Thread: jointer knives

Hi Ryan...

I have heard similar tales before of modern sharpening services. The only time I ever handled sharpened jointer knives was when I was 'helping out'
in Dad's shed as a lad. I still have a long white scar on a finger as a memento.
It was seriously sharp.

I suspect, as you do, that sharp means the same as it means when we speak of plane blades and chisels.

I have disposable knives in my machine, and they are scalpel sharp when new.

Greg

Ryan,
I wouldn't say that your problem is expected but not suprising. At work Dad would have a set of planer knives (7 knives per set) sharpened per fortnight and before they are put into the thicknesser we always quickly lap the back of the blades with a oil stone, then a light touch on the bevel. Giving the blade a spray with oil helps to counteract the rusting effect from the cooling fluid that it used in the grinding too.

Originally Posted by Wood Butcher

Ryan,
I wouldn't say that your problem is expected but not suprising. At work Dad would have a set of planer knives (7 knives per set) sharpened per fortnight and before they are put into the thicknesser we always quickly lap the back of the blades with a oil stone, then a light touch on the bevel. Giving the blade a spray with oil helps to counteract the rusting effect from the cooling fluid that it used in the grinding too.

Good advise..

Al

Originally Posted by ryanarcher

I considered sharpening my own jointer knives (with a tormek and jig) but decided to have them professionally sharpened because I didn't want any inconsistancy. when i got the blades back however, i observed that they were simply ground, not what we would call sharp. in fact, I could easily feel the wire edge on the back of the blades. Is this standard? is it reasonable for me to expect more?

to be fair, after they were installed, they put a pretty nice surface on the test pieces. but I can't help thinking that the knives would stay sharp longer if they were truly sharp to begin with.:mad: or am i an ignorant prat? :confused:

G'day Ryan,

I hope that you and your family have gad a great holiday!

To me, jointer knives should be a sharp as you'd want a plane's blade to be, e.g. very! I suspect that the ones that you've had "sharpened" gave a fair surface because they were acting as scrapers (the 'wire edge').

There are a few jigs for holding jointer/planer blades (Lee Vally have a good one), so I'd be doing it myself, or just using disposable ones ( )

Cheers!

thats common now. service in the wood industry has changed (all industrys no doubt) years back the sharpeners would take pride in their trade but now days its a spotty nosed pimply kid who wacks it in the auto grinder and pushes a button and thats it. do what Mr woodbutcher does and when it gets back from master spotty nose give the back a quick hone and just a light touch on the bevel.

Similar at the woodyard. years ago the blokes there knew their job backwards and with a quick glance tell the difference between the different colors textures flat or qtr sawn timbers and organise a nice pile for you. 3 weeks before xmass i got some tas oak but wanted 3 @ 2mt lenghts of blackwood. they arived and each blackwood board was completly different. 1 flatsawn, 2 qtr, 1 orange, 1 almost black and the other brown with heaps of sap wood. i complained and had em changed but it was a new spotty nosed pimply kid that just grabbed the first thing he had in his hand - hope he transfered a splinter into his you know what when he got home that night:eek:

If your knives are thick enough to try home sharpening, there was a jig published years ago in FWW using a cup stone in a drill press.

Someone I was speaking to recently gets his 8" knives done through his local Woodcraft store. I think they charge $6.00/knife for 8" jointers, but they must rely on some local service for the actual grinding, so YMMV.

I'm wracking my brain right now trying to remember the name of an allegedly great old-fashioned service in the north-west. The internet...was this what they had in mind?

Greg

Originally Posted by gregoryq

Someone I was speaking to recently gets his 8" knives done through his local Woodcraft store. I think they charge $6.00/knife for 8" jointers, but they must rely on some local service for the actual grinding, so YMMV.


Greg

greg im in the habit of taking my 8" knives out once a week and giving them a light hone on the water stones. its amazing how much crud builds up on them in a short time. sounds like a chore once a week but its not and you always have a sharp planer then every 6 - 8 weeks they go to a sharpening service

I sympathise. Personally I'm fed up with this sort of thing. So, I do it myself with grinding and buffing machine. Took a while to get the hang of it, but I'm proud to say I can do it pretty quick now.

What still annoys me is blade setting. Fiddly. Harry72 has a good magnetic setting idea that I want to copy sometime (if I remember which thread he described it in)

I'd do that too, but my knives are only 1mm thick, and replacing them is an above-average pain. The only time I did it took me 2 hours to get the heights uniform, and the next time won't be much better given how infrequently I do this.

My cutter head is made of some alloy that resembles stainless, so I just spray the whole thing with mag wheel cleaner and wipe, then oil.

Next* machine is going to have Tersa heads.

*The conniving and Machiavellian scheming that would presage another
big machine purchase however is too daunting to think that far.

Greg

I use a surface grinder akin to the one posted here off of Timbecons link.... http://www.timbecon.com.au/productse...rinders&page=1

Handy also for doing 'Er Indoors knives.

Get good results ,finish off with a light lapping of the back surface of the planer knives ,had it for a long time now don't know whethet it's paid for itself but is darn convenient.
However I still use the local sawdoctor on occasion when a nick might occor on the knive(s) which has been known to happen.

Cheers

originally posted by apricotripper
What still annoys me is blade setting. Fiddly. Harry72 has a good magnetic setting idea that I want to copy sometime (if I remember which thread he described it in)

Saw this little jig in a dvd recently.

http://www.grizzly.com/products/G1753

Its called a Jointer Pal .

Ordered the 2 Bar magnets from aussie magnets which cost less than the postage. Worth a go at making one.

Originally Posted by Moviefan

Saw this little jig in a dvd recently.

http://www.grizzly.com/products/G1753

Its called a Jointer Pal .

Ordered the 2 Bar magnets from aussie magnets which cost less than the postage. Worth a go at making one.

for those out their who dont want to order those maginets. 2 old magnets from some clapped out speakers are the go. just remember to put a peice of news paper petween the bade and the magnet. iv been setting my blades like this for yonks and its a great way because the knives will be parralel to the outfeed table. and you would be surprised how many cutterheads and outfeed tables that arnt. the only hard part is getting the cutterhead top dead center. once you have mastered that its a peice of cake

I use the same type of machine as John Saxton. Very good result.

G'day Ryan,

Sounds like you got a crap job done on your blades! :mad: :mad: :mad:

Until I found my current sharpening service I used to make the person on the counter open the newly sharpened blades. (they wrap them here in newspaper so you don't cut yerself)
I'd carefully inspect the blades & reject any that had a wire edge or any with grinding marks. The counter jock would complain like hell, THEN I'd demand to see the guy who does the job.
I can be incredible blunt, I would tell him it was a crap job & would need to be redone & if he couldn't do a better job maybe a change of job was in order.

I will not tolerate a poor quality job from a SERVICE provider!!

Big hint: find yourself a new sharpening service!