Honing Jointer Blades

[Harvey Pascoe]

Has anyone here tried honing your own jointer blades? I want to share my experience with this. I first tried this doing it by hand with sandpaper on glass honing down to only 1000 grit. Holy smoke! the results were phenomenal: I could surface boards with the most difficult grain with hardly any tear out. There was some because my honing wasn't perfect but I found that the blade bevel is wide enough to do a pretty fair job, far better than a commercially sharpened blade and its not difficult with an 8" jointer knife. Ten inch might be a little "iffy".

A month ago I bought the Veritas honing jig and the results were far better. Now I can run bird's eye through without tearing out a single eye after buying some 3M micro paper. Never again will I have to send out jointer knives for sharpening. What a boon!

[Richard McComas]

I have no personal experience with this jig, but have read reports it works well.

http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o159/rmccomas0043/sharpplanerknifes.jpg

[David Kumm]

I think Bobby at Woodworkers Tool Works will sharpen and put the secondary bevel on if you ask. The old jointers and planers with grinders had a jointing stone attachment. After each knife was ground, you turned the machine on and lowered the stone until it kissed the blades. Ran the stone along the knives. Served two purposes, secondary bevel and putting all blades at exactly the same height. I have done it and it is pretty scary the first few times. The guys who are really good at in place grinding argue the finish is second to none- including tersa and shelix.

[John TenEyck]

I sent my planer blades out once, and they looked worse when I got them back. That motivated me to learn how to sharpen them myself, and I use a jig on the same theme as the one posted above, with japanese waterstones, 800 then 1200. Then I hone a micro bevel using a 4000 grit stone which produces a mirror surface. They sure do cut well after that. Lately I've gotten a little lazy and found that I can sharpen blades very well with my Grizzly Universal Knife grinder in just a couple of minutes and they are equally straight and still cut about as well. My widest blades are 12-1/2", but I see no reason why either technique wouldn't work on knives of any length.

[Greg Portland]

I have a DIY system like Rich posted (except it holds 3 knives @ once) and it works very well. I use DMT diamond stones (the big ones) for sharpening the blades. I have not seen advantages of adding a micro bevel onto my blades.

[Harvey Pascoe]

The jig Richard posted looks like the way to go for planer or wide jointer knives.

Anyone think its worth the effort to do portable planer blades which are supposed to be one-time use?

[John TenEyck]

The jig Richard posted looks like the way to go for planer or wide jointer knives.

Anyone think its worth the effort to do portable planer blades which are supposed to be one-time use?

I don't know how much they cost, but I regularly sharpen blades for my razor knife. Yes, I'm cheap. A blade is a blade and most all of them can be sharpened. I would bet that those disposible blades can be sharpened a whole bunch of times.

[johnny means]

I don't know how much they cost, but I regularly sharpen blades for my razor knife. Yes, I'm cheap. A blade is a blade and most all of them can be sharpened. I would bet that those disposible blades can be sharpened a whole bunch of times.

The problem with sharpening disposable blades is that they are keyed and can't be adjusted to compensate for material lost in the sharpening process. They are also usually very thin and flexy. I imagine a precise edge would be hard to achieve without some type of sophisticated setup. I would love to get a couple of extra honing out of my 20" J/P blades. At $160 a set, it really hurts to toss them in the scrap metal bucket after one go round.

[Chip Lindley]

I have sharpened jointer and planer knives for over 20 years in-shop. They can be honed with a diamond-grit sharpener for a touchup. But, to remove nicks, or when the knife has considerable wear, grinding is needed. I made a hard maple block to hold blades at the exact angle for passing under a white, friable cup wheel in the drill press. Lo-Tech, but it works. After a brand new edge is achieved, the wire edge is honed off on a fine-grit Norton stone.

[Harvey Pascoe]

The problem with sharpening disposable blades is that they are keyed and can't be adjusted to compensate for material lost in the sharpening process. They are also usually very thin and flexy. I imagine a precise edge would be hard to achieve without some type of sophisticated setup. I would love to get a couple of extra honing out of my 20" J/P blades. At $160 a set, it really hurts to toss them in the scrap metal bucket after one go round.

Hadn't thought of that. Sheesh, $160 a set? Bet you don't run any dirty wood thru that machine! I've found that rough sawn is usually full of dirt and the fastest way to dull blades. Thus I always buy my stock s2s and let the supplier dull his blades.

