Replies

1. 
   forestgirl | May 12, 2003 06:33pm | #1

   They won't work right if you sharpen them.  There is no "wiggle room" in the indexing system on the vertical plane (you can slide them a bit right to left to offset nicks in the blades, however).  You could probably touch them up with one of those little bar honing things, but if you truly try to sharpen them the way you would with jointer blades or regular (non-indexing) planer blades, it's a waste of time.

   forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl   ;-)

1. 
   cutter | May 12, 2003 09:28pm | #3

   Thanks for the info.

   I once noticed replacement planer blades with carbide edges - for several machines including 12 1/2 inches. However, over $100 per pair.  Have you heard anything good about them?

1. 
   forestgirl | May 12, 2003 11:22pm | #4

   I didn't realize they made carbide (or carbide tipped) blades for the benchtop planers.  At that price, I would guess that judicious choices in lumber would be in order before running it through!  I'd hate to get any nicks in blades that expensive.

   Sorry, I'm not much help here.  Might be interesting to start a new thread "?? on Carbide Planer Blades" or some such.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl   ;-)

2. 
   WorkshopJon | May 12, 2003 07:58pm | #2

   Keep saving all the old ones. If you have enough, there should come a point where it would become cost effective to pay to have them all sharpened simultaneously on a surface grinder. That's how I do mine. Takes the same amount of time if I do one set or twenty. They should all come out the same + or - .0001"

   Jon

3. 
   jackiechan | May 13, 2003 05:06am | #5

   Covey,

   Your planer's blades have just enough metal on them for a light touch-up sharpening.  But (and there always is one!), doing so will change the indexing of the blade (the thickness gauge on the machine isn't exactly a Swiss timepiece, thinning the width of the blade will only through it off that much more.)  Secondly, the blades must be precisely sharpened, so that the width is 100% consistent down its length on both blades.  Basically, it isn't really worth it to sharpen them.

   What you can do is, remove the old blades from the machine, clean them thoroughly with an appropriate cleaner (I use Blade & Bit - brand name), and then carefully touch up the back of the blade only.  This is best done with glass and sandpaper.  The trick is applying even pressure down the length of the blade.  This will extend the life of the blades, by knocking down any burrs or blade edge roll-overs that might be there.

   If you have any additional questions, please feel free to ask!

   Dan Kornfeld, Owner/President - Odyssey Wood Design, Inc.

4. 
   TomFerreira | May 13, 2003 05:15am | #6

   I'm curious about why you are buying the disposible blades? Why not just buy the HSS blades for the same price which can be resharpened?

   TDF

1. 
   forestgirl | May 13, 2003 05:44am | #7

   Tom, pardon my jumping in here, but the 12.5" Delta benchtop planer has self-indexing  HSS knives.  The fact that they are disposable is built into the design of the machine -- see my post above.  They are set onto indexing pins which locate them correctly in relation to the cutterhead.  They have a tiny bit of lateral room for adjustment, but no vertical adjustment properties.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl   ;-)