Thread: Deulen jointer knife sharpener

WW, compared to the Tormek set up ($1200) or the expense of having 2 or more sets of blades, $90 is reasonable. It looks rather fool proof and if you have the scary sharp set up already for plane blades and chisels, you are half way there.

Doesn't look like anyone in Australia has them, but they are available from the US Deulen Tools

Thanks for the information Pat.

I sent the following email to the Deulen web site 24 hours ago. When I get a reply I'll post it in this thread.

I'm interested in one of your sharpeners.
What is the price of postage to Australia?
How long will delivery to Australia take?
I have a 3 bladed 15' thicknesser. Are there any problems or special action needed to sharpen my blades as sharp as those in your video?
Can you tell me how many strips of glass paper I need and what is the grit size of each?

They are currently available on ebay but the price was slightly higher than that quoted on his web site and the postage figure on ebay did not specify destinations.

John

Originally Posted by whitewood

Thanks for the information Pat.

I sent the following email to the Deulen web site 24 hours ago. When I get a reply I'll post it in this thread.

I'm interested in one of your sharpeners.
What is the price of postage to Australia?
Seems to be free if the purchase is over $75.00
How long will delivery to Australia take?
Delivery takes 6-10 days.
I have a 3 bladed 15' thicknesser. Are there any problems or special action needed to sharpen my blades as sharp as those in your video?
He recommends having a look at his you tube video titled Deulan 1.
Can you tell me how many strips of glass paper I need and what is the grit size of each?
He recommends 6 strips. starting at 120, 150, 180, 220, 320 & 400.
He sells a set each 18" of aluminium oxide with a self stick back for $9.00.
He recommends a glass plate 8 1/2" x 18" x 1/4" thick or thicker.

They are currently available on ebay but the price was slightly higher than that quoted on his web site and the postage figure on ebay did not specify destinations.

John

The information I received has been added above. I just sent an email telling him what I wanted and that I wanted to pay by paypal. Next day I got an invoice for paypal and now all I have to do is wait for it to arrive. His website had an ordering system but it did not include the sandpaper at the time. He has now rectified it. I intend to purchase my subsequent supplies from the sandpaper man.

I'll post again in a few weeks to let members know how I went on my first try. For the record I have no connection with Dan or his business.

John

I have viewed the video on you tube in my opinion you would be wasting your money all this blade holder does is re-hone the cutting edge it will not remove chips etc. Eventualy you will have to have the knives reground, the process being carried out in the video can be accomplished with a slip stone and without removing the knives from the machine

Originally Posted by China

I have viewed the video on you tube in my opinion you would be wasting your money all this blade holder does is re-hone the cutting edge it will not remove chips etc. Eventually you will have to have the knives reground, the process being carried out in the video can be accomplished with a slip stone and without removing the knives from the machine

Thanks for your comments. It's too late as I have already bought the sharpener. Just waiting for it to be delivered. It should be there when i return from holidays.

I have been honing the blades myself out, of the machine, but in a holder on the bench. It takes me over an hour and it has been a hit and miss exercise. I only process the Paulownia I sell so my blades don't get chipped. To dress paulownia really well the blades need to be extremely sharp or the timber tends to tear. For this reason I have to hone them regularly especially if the last honing was a 'miss'.

The 'professional' services do a good job but as I said they take too much off and I'm without the blades for over a week as I live in the country. There is also the cost of postage there and back - $24.00 each time. I intend to buy extra 80 grit so if the blades need more than a light hone then I can give them extra work on the course paper to take any rough edges out. If for some reason I do chip a blade then it is off to the 'professional'.

I believe the fact that I can get a professional finish for a few dollars of sandpaper and have my machine working in an hours time is worth $80.00

John

John, just a question, have you got at least two sets of blades? I find this minimizes down time.

John, Ok you have already purchased the unit, the honing of thicknesser and jointer knives in the machine was and probably still is common practice in industry, it is done with a slipstone and will bring the blades back to a very keen edge several times before regrinding is nesessary, the fact that is done in the machine cuts the time spent to 10 mins on a jointer and little more on a thicknesser depending on access the the cutter block.

Originally Posted by whitewood

The information I received has been added above. I just sent an email telling him what I wanted and that I wanted to pay by paypal. Next day I got an invoice for paypal and now all I have to do is wait for it to arrive. His website had an ordering system but it did not include the sandpaper at the time. He has now rectified it. I intend to purchase my subsequent supplies from the sandpaper man.

I'll post again in a few weeks to let members know how I went on my first try. For the record I have no connection with Dan or his business.