[Carl Beckett]

I was inspired by Chip, and purchased a friable wheel and ground ALL my blades in a setup on the table saw. Chips method is on the drill press - I would prefer the drill press (less grit in the tablesaw, slower speeds, etc) but couldnt find the right wheel for it.

I think the wheel I got was ~$20. The finished sharpness was as good as having them sent out for grinding (might not be as good as a 1200 grit honing, but plenty sharp and as noted here the rough cut lumber can dull or nick a blade pretty easily)

An afternoon and everything was sharp - hollow ground. Two sets of 15" planer blades, two sets of 8" jointer blades, all my handplanes, some chisels, etc etc.

[Tom Walz]

199437
I bought the Deulen jig in Atlanta because it was a good idea, very well made and I really liked the Deulens.

These are really nice brass and Rosewood jigs. You put your blades in and then fasten them in with set screws. This holds the blades in place while you turn the jig upside down and sharpen the blades on sandpaper over glass.

The base model has the blades held in with set screws that require an Allen wrench. The thumbscrews are easier to use because they don't need a wrench. However they tend to get in the way when you turn the fixture over to sharpen the blades.

Thanks,
Tom

[Jason Neal]

Awesome, Tom! I have a 12" Dewalt planer and a 6" Craftsman jointer. Both could use a good sharpening. I have suitable stones and sandpaper but just no good way to fixture them at the moment. If it is possible to use the 12" jig to do both, that would be wonderful.

[Matthew Joe]

I finally had a chance to try out the Deulen jig that Tom Walz sent me pursuant to his offer above, and I have to say that I was pretty impressed with it. I had thought about making my own version of this jig in the past, but never got around to it. This jig has a nice fit and finish, is easy to hold and use, and works great. I tested the 12 inch jig because I thought it would be helpful for sharpening both jointer and planer blades. Since the 12" version works equally well for both types of blades, I can't really see much purpose for offering a 6" jig, except maybe for people who don't have a planer and never intend to buy one.

The jig itself is well made. The wood itself is nice and tactile, and has a distinctive, almost oily aroma (not bad...just distinctive). The brass guides hold the blades in place at a fixed angle so that you can sharpen and hone them using the Scary Sharp method or, in my case, using DMT diamond stones. The blade is held in place with any of several types of screw fasteners that are included with the kit. I would have thought at first that I would prefer the enclosed thumb screws, but I found that their large size got in the way when operating the jig. Instead, I prefer the pre-installed set screws, which are easily tightened and loosened with an Allen wrench, included with the jig. Several screws hold each blade firmly to the jig.

The most difficult part of sharpening my blades (all of which were knicked and very dull) was flattening the back side. No jig needed for that part. I'm not sure if flattening the back is necessary for sharpening jointer and planer blades in the same way as it is for chisels and plane irons. However, I figured it wouldn't hurt, and I wanted to do the job right, so I spent quite a while on each blade flattening the back side against 500-grit sandpaper, then with my fine (red) DMT stone, then with my extra-fine (green) DMT stone. It would have taken forever to perfectly flatten the backs, so I gave up after I was "close enough."

Once the blade backs were flattened, I installed the blades in the jig. To use the jig, I simply rubbed the blade bevels over the sandpaper and stones. This part was super easy, and the jig's wooden contours fit easily in your hand. The blades are fixed in the jig at an angle that is slightly more than the natural blade bevel, so the jig creates new bevels. By the time I was finished removing all of the many knicks in my blades, this new bevel about a millimeter wide. I sharpened the blades on the sandpaper and stones, honed them with some honing compound on mdf, and then removed whatever burr was left with a leather strop.

The resulting blades are very sharp. My right arm is missing quite a bit of hair now that I've tested the sharpness of two sets of jointer blades and one set of planer blades. In operation, the blades work like new. My conclusion is that the jig does what it was designed to do and is easy to use. I did notice a couple of disadvantages, however.

First, the jig requires you to sharpen two blades at a time. Most jointers and planers use 3 blade sets. It's not a problem to sharpen two blades first, remove one, and then replace it with a dull blade, but it "feels" like you're oversharpening the remaining blade. I couldn't notice any difference in the results, so it must not be a real issue. And, you can always sharpen two sets of blades at once to solve the problem.

Second, my guess is that the next time I need to sharpen these blades, it will require a lot more effort to remove knicks. It is easy to remove knicks in the first sharpening because you're creating a new bevel, quickly removing material on the blade edge. However, the second time around, the bevel will remain the same and will probably take a lot more effort to remove the necessary material.

