Just got'em, already wrecked'em

[Anthony Whitesell]

Or maybe I just wore them out. I received my Grizzly G0490 at the beginning of November (so about two months old). I have run some footage through it, but I didn't think I had run that much. Today I went to run a few more feet and I got the tell tale strips down the length of the boards. The blades are pretty well worn. I even tried to make sure to move the fence around to vary which part of the blade I used.

So I have a few questions:

Are the stock blades double sided?

Are the Grizzly blades the only blades that fit?

Are there better aftermarket blades available?

What are the thoughts on the dispos-a-blade system for the G0490? Are the disposable blades double sided? Can they be resharpened once or not at all?

[Jason Beam]

Crimminy ... how much of what stuff have you run through that thing? :P

I've had my G0586 for 2 years now and the stock blades are still plenty sharp. They are NOT double sided (at least the replacement set i bought with it aren't, i haven't seen the other side of the stock ones).

I dunno about the rest of your questions, i'm afraid. I just wanted to find out how much of what kinda stuff you've run through 'em. The lines you talk about, how deep are we talkin? Feelable? Or just visible?

The knives ARE sharpenable, for sure. So if you pick up a spare set, you can have one in the machine while the other set's out bein' sharpened.

[Anthony Whitesell]

I have been working with quite a variety of woods lately as I have a lot of irons in the fire. Let's see, there's been a whole bunch of white pine that I use for setup and testing (some had a few knots which I know are particularily nasty on blades), red oak, hard and soft maple, black walnut, cherry, mahagony, a few pieces of jutoba, some spruce or fir (2x6 that were resawed for the lumber rack and the 2x3s of the shelves), and a whole lot of yellow poplar.

The lines are high 'stripes' that run the length of the board. You can see may more than you can feel. For the time being, I'm going to run with them as is and just plane the boards a little thick and clean them up with the drum sander. Ironically the planer blades just got changed last weekend. Those have seen many more square feet then jointer has. I did the same thing with the planer and ran it until the tear was too consistent to go any longer.

I was once told that when a knife is sharp, you really can see the edge if you are looking directly at it. As I look at the cutting edge straight on, the end look good and get progressively duller as you reach the center of the blade.

[Sonny Edmonds]

Edge life on anything is dependent on what it is fed.
Tooling can be wrecked instantly when it runs into grit and embedded debris in wood. :eek: :mad:
You want knives that last forever? Better go back to the kitchen.

I love burl wood. Burl wood does not like to be cut upon. It usually holds dirt and grit in its folds.
I wiped out a brand new blade on my band saw in less than a minute after putting it on. Just one of the risks I knew I was taking. Hit a pocket of dirt, bye bye blade. :(

[Peter Quinn]

HSS straight knives can be resharpened many times. I send mine out to a good local tool grinding outfit that also makes my new sets as needed. I can't speak for the stock knives quality per se but I rarely get more than 2 months under heavy use from mine. I hear people who say they get years from a set, I guess a lot more wood is passing over mine? A few rocks can take a set out even quicker, in steel vrs rock rock wins every time with jointer knives.

I have three sets for the planer and three for the jointer so I always have a back up ready, maybe two sets are enough?

[Russ Massery]

The stock knives are M-2 HSS. I found the T-1 knives last a lot longer and hold up better. Here's where to by them. There great people to deal with. Although I gone over to a Shelix Byrd head on my Jointer A G0490 also. http://globaltooling.bizhosting.com/8_x_1_x_1_8_t1_hss_planer_knife_set_3.html

[Sonny Edmonds]

Peter, In heavy use you might find it a benefit to sharpen your own knives.
I do that with mine.
The turn around time is fantastic. ;) :)

[Jim Becker]

If they use jack screws, just shift one knife slightly to the right and another one slightly to the left, not touching the height. That will buy you some time on these knives before sharpening and/or replacing. I do this all the time with my Tersa knives when there is an unfortunate nick.

[Steve Clardy]

Yes send them out to be sharpened up. Very worthwhile.
My G490 is still going on the original blades. Purchased in June last year.
I bought a spare set of blades from Holbren, so I can change them out when needed.

Holbren knives look real good, but haven't used them yet. They were a few bucks cheaper than new griz knives.

[Chris Friesen]

Ironically, spruce/pine/fir can be really bad on jointer/planer blades due the more common knots. Construction lumber can also sometimes have nails/staples embedded in it, as well as assorted debris/grit from less careful handling. The rest of what you mention should be okay.

