp.

[Cazzhrdwd]

I've got an old Newman 600. Anyone ever seen the sharpeners that Newman made for them? I'd like to find one of those. You could sharpen the blades without removing them from the head.

The helical heads Gene was talking about are real nice, but they're in the 3500 range for my planer.