delta 22-580 planer blades

[Eric John]

Good Morning

My planer is still going strong, my question is about knives.
I understand they are disposable and at less than 30$ a set
its not too bad, but it always seems to be not too long
on a new set of blades that theres a nick or something that
leaves a scratch when planing rough lumber.
i try to clean the boards a bit before planing, but
I believe sometimes even a knot in the wood can cause this.
are there any "better " quality knives for this machine?
or is it just something to live with?

Regards
Eric

[Jon Wolfe]

i've been wondering the same thing Eric. I recently read somewhere online that these blades have a slot for alignment that fits on the pins. They are not very long but if you stagger or shift the blades like one to the far left, one centered and one to the far right, then the blades may clean up any scratches or beads that a small nick may leave behind. I read that after I flipped the doubled sided knives on my planer but I will try it next time I start to see those long beads on the boards.
Jon

[Frank Pratt]

I have that same planer & am very happy with it, other than the fact that if something breaks I'm not going to be able to get parts. The blades seem to have pretty good life. Small nicks are just a fact of life & I don't even bother to adjust the blades sideways to eliminate them. Those tiny ridges are easily removed by a quick pass of a scraper or sanding. The planed surface isn't ready for a finish anyway.