Best way to keep your jointer blades sharp

[Ranger]

Hi All, I just thougt I might share my observations (and frustrations)

I work with a lot of old timber and always have trouble with my blades dullings or being destroyed by nails.

All this time I've been blaming the crappy blades, but after a little reading on this forum, I have discovered that paint and dirt will dull blades very quickly.

So each time I put a piece of dirty timber though my planner or jointer, my blades are paying the price.

This costs me in two ways.
Time - which I have 6 hours each Sunday to make furniture (if that)
Money - which lately I've been running out off!

So after a little more reading, I've headed off to the local hardware store to purchase a cheap electric planer.

Now I've found that as long as I pass this electric planer over all suspect pieces of wood, my jointer and planner blades seem to be surving considerably longer.

Moral of the story.

If in doubt check the forums!!


Regards


Argy

[JDarvall]

I worked old timber for a while too, but not anymore.

Found it too much of a hassel after a while. Nails to pull, holes look ugly (IMO) paint imbeded deep...and bluntening. Even if your careful you'll still get the odd nick in your good blades.

When using the hand planer I would take the heaviest cut I could make without it packing it in or loosing control. The idea was to have the blades running as far under all the grit and paint as possible. ....may nick your hand planer then in some hidden nail you didn't see earlier.....remove nail.....then joint. But still you've nicked your cheap hand planer. :rolleyes: and with enough nicks it'll start to lift out of the cut.

Cross grain cuts are great for fast stock removal, with the hand planer. At work I do that with a hand plane. (one of the only times an unpowered plane is practical on hardwoods we have here)

working old wood for me took some of the focus from matching grain and colour to getting by trying to hide nail hole blemishes etc. tired of it.

But I can understand your attraction to it. Old wood is of far better quality generally than what you buy new nowdays. Much bigger and better trees to choose from back then I guess.

[Claw Hama]

Hi guys,I use recycled timber quite a lot, I try not to use painted timber and I purchased a metal detector from Carbatec for about $70 which works a treat. So no more worry with hidden nails. Nail holes etc don't usually pose a problem as I have found most people who want recycled timber are more than happy to see the old nail holes and stains etc:2tsup:

[Chipman]

Some people I know recommend:

Step 1 use a metal detector to find the nails and them remove them

Step 2 use a sander to clean the paint and rubbish off before jointing and thicknessing

I am still a little unsure if any of the grit from the sandpaper gets stuck in the wood surface...surely this would affect the life of the blade too.

Personally, I am not a fan of the distressed look.

Chipman:)

[Wongo]

Well done ranger.:2tsup:

You can also clean the blades with turps after use each time. It will help too.

[Dean]

Yep the paint, and moreso dirt and grit will readily destroy your planer knives.

I found the best way is to get the belt sander with an aggressive belt onto it to remove the paint/grit layer on top. Once this is taken care of, and the wood has been scanned for metal with an appropriate detector, you can happily plane or joint away without fear of replacing planer knives every weekend.

Of course a cheap handheld planer is the other option, but that too might consume blades fairly rapidly. I have found sanding to be the most economical option. Might take a little longer initially to remove the grit etc but often you end up retaining more of the material to work with.

[Ranger]

I did try the belt sander option, but I think I got a bit impatient with it.

Thanks all for your feedback!

Argy

[JDarvall]

slow eh. The fastest way you'll see to cut down past the dirt with the belt sander is with a fresh coarse belt scrubbing cross grain. else you won't get anywhere fast.

whether it be belt sander, planer, or a unpowered one, go cross grain to get say a couple of mill off at least.

[Dean]

whatever floats your boat I suppose :)
Either way, as long as you have a smile on your face, that's all that counts :2tsup:

[seafurymike]

This thread is interesting, so how do people sharpen their knives when they dull?

[Dean]

You can buy sharpening machines for planer and jointer knives if you need to sharpen them regularly, otherwise just get the local saw blade sharpening service to do them.

Alternatively, you can buy little jointer blade diamond hones for keeping the edges in good condition while still mounted in the jointer. These wont take out knicks or bad damage of course.

[silentC]

I do mine with a flat wheel mounted in the drill press and a little jig for the blade that slides back and forth under the wheel while the drill press is running. Works well.

[Wongo]

Now that is an interesting concept Silent. :2tsup:

[silentC]

Page 451 of Woodwork in Theory and Practice by John A. Walton :)

[seafurymike]

I like that one too silent.
Lucky i attend trade school to make all these nice devices