In any case, the jig works great and is easy to use. Thanks for letting me try it out, Tom!

[shane lyall]

I have been hanging a new door in my oldest girls bedroom. It was a TINY bit tight and I thought "...hmmm one pass over the jointer and this thing would be perfect" BAD idea, well, not checking for staples was the bad idea! Anyway, I nicked the knifes so out they came. I made a jig with an old router bit bearing to help hold the angle. Some spray glue on wet/dry paper and a piece of plate glass for "stones" I swear they are better than new. I found this method online somewhere. maybe youtube?

It's needed a new set since these are several months old and I do alot of cabinet work in red oak and maple, read HARD air dried for years wood. I've sharpened 3 sets for the jointer and going to do 2-3 sets for the 13 inch planer after I finnish with the girls door. I'm not sure it will work with the long knifes as it might tip to one side.

[Harvey Pascoe]

I can do 8" jointer blades by hand no problem because they are nice and thick and its easy to maintain the bevel angle because the bevel is wide. Planer knives are too thin and need to be jigged as you cannot rest the blade on the bevel and hold that angle by hand.

[Jason Neal]

I'm stopping back in to share my experiences with the Deulen sharpening jig. I have now used it to sharpen the knives on both the planer and the jointer.

I first tried it on the 13" planer knives. Back a few months ago I had retouched the edges on the 6" knives in the jointer, but I was too chicken to sharpen the planer knives both because they are so long and the fact they are much more flexible by comparison, meaning it would be difficult to create a straight, uniform edge without good fixturing. Well let me just say this, the Deulen jig took away that uncertainty and the results are just excellent. With it, practically no skill is needed, just a little patience.

I used a set of diamond stones for the roughing in (200, 300, and 400 grit) and then progressed through wet sandpaper of 400, 600, and 2000 on glass to achieve a razor edge. If it seems odd that I used both 400 grit diamond and paper, well it seems the 400 diamond is coarse by comparison. Maybe because the diamond stones are cheapies and the grit isn't as uniform as it should be but whatever the case, this group of abrasives gives good results for me.

Once the edge was fully established, I removed the knives from the jig and worked the backs through the 3 wet sandpaper grits to encourage the wire edge to release. I cheated a little and hit the bevel a few times on the 2000 grit to help it along and eventually I had 3 dangerously sharp planer knives.

Mounting them back into the planer for a few test cuts, I ran some cherry through it that my dad had given to me from his stash. The sawyer had plainsawn them and they had cupped pretty badly when they dried. I had previously ripped a few boards down into 3" wide strips, jointed and rejoined them to bring them into flatness. Granted, more work than it was worth but it was a good learning exercise on the new-to-me jointer. Anyway, I had run one through it before the knives were sharpened and it was bogging pretty badly on even on light 1/32" cuts. Wow, what a difference. Just night and day, and it yielded a very clean finish even on the dimensioning setting (fewer cuts per inch than the finishing setting). A few swipes with the scraper and the cherry looked just magnificent.

On to the jointer blades. These weren't so bad in the sense that they were cutting decently but they did have some minor nicks in them from the previous owner that I didn't manage to get out when I touched them up previously. So I mounted them into the Deulen jig and gave them a good workout to take care of that. Following the same process as before, in about 30min I had razor sharp edges on all the knives.

Got them set back into the jointer head and aligned and ran some pieces through it. Well, okay, a bunch of pieces. The pile of shavings you see doesn't lie. And check out the closeups of the cherry and oak. It's really a shame the cherry doesn't look as good in the photo as it does in real life, but the area shown is actually iridescent as the light angle changes and is just gorgeous. Also, the oak revealed some attractive flecking. By the way, this was wood pulled of the firewood pile. It just kills me that I chopped up all the cherry the winter before I got a bandsaw. Sure would have been nice to have kept some of the straight pieces to resaw into planks.

With that said, I'd like to make a few additional comments about the Deulen fixture. Firstly, I don't know the precise angle of the jig but on both sets of knives, it gave an edge that was slightly more blunt than the factory edges. As I was sharpening, it appeared to give a result similar to the microbevel I give to my chisels. This saves major elbow grease compared to completely reworking the entire bevel, and I expect that is fully the intent. I imagine some folks will have an opinion about this, but from my experience it's hard to argue with the splendid results.

Also, the craftsmanship is excellent. The brass extrusions are set into precisely milled channels in the rosewood body, and the tapped holes for locking in the knives have threads that are clean and tight-fitting. The result is a very solid mount for the knives which yields a sense of confidence that things won't shift around as one gets to work with the sharpening stones.

