Other options for knives for jointer/planer than Felder factory knives?

[Todd Burch]

Just bought my third set of knives for my AD751.

The first set I ever bought, I think they were $120. Last time I bought them (System Knives, 6 reversible knives to a pack, planer uses 4 of them at a time), they were $150. Today, they are $195.

Does anyone else get them from other sources? These are the esta-style knives.

http://www.felder-tooling.us/8head-017420/8head-019420/8ba-ad531-011-114-00220/8071126-text10-8071226-head20.html (the 510mm set)

Thanks, Todd

[Richard McComas]

I have a Felder AD 741 bought about 10 years ago. From day one I've bought all my knives from http://www.estausa.com/quick-quote.html. I buy their bulk pack of 12 knifes. It's been a while since I bought any so I don't know current pricing. These blades are identical to the Felder's with one exception. The knives are a just a hair narrower so you have to lower the out-feed table a few thousandths.


I sent you a PM.

[Rod Sheridan]

Hi Todd, looking at the Esta site they charge $129.13 for a set of 3 knives so it looks like Felder are more cost effective.........Rod.

[Richard McComas]

Have used both Felder and the DISPOZ-A-BLADES I (no scientific data) I believe I get a longer life from the DISPOZ-A-BLADES .

For what its worth this the the hype from Esta USA.

There appears to be some confusion and concern among some members of
the FOG regarding the use of Dispoz-a-Blade replacement knives. I
would like to present a brief overview of Dispoz-a-Blade to clarify
our product.

Dispoz-a-Blade has been manufactured under a patented process for
over 21 years by SITEC STANZTECHNIK GmbH in Siegen Germany. SITEC
(formally named ESTA Schneid-Syteme) is part of the ESTA Group (
www.esta-rohr.de/ www.contec-sml.de/ ) of high tech companies that
specialize in the manufacture and distribution of precise industrial
stainless steel products. SITEC ( www.sitec-stanztechnik.de ) designs
and manufactures parts to DIN and ISO 9002 certified quality
standards for such companies as Siemens and Mercedes Benz.

Dispoz-a-Blade's specifically formulated alloys are made by world
renowned Krupp Steel ( www.thyssen-krupp-stahl.com/english/index.htm
). All of Dispoz-a-Blade's knives are precisely machined, heat
treated, annealed, ground and honed by an ISO 9002 certified process
to insure consistent quality and dimensional accuracy.

ESTA-USA began distributing Dispoz-a-Blade in North America in 1987.
Sales of Dispoz-a-Blade have increased exponentially with many OEM's
now offering it as a factory direct option.

Dispoz-a-Blade offers 2 qualities of knives: High Speed Steel (HSS)
and Kobalt. HSS has working qualities of M-2 class HSS knife stock.
It is a durable and economical knife that holds up extremely well for
most medium-hard density North American woods (i.e. red oak, ash,
poplar, cherry, white pine) The Rockwell hardness is between 62-64.
The Kobalt knife is a bi-metal configuration with a specially
formulated tungsten alloy edge atomically welded to a machined steel
body. This alloy is designed to hold an edge in a range of higher
operating temperatures where an HSS edge would normally break down.
The Kobalt edge was designed to have better resilience against shock
loads while having a Rockwell hardness of 67-69. Kobalt will outlast
HSS by over 2 times in the denser hardwoods such as hard maple,
hickory, birch or white oak.

The standard pin diameter that references a knife is 5mm. Dispoz-a-
Blade's hole size is 5.025mm or .001" oversize to facilitate a slip
fit. The center of hole to each edge dimension is +/- .001". In
relative terms these tolerances are much less than the dimensional
distortion of the cutter head under rotation.

Our knives are satisfactorily used on high production machines in
industrial woodworking plants worldwide everyday. It would be
impossible to stay in business if our product did not perform as
designed and sold. As we supply knives for 100's of different
machines to 1000's of customers, our overall volume allows us to
offer a FOG discount program. I can only encourage FOG members to try
Dispoz-a-Blade and make their own determination of what brand knife
offers the best value.

We hope this resolves previous concerns and welcome any tech
questions the membership may have ( techsupport@... ).

Respectfully,

Aaron Robinson
President ESTA-USA

[Todd Burch]

I found "dispoz-a-blade" when searching for Esta after I posted this. Esta's are quoted a bit more expensive, and I called to confirm, and they confirmed. With Felder's Cobalt, I can get 12 cutting edges for $195, or, <$17 each. With Dispoz-a-Blade's Kobalt, in bulk, I would get 24 cutting edges for $500, or <$21 each.

I guess I'm happy with the Felder knives?? ;) (In as much as I can be!!)

Thanks all.

[Mel Fulks]

Richard ,thanks for posting that knife info .Dispoza Blade is used by a number of members here who have recommended them .That said ,the company statement contains some of the deceptive language I have warned about several times."HSS has working qualities of M-2 class HSS knife stock" notice that they do not say it is M-2. They do say it is HSS,I don't think so . If it is HSS give us the grade it is.....not the grade of what it is not. I am too familiar with that semi high speed having 'same Rockwell hardness of M-2'. I have been responsible for it being replaced with real HSS a number of times. If tear out has been a problem with your planer I reccommend buying their PREMIUM grade product.