John

Gday Mates, I've been reading about my sharpener on your forum. I thank you all for your input. I'm so happy my sharpener has made it all the way to Australia. I live in Washington State near the Oregon border where I make the sharpeners in my shop outback. I wanted to explain a few things. The price of my sharpeners is 49.95 & 89.95. Sandpaper is $8.99. I need to keep that price for the retail market. When I sell to stores they get them at around 55-60% wholesale price, which is, how 95% of my tools are sold. If I were to sell for less than retail I would be cutting the retail stores throats. I had no idea how much was involved with the selling part of the business but, I'm learning quickly. For each six-inch tool: I start out with 3/8" square brass rod (C360). I cut a channel with my table saw to within .008. Next I drill and tap the three holes for the stainless steel set screws 5/32". Next I mill the remaining bit of brass out for an accurate slot. Now for the wood. I use only well seasoned and cut it into ruff blocks on my Band saw. I let them air dry (again) for a few weeks then ruff sand them to size on my edge sander using two different jigs to square them up so they are all the same size every time. If they aren't exact they won't properly fit end to end for sharpening longer knives. Now I drill the three holes on each side so that when I channel out the wood it will clean up the holes. Next I ruff dado out the slots for the brass on a different table saw. Then I use a router to clean up the slots so the brass will fit snug in the channel. Now we can bring the wood and brass together. With a homemade pneumatic plunger I drive the brass into the slots making sure the holes are lined up exactly with glue to hold them in place. Now I can use two more routers to put the round over and cove groove in the wood. Finally I finish sand and put the setscrews in. My wife checks every tool for quality and separates any that need further attention such as hand sanding and set screw performance etc. This is when I hand stamp Deulen on it with a three lb hammer. Now they are ready for sale. I have used two band saws, three table saws, three routers, two edge sanders, three drill presses and all the bits, blades, taps, sanding belts, and sandpaper that need to be kept maintained for cutting through brass and hardwood. After buying all materials involved packaging DVD, hardwood, set screws, DVD, packaging etc. I make around $19.90 for each six-inch tool because I buy in bulk Oh! I have to pay my electric bill, upkeep on tools, bits, blades, sandpaper, etc that comes out of my $19.90. Welcome to the real world of retail. Had I known then what I know now I would have made a few more guitars this past year and saved myself a lot of work, time and money for my great idea. So, when you buy from me directly, the extra money I make from the retail sale is very much appreciated as It buys me and my mates a few extra pints of brew at the end of the day to help wash some of the dust out of our throats. Tell your friends that I will ship to Australia for free as long as I don't have a retail outlet there in Australia. Contact me directly at [email protected] for any questions or to purchase from me. The price differs on eBay because of the ever-changing exchange rate. I can't seem to get it right. The above price is what you will pay. Thanks, Dan Deulen

Gday Mates, On my previous post I forgot to add a link to my video. I also wanted to say that I have sharpened Rigid, Dewalt, Delta, and a set of 18" Woodmaster disposable knives that all had nicks in them before I sharpened them. Brian, the mate with the 18" knives was on his 7th set before he saw my add at $160.00 per set. He called me after he re-installed them and told me he could probably get 2-3 more sharpenings before he has to re-buy another set of disposable knives. My video can be seen at:
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgaDpbDhlss]YouTube - Deulen Tools Jointer Planer Knife Sharpener[/ame] Thanks, Dan

I can buy a good quality slipstone for $20 it does not require sandpaper just a little oil, I have been using the same slipstone for 20 years

I had not looked at this thread until this morning. I was going to post after I had tried the Deulan sharpener out. My first try was not as successful as the video. I have put this down to a number of factors. Not rubbing them enough on each piece of sand paper for a starter. The other reason could be that as I had been using a hand held diamond stone approx 50 mm wide to hone the blades many times. Because of this they may not be straight across the whole leading edge of the blade. My first attempt may not have corrected this uneven wear. I'm going to buy another set of sandpaper and give them a real going over. I'll post when I have done this and had time to evaluate the result.

I will say this for Dan the workmanship in the holder is first rate.

Whitewood

Whitewood, Thank you for the workmanship compliment. I have experienced un-even knives on both new and, newly sharpened knives from a professional. If your knives are uneven, try tightening one side down, then tighten one set screw on each end of the other side and set it down on a perfectly flat surface. Check for any rocking by wiggling it a bit. If there is any rocking, loosen one of the end screws and adjust so that both knives are sitting flat on the surface with no rocking and tighten. This will allow for the un-eveness to be corrected more quickly. Cheers, Dan

Originally Posted by Deulen

Whitewood, Thank you for the workmanship compliment. I have experienced un-even knives on both new and, newly sharpened knives from a professional. If your knives are uneven, try tightening one side down, then tighten one set screw on each end of the other side and set it down on a perfectly flat surface. Check for any rocking by wiggling it a bit. If there is any rocking, loosen one of the end screws and adjust so that both knives are sitting flat on the surface with no rocking and tighten. This will allow for the un-eveness to be corrected more quickly. Cheers, Dan

I tried to do a 'big' job on a HSS set on Thursday. The blades weren't that bad that they would have rocked. I gave them a good going over, more than 10 strokes on each piece of paper and I did get a polished edge along the length of the blades. Better in some places. Unfortunately the paper is now very worn and I won't try again until the new paper arrives next week. I couldn't shave the hairs on my arm so feel I must be able to do better. I have not tried them out in the machine other than to put 2 small pieces of Paulownia through. They seem OK but today will be the real test.

I can only buy 120, 180, 220 and 320 from the Sandpaper man. However he has a 'line' called scary sharp which is made up of Micron silicon carbide, 40 down to 5 and Micron aluminum oxide sheets 1 & .3 that I'm going to try after I have given my HSS 20% tungston blades a good workout on the course paper. I'll post my results when I have sharpened the tungston blades and given them a good work out in the thicknesser.

Whitewood

Hi all
I was thinking would metal cutting sandpaper like emery cloth be better and quicker cutting than alum oxide. Also, would a can of spray adhesive do to glue or stick to the glass? Just some thoughts.....I don't want to step on anyones toes
Murray