As someone who prefers to sharpen his own bits and blades whenever possible, I expect I'll get good use out of the Deulen jig if I'm fortunate enough to live to be a healthy old man and retire into my workshop.

I want to give a big thanks to Tom and Renee at Carbide Processors for such a generous act!

If there are any Creekers that live in the Laurel or Hattiesburg area and want to swing by one Saturday, I'd be glad to give your knives a tuneup.

[John Schweikert]

I made my own version of the Deulen jointer blade jig today. It was faster and cheaper than the 40 mile roundtrip to Woodcraft and buying the real thing.

Had some waste walnut blocks to use and 9mm marine ply scrap.

Cut a 38 degree rip twice in the block, then dado cut out the waste in between. Rounded the top edges. The wedge works great to keep the blades tight. Used paracord for the first test. After the blades went back in the jointer, I installed cabinet bolts with inserts in the block, and slots in the wedge so it can move and fit evenly for the blades.

http://www.schweikertphoto.com/image_downloads/jointer-sharpen1.JPG

http://www.schweikertphoto.com/image_downloads/jointer-sharpen2.JPG

http://www.schweikertphoto.com/image_downloads/jointer-sharpen3.JPG

http://www.schweikertphoto.com/image_downloads/jointer-sharpen4.JPG

http://www.schweikertphoto.com/image_downloads/jointer-sharpen5.JPG

http://www.schweikertphoto.com/image_downloads/jointer-sharpen6.JPG

http://www.schweikertphoto.com/image_downloads/jointer-sharpen7.JPG

http://www.schweikertphoto.com/image_downloads/jointer-sharpen8.JPG

http://www.schweikertphoto.com/image_downloads/jointer-sharpen9.JPG

[Harold Burrell]

I made my own version of the Deulen jointer blade jig today. It was faster and cheaper than the 40 mile roundtrip to Woodcraft and buying the real thing.

Had some waste walnut blocks to use and 9mm marine ply scrap.

Cut a 38 degree rip twice in the block, then dado cut out the waste in between. Rounded the top edges. The wedge works great to keep the blades tight. Used paracord for the first test. After the blades went back in the jointer, I installed cabinet bolts with inserts in the block, and slots in the wedge so it can move and fit evenly for the blades.
















Oh, wow...cool! I've been wanting to build one of those for some time now. What...and how...do you have those bolts threaded into?

[John Schweikert]

Oh, wow...cool! I've been wanting to build one of those for some time now. What...and how...do you have those bolts threaded into?

Here are the bolts and inserts used. Drilled a 3/8" hole for the inserts (extra long holes for the bolts to have the additional travel) and screwed them in with hex wrench, no issue getting them just below flush.

http://www.schweikertphoto.com/image_downloads/jointer-sharpen9a.JPG

http://www.schweikertphoto.com/image_downloads/jointer-sharpen9b.JPG

http://www.schweikertphoto.com/image_downloads/jointer-sharpen9c.JPG

[John Schweikert]

I used 220, 500 & 1200 grit paper and ended with a mirror finish and crazy sharp jointer blades. The blades cut so nice compared to than before, before wasn't too bad though.

Soon enough I'll probably make another one of these blocks a full 12" to sharpen the blades on my Dewalt planer.

[Stephen Cherry]

I've gone with a stone in a dedicated router for sharpening jointer blades in place. I use a flexible putty knife clamped to the infeed table to index the cutterhead. You rotate the cutterhead until the bevel is parellel with the tables, and take a light pass with the router on each blade with the router riding on the outfeed table. FWW had an article on this a few months ago. The best part is that after sharpening, the only setup is outfeed table height. The blades are already properly installed and ground to the right height.

[John Schweikert]

Stephen,

Would love to see that setup. I'll have to dig up that article. Thanks for sharing.

[Ole Anderson]

My local tool store was running a special on the Deulen jig, I got the 12" version at $20 off. I use a scary sharp system, but only go 180, 400 then to 600 grit on a granite block. Easily removed any nicks and gave a really nicely sharpened blade, even on my Delta 22-580 disposables.

[Charlie Jones]

I would like to see Stephens setup to. What kind of stone are you using in the router.

[Stephen Cherry]

I would like to see Stephens setup to. What kind of stone are you using in the router.

OK, when I'll try to take a few pictures this weekend. The stone is a 1/4 inch shank stone intended for a die grinder.

