Sharpening Power Plane Blades

Today I looked at that heap of old oregon formwork and pergola timber and saw the frame for my bench!

Last time I removed paint I did it with a belt sander but today I thought the power plane looked the go. ONE 100 x 2200 surface later I was off to the sharpening bench. (well actually it's a bit of floor with a space clear enough to sit and dismantle the plane)

Sharpening the power plane is something I do infrequently (in line with it's use), and up till now have been pretty patient just as I would for a hand plane blade. I didn't have the patience today, started with 100 grit scary sharp, didn't make much of a dint, so straight to the belt sander and 60 grit.

A couple of square metres later (three coats of plastic timber coat, a coat of bondcrete and the odd mortar dag really take it out of the blade!) I was back with the blades pretty much rounded over.

Proof positive that you DON'T want to put paint through your mum's thicknesser.

Is there a better way of sharpening (read faster)??

Do I just go for a bigger grit??

Should I polish the bevel?? (120 grit in the belt sander does a stirling job at this, but I don't see any benefit given what I am throwing at the machine at the moment!)

Can I buy tougher replacement blades to replace Mr Ryobi's (dont' laugh) HSS blades which seem to be made of soft iron?

Is there anything else I can do to prolong the life of the blades (apart from using another machine! :D :D

thanks as ever,

P

Midge,
get thou to a Bunnery (apologies to the Bard :) ) go down to your hardware store and buy an adaptor kit (you can get excellent non-genuine ones made by IVA?, they make tungsten planer blade inserts that come in orange and yellow packaging) and fit some tungsten inserts. They will happily chew their way through painted timber and will even manage some nails and screw and concrete dags. Hit too many of them though and you'll shatter small chips out. As you're recycling just keep using the same blades till you've cleaned the lot and then turn the blades around (yes, that's right, they're double sided) to give it all a half decent finish.
Would you use HSS bits in your router? I thought not, so don't use HSS blades in your planer! ;)

Mick

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Originally Posted by journeyman Mick

Would you use HSS bits in your router? I thought not, so don't use HSS blades in your planer! ;)

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Welcome back!

Thanks Mick...I was hoping for just that answer...now watch the cost of the kit add up to more than a new cheapie planer!

Cheers,

P

Maybe the new blades will be dearer than a new cheapie planer Peter, but the new blades will do the job while the new cheapie planer will be a heap of dull bladed junk > 5 minutes after you start.

Midge,

I saw a commercial on tv last night for a new plane by GMC. It had 3 separate cutting blades in a row. The first blade made the rough cut , the second cleaned the cut up and the 3rd blade made it smooth.

I suggest you buy that and give it a good workout on your timber. Either it works well and you will be happy :) or it does not and you can return it under their 30 days satisfaction guarantee. Either way you can't loose. :D

If you do let us know how it went.


Peter.

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Originally Posted by Sturdee

I saw a commercial on tv last night for a new plane by GMC. It had 3 separate cutting blades in a row. The first blade made the rough cut , the second cleaned the cut up and the 3rd blade made it smooth.

I suggest you buy that and give it a good workout on your timber. Either it works well and you will be happy :) or it does not and you can return it under their 30 days satisfaction guarantee. Either way you can't loose. :D
.

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Bugger! I would have too!!

While you were posting this message I was trying to buy a TCT kit!

Oh what an adventure that was....I have three builders' suppliers within 1k of the office (not Bunnies).

Major Building Supplies Co: Smartiepants at the trade counter to me in my obviously not a tradie slacks:"Oh you mean planer KNIVES....they don't make the kits anymore but we have these Extremely Very Hard ones that are 60% tungsten and are only $45.00" Me: so if they are that hard, what do you use to sharpen them.....Him - paternalistic blank look.

Small Handyman Hardware Store: Never heard of 'em...until I told them that I understood Bunnies carried them. "Yes they've gone out of production and Bunnies bought all the stock- you won't be able to get replacement blades!" - Lying bastard!!!!

Glenfords tools:(after trying to sell me HSS blades first): Bought the kit for $35.00 including blades, replacement blades are $14.00 "if you need them-but you'll get a lot of miles out of these". "Be careful if you hit a nail you could shatter them but otherwise they'll be fine."

Now the question is: Do the Ozito/GMC/Superworks planes come with TCT blades standard, and would it have been worth buying one, and throwing away all but the blades?

:D :D :D
Thanks for the input guys, I'll report back on a comparison!!

Cheers,

P

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Do the Ozito/GMC/Superworks planes come with TCT blades standard

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Not sure about these brands, I have the B&D it came with HSS blades but the TCT blades from Bunnies slot straight in without any addaptor kit. Pretty much use it for the purpose that you described, that is, cleaning up before putting through thicknesser.
Mine's a few years old now so can't say that the current model is the same.

The GMC might be worth a look, only for the warranty.

Himzo.

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Originally Posted by himzol

The GMC might be worth a look, only for the warranty.

Himzo.

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For what it's worth, I just bought a cheapie GMC planer from Home Hardware's Father's day catalogue for $39.95 - came with the full box of accessories and a spare set of blades (I'm sure they are HSS though) but for under $40, I figured it was a bargain.
It was THIS one....
It makes the most mess of anything I've used before - the chips really start to fly :-) Was good to be working outside on the weekend though....

Cheers,
Geoff

Midge, most of the cheapies DO seem to come with TCT knives these days, HSS resharpenable (?) knives seem to be much less common now.

I saw the new GMC 3 knife planer, the line Peter quoted is a bit of licence they've used (they are relating the planer to a 3 blade razor to state the obvious), the planer is in stock at M10. There are better cheap(ish) planers around IMO. Front solid shoe but rear one is pressed metal. Also, when it comes to replace the knives will be a PITA as they are usually sold in pairs.

I bought a Ryobi 920w planer a while back and am very happy with it. Stacks of grunt, both shoes cast & machined, leaves a great finish.

The adaptor kits Mick mentions are the go if your existing planer is a quality unit.


Good luck..........cheers.......Sean

I bought the cheapo XU1 planer from Bunnings for $28.95 , didn't wan't to spend much as the first thing I planned to do was modify the shoes to take some adapter plates I knocked up . As it was it worked out well but it did come with cheapass blades , however it takes Makita or other replacement blades without the need for any adapters . $10 for cheapo blades and somewhere around $20 ish or $30 ish for the Makitas (TCT I believe). Gonna score some decent blades myself now I'm confident about my setup .

Midge, get yourself a hot air gun it really helps peel paint off and your planer blades will last so much longer.

I stuck a bit of woodgrain finish chipboard in my drum sander recently and the glue clogged the sanding belt very fast. So then I stripped the finish with the hot air gun and the chipboard sanded up very easily.

You can also weld some plastics with a hot air gun.

I have a heat gun (Ryobi) that has been used to heat PVC for bending; used by the bride for craft work, & general heaty type jobs.

I'm interested if anyone has any experience using a common heat gun for plastic welding, and if there are some tips you (you know who you are :)) can share.


Cheers..........Sean