Jointer blade sharpening

[Harold Burrell]

Would this be a good investment?

http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&p=33002&cat=1,43072,43078&ap=1

I'm jst wondering if anyone uses one of these and if you think it's worth trying.

[Myk Rian]

I've been looking at that also, and am awaiting replies.

[Bill Davis]

I have a Delta 8" jointer which I use a lot and recently sent the knife set being used to a professional sharpening service. The cost and inconvenience led me to look for DIY alternatives. I will say though that the results from the sharpening were an amazing improvement. Not sure why it amazes me how well a sharp anything performs compared to whacking wood fibers with a dull one. Anyway, I decided to get the Lee Valley set you linked to and am looking forward to using it for my next sharpening. I'll report back. Actually, I might work over my spare knife set just for practice. Sorry I couldn't give a first hand 'actual use report' at this point but should be able to soon. I got two sheets of each of three abrasives advertised with the set and it looked like they forgot to put grit on the paper. It's really fine, but could see it with a loupe.

[Eddie Darby]

I have one of these, and it's worth it from the standpoint of down time reduction, and producing a fine honed edge.

With this unit you can remove one blade, sharpen it, and then put it back in right away.
Then you remove the next blade, and carry on.

You can go much finer in your abrasives with this unit, so you can get really sharp edges which will allow you to attack wilder grained woods with more success.

This unit is an improved version of the original unit, with the addition of the two adjustable stops that have been added, which make repeatable knife sharpening a cinch.

If you are working with a lot of wild grained woods that tearout easily, you can put a back bevel on your blades that will help you to reduce the tendency for tearing.
The back bevel only needs to be thicker than the shaving you are taking, and taking very thin shavings helps to reduce the tendency for the shaving to lift out wood tears.
The back bevel should be in the area of 5 degrees or so, so you still have clearance for the cut.

[george wilson]

I think that one of the sharpening jigs that slide over a rotating grinding wheel would guarantee parallelism in your blades,while this jig does not,as far as I can tell. Also,nicks in blades would take a lot of elbow grease to remove.

[Harold Burrell]

I think that one of the sharpening jigs that slide over a rotating grinding wheel would guarantee parallelism in your blades,while this jig does not,as far as I can tell. Also,nicks in blades would take a lot of elbow grease to remove.

I would sooooo much rather use a grinding wheel. Unfortunately, they cost a lot more.

Believe me...the "elbow grease" thing IS a major consideration with me though.

Which is one reason I so adore power tools...:D

[Josiah Bartlett]

I think that one of the sharpening jigs that slide over a rotating grinding wheel would guarantee parallelism in your blades,while this jig does not,as far as I can tell. Also,nicks in blades would take a lot of elbow grease to remove.

A belt sander with a good flat platen or a disc sander might get you most of the way there removing knicks. I restore bevels on most of my lathe tools and planes on a disc sander and then hone on a piece of flat plate glass with various grits of wet sandpaper and guide blocks. I'm getting good results fairly quickly.

[Vince Shriver]

My next jointer blade investment will be with Dispoz A Blade. No more sharpening or having to set knives, just used both side of the knife, then replace with a new set.

[george wilson]

I also use Dispoz-a Blade. The blades cost less per edge than regrinding,and change very quickly. A lot like the spiral cutterheads too.

[Eddie Darby]

If you want power, but not the big $$$$ then this is the route I would consider.

http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&p=44884&cat=1,43072

You can still go to the extra fine grits, but you cannot put a back bevel on a blade with it.

[Kent A Bathurst]

I would sooooo much rather use a grinding wheel. Unfortunately, they cost a lot more.

Believe me...the "elbow grease" thing IS a major consideration with me though.

Which is one reason I so adore power tools...:D

Harold - see my post a while back in classifieds. Forgot about it - PM if you want to discuss a possible deal.

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=121660

[Fred Preston]

I have several sets of knives from 6" to 20". I wait till they are all dull. then I put an old set of paper on the drum sander and made a jig that consists of a piece of cedar with some grooves cut in ti at the angle needed for each type blade. I glued in some stops to keep the knives from moving. I simply set the sander to the depth I need to barely touch the knives and run them through. sometimes it takes a few passes but they all come out ready for honing. then I finish up on a diamond stone free hand. only takes a couple of strokes to get them sharp enough and to remove the burr. saves me some time and money by not having to send them out. YMMV...