[Brian Deakin]

Can anyone please advise on the ideal angle to set the blades if making a home made jig


regards Brian

[John Schweikert]

I used a Starrett miter saw protractor on my jointer knife and best I could tell it was a 38 degree bevel. So that is the angle I cut in the honing block I made. What I noticed is that the angle I cut exactly matched the angle of the micro bevel, so it was just a little off from the primary bevel. It worked out fine for me in the end.

[Ben Martin]

(Bumping this back up...)

Does anyone have pictures of one of these jigs that would do 3 blades at a time?

Not sure I really see the benefit of doing all 3 blades at once though.

Ben

[Andrew Hughes]

Hi Ben,I like to sharpen three at a time, it's faster keeps them the same weight.The jig is just three saw kerfs In some good thick flat material.The angle of the cut in the jig will be the bevel.For my jointer it's 42 the planer is 45.i can take a pic tomorrow if you still need to see.

[Barry Mabery]

Stephen - Not Ben, but I would certainly like to see your 3-up jig.
Barry

[Mark Wooden]

Woodworkers Tool Works also has the last of the Foster jointer knife grinders that will sharpen the knives right in the head of any jointer. Not cheap, but well worth the cost if you need to get your knives done frequently. I'm very pleased with mine and with the support from WTW.

[marty shultz]

Does anyone have the 3 knife jig they could post a pic of?

[Andrew Hughes]

Here Ya go.

[marty shultz]

It's so simple but I couldn't get my brain to think about the problem correctly.

thanks!

[Dani Carbajal]

(Bumping this back up...)

Does anyone have pictures of one of these jigs that would do 3 blades at a time?

Not sure I really see the benefit of doing all 3 blades at once though.

Ben


I realize this is an old post but I too was looking for a 3-blade sharpening system. I ended up taking the idea for a jig from someone else who posted in this thread. It was a great design and I was able to make it so I could set 3 knives in. It would be more ideal to have metal tracks the blades fit into but I'd rather sharpen 3 blades then swapping blades out every few minutes.

I posted a tutorial on my website for anyone else interested in making one. I was very impressed with the results. The blades were badly knicked so I had to take a lot of material off - but now they cut like new!

http://www.theprojectlady.com/2017/09/9-homemade-jig-for-sharpening-jointer.html

[Warren Lake]

never sharpened them figured the pros could do it well. In the old days what came back was ground fine and also hollow ground. Id hone them as taught before they went in and they were wicked sharp. I mean wicked you slice into your self without even knowing it blood dripping out on the machine. Just oil and a hard Arkansas slip stone. When they were dull change them.

At some point I started to hone them in the head, in that case they had a double bevel but it has to be done so there is no heal striking the wood. Guy I knew who had a moulding company said some woods will plane better with a double bevel than even raiser sharp knives. Not sure yet I still think the cleanest cuts ive seen are off the shaper high speed steel hollow ground and single bevel that is honed first. I think its easier to hone hollow ground stuff. Certainly the double bevel should stand up to longer runs of material. Doesnt seem like anyone will hollow grind them anymore. Havent considered grinding knives myself. Figure a pro with a 20ik machine should be doing a good job.

[Mel Fulks]

Warren, I have not seen a grinding machine for those close up. A friend,now gone on, bought one years ago marked down to
$60,000. From $100,000. The one he had been using was worn slam out. Don't think the new one made a hollow grind,but it did make knives nice and straight.

[Scott McFarland]

I have the Duelen 6" jig, I had 2 issues with it.

1. I don't think it presents the leading edge of the knife to the stone effectively. Leading to requirement to remove excess steel in order to obtain a sharp edge. Maybe my knives aren't 45 degrees.
2. I have to waste time rotating 3 knives into two spots. An issue clearly addressed by this 3 knife setup.

I created a jig, that I mounted to the Duelen jig that enables me to sharpen one knive at a time, at any angle I want.
393931

it is two pieces of scrap, joined at a right angle. The horizontal scrap is screwed to the top of the Duelen jig. The Vertical scrap has two slots for adjustment, bolts join the vertical scrap to the horizontal scrap via t-nuts. The slots allow me to vary the angle the knife is presented to the stone.

What isn't shown is I added two nylon wheels to the bottom of the vertical scrap so it glides smoothly on the workbench.

Now I mount one knife, go from grit to grit until that knife is sharp, then do the other 2 knives. No more rotating knives in and out of the jig! Saves tons of time.

My knives are so sharp, jointing is almost silent!