Planer Knife Changing

[Ray Newman]

Colleagues: I have an older Sunhill/GEE TEC 15” planer that I really do not use much anymore as my local mill closed. Blades still cut very well – even thickness, boards easily move in/out without hesitation. But the blades will eventually need sharpening/replacement. From talking to others, the job is not exactly easy and is/can be time consuming.

I have been told to purchase a jointers/planer knife setting jig like: https://www.infinitytools.com/planer...e-planers-pair

Do they actually work better than the OEM knife setting gauge? I dread trying to adjust the chip breaker and/or rollers.

Thanks for any insights.

[Tom M King]

I have those exact things to set a 15" planer with. They work fine. If you have the OEM gauge, check how the outer ends of a blade hit it, and use the micrometers on those gauges to see what it's set at. Just repeat that setting for the new knives.

I also have an old Powermatic cast iron base with dial indicator on it that they sold for their planers, but I find the magnetic ones, like those Infinity ones, easier to use.

[Phillip Mitchell]

I have a pair of magnetic knife setting blocks from Panhans and find it works better than my OEM jig at least. I have measured with a dial indicator in a mag base from the table up and found they can be precise to within 0.0005” which is plenty close enough for me. You do need to sort out the proper projection to set the new knives / setting gauge to in relation to feedworks and chipbreaker / pressure bar if applicable.

[Warren Lake]

I've got a set of those, diff brand came with 24" knives I bought. I tried and could not get them to work, not even close. I doubt many knife grinders grind knives .0005 straight. Ive always had to pull up and or tap down to make straight knives set to that tolerance.

[Eric Arnsdorff]

I finally went with a 15" planer with a helix insert cutterhead. It really makes this a machine at the next level. After years of planer blades in 12" and 13" planers there really is no comparison at all.

[Bill Dufour]

If you get that tool do yourself a favor and use it now. With the knives locked down and everything set correctly, set the jig correctly and never touch that setting. Do it this way and the sharp knives will be set to match the pressure bar, chip breaker and feed rollers. No need to get it over complicated.
Now if you wait until the knives are worn then you will have to adjust all that other stuff to match the new blade location.
BillD

[Bobby Robbinett]

I would recommend a Starret or similar high end knife setting gauge

[Mel Fulks]

I got a set of those, diff brand with 24" knives I bought. I tried and could not get them to work, not even close. I doubt many knife grinders grind knives .0005 straight. Ive always had to pull up and or tap down to make straight knives set to that tolerance.

The knife grinding machines get worn out . A friend who ran a sharpening (every thing) shop ,told me he had to finally
break down and buy a new grinder’ ‘cuz all his customers were getting mad.

[Richard Coers]

The chip breaker usually floats on the wood. It's the pressure bar behind the cutter head that is a little finicky. For me it's cut a matter of lowering the pressure bar until the wood won't feed, then raising until it does feed. Simple. Rollers in the head are also spring loaded and shouldn't need any adjusting after a blade change.

[Holmes Anderson]

I have that two-piece magnetic knife setting jig from Infinity. It is much better than the OEM jig. Remember to set the height of the magnets with your old knives still in the cutterhead. It still helps to have a precision measuring gauge with a dial in case one side of one knife is a bit too high or low so you can quickly identify the knife that needs resetting.

[Warren Lake]

the manufacture will tell you the settings of all below the cutting circle. Ill try the gauges again at some point but I did the once and got poor results. I have a knife projection number I always work to and on all machines. One a planer manufacturer talks way more extension but that is them accounting for maybe six grindings with a knife grinder.

I doubt the statement of having to adjust for knife wear on a planer. 40 plus years on machines ive never seen that in fact ive never set up the SCM stuff and it came well used.

On a jointer knife wear will affect results as you are no longer set to the outfeed but lower from wear depending on the area and where you work etc.

[Greg Quenneville]

Like others, I finally realised I had to set the jigs to my existing known good knives then leave them that way. Now knife changes are really quite fast, at least half of the time is cleaning and checking torque, etc. I can swap knives in my 14” combo machine in about 10-15 minutes.

[Ray Newman]

Colleagues: thanks for the information and I will order the jigs and note the knife projection for a future blade change.

Seriously thought about a shelix cutter head, but decided against it. I am almost 77 and I have no idea as to how long I will have the ability or the desire to work wood.

Cheers and all the best and once again, thanks for all the tips and information.