Sharpening planer and jointer blades - hss vs carbide

[andrew whicker]

Title says it all I guess. Can I use the regular wet sanding stones for carbide like I do with hss?

[John TenEyck]

No, you need diamond or CBN to sharpen carbide.

John

[andrew whicker]

okee dokee. Thanks

[John Blazy]

I've been sharpening my HSS and Carbide knives in my jointer for many years without removing the knives using my diamond hones. Removing and resetting the knives takes way too long, so I just drive a little wedge between the cutterhead and frame to hold it, then sharpen away. The amount removed each time barely changes height. Those diamond hones are worth their weight in gold - cuts quick regardless carbide or HSS. I'm so lazy, that I even hollow grind the knives right on the jointer with my angle grinder if needed, then just reset height if needed (often not, because I hollow grind right up to edge without going over using rails made of wood to guide the grinding wheel).

So the simple answer is to get some diamond hones from HF or better yet the Ultrasharp hones. Then grind a bevel on the back of the metal diamond hone so you can hone the inside flutes of carbide bits, then keep one in pocket at all times.

[Steve Demuth]

I've been sharpening my HSS and Carbide knives in my jointer for many years without removing the knives using my diamond hones. Removing and resetting the knives takes way too long, so I just drive a little wedge between the cutterhead and frame to hold it, then sharpen away.

Exactly. If you can reliably duplicate top dead center and fix your head there for each cutter, then take a diamond hone like a DMT diasharp, put poly tape across the ends, and adjust your tables appropriately, you can actually hone the knives in place to be matched to the tables and each other quite easily. Scary sharp and perfectly matched.

[Brian Holcombe]

No, you need diamond or CBN to sharpen carbide.

John

John, I’ve been warned away from using CBN for this by carbide manufacturers, it will wear out a plated wheel pretty quickly.

[andrew whicker]

I saw another guy sharpen his HSS blades while they were in his planer. I just have too long of wet stones at the moment and need to buy some shorter ones or cut up the ones I have, whatever.

I was sharpening my other set of HSS's last night and saw they had quite a few nicks. Was thinking of upgrading to carbide. I'll see how much the diamond hones cost. I'm assuming they come in grits so I'll have to buy a few? I have a nice wet stone setup, so that would save me some cash to stick with HSS.

I have a delta 12" planer where the motor and blade move up and down. The motor is above the blades which makes this a less than ideal machine to sharpen while the blades are in, but trust me, I will be trying. Putting new blades in looks like a lame and time consuming job.

[John TenEyck]

John, I’ve been warned away from using CBN for this by carbide manufacturers, it will wear out a plated wheel pretty quickly.

Thanks Brian; I was unaware of that.

John