Sharpen or buy new?

Robert166

robert166
Corporate Member
6 inch joiner/planer blades, sell for $35.00. Free delivery from Amazon. Or sharpen them? Haven’t priced sharpen them yet. Thoughts?
 

bob vaughan

Bob Vaughan
Senior User
A lot depends on the quality of the high speed steel. Cheap Asian stuff, toss it. Amana or other known brands of quality steel, its worth sharpening.

If you've got a good sharpening service, they will usually make a knife much sharper than it was when new. I know guys that will buy new knives from the sharpening service and then hand the knives back over the counter to have them sharpened. It makes a difference.
Not all sharpening services are that good. When I remove sharpened knives from Jamison's Sharpening Service's wrapper, I can shave my arms with the edge. That level of sharpness makes for very easy feeding and a very smooth cut.
 

tvrgeek

Scott
Corporate Member
Before I switched to a helical head, I had one of those aluminum blocks that held two blades. You sharpened on some sand paper. Super easy and quick to sharpen. But, setup was a pain and is seems every other time I used it, I nicked a knife. Shelix head, set up once. No problems.
 

Mike Davis

Mike
Corporate Member
I sharpen mine by hand on diamond stones. Takes about ten minutes per blade for planer and less for jointer.
 

Robert166

robert166
Corporate Member
Amana and Freud are same price, so get the Amana? Ones I have are in bad shape. Don't want to hand sharpen them. Would send them off it the price isn't to high.
 

Robert166

robert166
Corporate Member
Sent Union Grove (one of our sponsors) a request for a quote, have other things that need sharpening and may include the blades if not to much, don't know if it will be one price for all or they will break it out per piece.
 
Sent Union Grove (one of our sponsors) a request for a quote, have other things that need sharpening and may include the blades if not to much, don't know if it will be one price for all or they will break it out per piece.
Thanks for reaching out @Robert166! I'm sure the team is on this and will get back with you soon if they haven't already.
 

Robert166

robert166
Corporate Member
So I have been researching joiner blades, and what is confusing to me is the advertised steel ratings. What does that mean and how does it translate to valuable information to a hobbyist woodworker?

Example one states Our HSS Jointer and Planer Blades are made from a special V2 alloy (high speed steel with an increased amount of Vanadium which makes the steel harder). These Blades typically last at least 10% longer than most OEM knives on the market!

The other- Amana Tool - P 220 3Piece Hss, T-1 18% Tungsten 6-1/8 Long x 5/8 Height x 1/8 Wide

I don't know what all that means, just sell me a decent blade at a reasonable price.
 

Echd

C
User
Any consideration to swapping over to a helical (carbide) head? If it's a 6" jointer it probably won't be that painful, you'll probably never have to even think of sharpening an insert, and they're just a whole lot easier to get along with.
 

bob vaughan

Bob Vaughan
Senior User
I prefer the Amana but the German Leitz (sp?) are good also. Woodworkers Tool Works will have good steel as will GG Schmidt since they both sell to professionals.
The two brands I've found particularly unacceptably soft were Freud and Titan.
Here's a good thread on OWWM.org: jointer knife link
 

Robert166

robert166
Corporate Member
Ordered some Amanas off Amazon, don’t think I will have the Freuds resharpened. Always thought Freud was a quality product, live and learn.
 

bob vaughan

Bob Vaughan
Senior User
A good and safe call.
Years back I used to make drop nose woodturning shear scrapers. I'd cut up planer and jointer knives for the cutting tips. I cut up and profiled some Freud knives. Wow, that was easy and quick. The burr edge went on quickly. No edge lasted more than 10 seconds. Most lasted less than five. I was annoyed at myself for even continuing after I noticed how easily the knives initially cut up. The whole batch went to the trash can. My experiences with Titan are documented in the above linked thread.
 

Robert166

robert166
Corporate Member
Mailed some saw blades to Union Saw today. I will report on the quality of work when I get them back. I am sure it will be good.
 

bob vaughan

Bob Vaughan
Senior User
You're going to get spoiled with having access to a good sharpening service. Sharp jointer knives are key to good woodworking in the same way as sharp chisels, hand planes, and other tooling for woodworking.

Hint: If you haven't installed sharp jointer knives often, keep some band aids and a new tube of super glue handy.
 

Reference Handiwork

New User
Ref
I appreciate this discussion. One issue for me is that I use a lot of recycled wood, so I'm not sure how effectively the sharpeners can grind down and eliminate nail nicks. :)
 

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