As mentioned by others, shifting one knife sideways will buy you some time. The stock blades are fairly basic but can certainly be sharpened, and aftermarket blades with a higher tungsten content are available which will last longer.

[Joe Chritz]

Speaking from experience a forgotten drywall screw will also mess up new knives. :mad:

If the cut quality is still good except the high spot it is a knick in the knives and sliding one or two over will often fix it for a while. If the overall quality is down then they need sharpening. You would have to run it very hard in two months to wear out the edge.

If sliding it doesn't work then I would buy a new set, install and send out the originals for sharpening.

Joe

[Shiraz Balolia]

The lines are caused by nicks in the blades. Sometimes knots, or even tiny pebbles that are stuck to the board go through the machine and cause these types of nicks. I used to shift my knives until I went to the spiral indexable heads on my planer and jointer.

For those that are interested, we have added the best knives on the market. Made in Japan and tested against the top European blades. Sharp as a razor. Expensive, but worth it. We tested the samples before adding them to our line and were very impressed.

http://www.grizzly.com/catalog/2009/Main/64

[Fred Belknap]

Hi Sonny What do you use to sharpen your blades with. I would like to sharpen mine but not sure what I need to do a good job. As far as I know there isn't anyone local that sharpens things.
Fred

[Sonny Edmonds]

Hi Fred, Good to see you again! :)
Right now, and for a long darn time, I'm using a Tormek with the long blade attachment for it. I got that and a scissors attachment with the package when I bought mine. (My wife is a hair dresser (retired) and still cuts my hair)
Before that, I used a Delta sharpening center. The Delta gave a nice flat edge to the knives. The Tormek, because if the orientation gives a hollow ground edge. Not much of a hollow grind, but hollow ground none the less.
But it takes much less time with the Tormek than it did with the Delta.
It is not an inexpensive thing to pursue, sharpening yourself, but it is there when you want/need it.
I justified it, to myself, that for turning, and other shop sharpening, it was a worthwhile investment for my shop. ;)

[Phil Green]

Anthony,

I read that you resawed some 2x6 and some 2x3 fir, probably got it at one of the big box stores. You may have hit a staple that those dopes love to put into the wood. Those damn staples love to break off under the skin of the wood and unless you wand it with a metal detector, they are impossible to see. I did the same thing and believe me it only takes one to ruin your blade!

Phil

[Anthony Whitesell]

I think I just began to regret not getting the 'X' version with the indexed cutterhead.

Although new to woodworking in this capacity, I've worked with knives (regular not jointer/planer) for years. As I mentioned, if you can see the edge when looking straight at it, the blade is less than sharp. A good portion of the center of my blades are that way. It is progressive, great at the edge nearest the guard, worst in the center, and better by the fence. I can definately see which portion of the blade I use most.

I really don't think I ran it all that hard, but appearently I have. Oh well, blades don't last for ever. It was setup so perfectly that I really didn't want to mess with it. Maybe I'll try shifting opposite blades (#2 & #4) this weekend to buy me some time.

Thanks for the info on the new blades, Shiraz.

[Fred Belknap]

Thanks Sonny. Good seeing you again too. Got another ?. I think I saw someplace you can't sharpen the DW735 blades, I replace mine a couple months ago and was wondering if they could be sharpened with the Tormek or Griz. copy machine. A friend took my extra set of 8" jointer blades to get sharpened and that was in Nov., still haven't seen them doubt I ever will.

[Larry Edgerton]

Anthony

Like Sonny said, blades can last just minutes. Walnut for example will dull blades rapidly, as will things like cedar knots, guys walking on wood, etc.

I have a DJ 20 that gets heavy use prepping rough stock, and so gets lots of knife changes. I use the Esta knives on that machine. I bought them originally to cut down on changing time and to not have to mess with sharpening, but found that the blade quality was impressive as well. I use the cobalt knives, and they serve me well.

[Joe Chritz]

I am in the market for planer knives myself and now I see yet another option. The hassle of setting them definitely makes more expensive knives a real option if I can keep the drywall screws out of the planer.

Fred, check you local hardware. Most of them around here ship stuff to a sharpener every week and their prices were OK.

I found an old guy who lives about a mile from the end of civilization here and he does excellent work.

Joe

[BOB OLINGER]

For a source of knives, I ordered set of custom knives for my Shop Fox moulder from www.customknives.com (http://www.customknives.com). The help, service, and product (haven't run a lot of feet,yet) were incredible. I highly recomend him.