When to sharpen blades

[Martin Gerber]

What are the signs you look for when deciding whether saw blades, planer blades and jointer blades need sharpening?

I have a WWII blade that I have built numerous projects with (several hundred BF of wood). I am dont see any obvious signs of a rough cut. It is hard for me to say if there has been any degradation in the performance since it has been a considerable amount of time since I purchased.

The same story goes for my jointer and planer blades. No nicks, so significant tear out.

What sources do you use for new Jointer & Planer blades?

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

Not to put too fine a point on it but, you get 'em sharpened when they are dull. You know they are dull because you are not happy with how they cut anymore.

But first you might try cleaning the blades. Goo and pitch can make for crappy performance as surely as dull teeth.

[Vince Shriver]

When stock gets hard to push thru the blade and it starts to smoke - it's overdue for a blade change.

[Rod Sheridan]

My jointer/planer blades are disposable, and I buy them from the planer manufacturer.

When I owned a planer and jointer with non disposable blades, I sent them to a sharpening shop.

Same with saw blades, I use FS Tools for sharpening services, boring etc.

You know when the jointer knives are dull first, because you are providing the force to push the work over the knives.

Same with a table Saw blade.

Planer knives are dull at the same time, however the power feed masks that, so you sharpen them when you notice poor results.

When you're at the smoke stage, your way past the dull point.

Regards, Rod.

[Myk Rian]

As an example, when my Freud cabinetmakers crosscut starts chipping at the exit of the cut, I get it sharpened.

[J.R. Rutter]

All of the above plus noise, and feed pressure required for mitering as well as table saw.

[Tom Jones III]

On a jointer sharp blades make it feel like almost like you are sliding the wood across ice. You gradually get used to pushing harder and finally I realize that I'm putting in quite a bit of effort to face joint a board, then I know it is time.

I've heard a good woodworker say "You should sharpen your blades whenever you ask yourself if they need to be sharpened"