Dewalt planer blades - sharpening

Re: Dewalt planer blades - sharpening

Brian D.

I got tired of the regular DeWalt blades and switched to the Shelix head and never looked back.

Re: Dewalt planer blades - sharpening

Barry Irby

Which type of blades are you asking about, the ones meant to be resharpened or the disposable ones?

I have the version with the ones meant to be resharpened and sharpen themregularly. I have a 6" grinder with a chisel/plane blade sharpening attachment. Many years ago I added a white grindstone to that side. Sorry don't recall the details.

The attachment only slides about 2 inches left to right so what I do is clamp a steel rule in it and then put the planer blade on top of that and adjust the angle to imitate the the knife's existing angle and then slide the blade left to right. Unless the blade is badly nicked, you only need take off a few thousandth's. The grinder attachment will micro adjust forward into the stone. My experience is the blade has a very hard piece of steel laminated into the edge and you must be patient. I have been known to advance too quickly and grind the softer heel off.

Without the attachment, I would not hesitate to set the angle on the rest of the grinder and attach a straight edge and try sliding the knives left to right and take a very slight cut. I would consider putting some sort of axillary block on top of the rest and make it wider/taller/different angle to make the blade clear the motor if necessary.

I think the quality of the wheel would be important. You can finish the blades off on some emery paper on a sheet of glass or on a diamond plate.

If you have two sets and they are nicked you can interchange one form each set to offset the nicks, BUT they must match in weight to be dynamically balanced. I sharpen my two sets identically to keep them balanced.

Re: Dewalt planer blades - sharpening

Bruce, a MN Galoot

Would you mind posting a pic of that grinder attachment, Barry. I have the same kind of grinder with a white wheel and also a Dewalt 735 planer. The first year I had the planer, I went through four sets of blades. That ain’t cheap. A few months back I complained long and loudly to the Dewalt people. They wouldn’t reply, wouldn’t talk. A couple weeks later I got a new set of blades delivered by the FedEx truck, gratis. It still doesn’t solve the problem of too-soft blades for that planer.

A Shelix head would fix the problem. So would s planer like Bill T has.

Re: Dewalt planer blades - sharpening

John C Lucas

I do t know if i would call.it resharpening. More like honing. I was having trouble feeding wood through the planer and decided theblades were dull. I cut a piece of wood at the correct angle a d used cloth backed double stick tape to hols the blade. The. Just ran it across some sandpaper that i layed on the table saw. Just a cew.strokes.on each blade did the trick. Dont think there is enough metal.there to grind away a nick but just to improve the edge it worked. I know something similar to.this has been in a magazine. Not my idea and could not remember exactly how they did it.

Yes and another thought....

Barry Irby

I will take a picture and try to post it later today. I bought the attachment when I bought the grinder in the early 70's. Not sure any such thing is still available.

The second thought...Set your knives up on a flat surface on the ground edge to see what the angle is. In a strip of wood, say a 2 x 2, cut a dado at that angle, turn the strip around and cut a second one in the opposite edge. Insert the knives to form an inverted V. Then slide them on a piece of fine emery cloth or Silicon Carbide sandpaper on glass or diamond plate. You could cheat the angle about a degree to only sharpen the very edge and give you a micro bevel. Not sure how to secure the knives in the stick...magnets...double stick tape...screws... wedges...fingers...snug fit.......

expectations

Bill Tindall, E.Tn.

If this approach worked to sharpen a blade it would indicate that the steel was not very abrasion resistant to begin with. A quality planer bade will be made from M2 or better yet M42 steel heat treated to well over Rc60. Your patience will wane long before any meaningful amount of metal is removed by hand lapping on an abrasive sheet. It is slow enough hand grinding a quality blade, so much so that sending them to a saw shop for grinding will be a relief.

Standard practice in a shop is to own two sets of blades. One is in the machine and the other either out for sharpening or in the drawer ready for replacement.

You all have some indication of the amount of work I do. I go about 5 years between changing blades on my 8" jointer, a year or more between sharpening blades on the planer. I have Wisconsin M2 particle steel blades on the jointer and M 42 knives on the planer.

Re: expectations

Joe in a Cleveland suburb

"One is in the machine and the other either out for sharpening or in the drawer ready for replacement."

That is why I have two sets. But dummy me never sent the one set in to be sharpened when I last switched them out....

Local place wants $2.50 an inch to sharpen. That's almost what it would cost to replace them with new.

Is there a reason not to use a jig on my slow speed grinder with a white stone?

I've sharpened plenty of planer knives on TS

Keith Newton

When you replace the blade with a wheel, the blade elevation controls the grinding angle.

I just used a piece of plastic laminate flat against the table, with a close gap for the wheel to come up through, which bridges and smooths the bottom passing over the insert plate. That is captured with an aluminum channel that I happened to have on hand clamped down at both ends. However I wasn't grinding double edge knives, so something smooth like plastic, that the other edge wouldn't either be cutting into or dulling a sharp edge would be better.

If I were to make another, I think plastic laminate glued to a 1 x 3 would make a better back guide if I were grinding dry, however I use a Koolmist system to spray a fine mist right at the contact point which really takes the heat away, but might end up soaking / warping the wood.

If your grinding dry, I would use very light pressure with a fairly fast slide across to prevent much heat buildup.

I haven't bothered to sharpen the disposable blades since I've always thought the price of new blades is less than my labor cost for sharpening. But if you are not charging for your labor and this is just a hobby you can probably find something around your shop to turn your table saw into a decent knife sharpener for little or no expense.

Re: expectations

Barry Irby

Bill is correct, the steel inset into the edge is very hard. I have not tried lapping them. I just grind them and run a diamond plate over the back to knock off any burr.

OTOH, EVERY TIME I TURN AROUND I have to replace and sharpen those knives. Oh wait, It only seems like that. I started writing the date on them when I install them and it turns out it's about every two or three years. Just seems like it's more often than that. I would rather work in the shop than on the shop.

I just looked them up and you can buy new ones from Lowe's for about $55 and E-bay had some for $24. These are for the 733 planer, 12.5" and two to the set. You are correct, $2.50 an inch would buy you a new set.

I keep this grinder sitting on the shelf. It takes about an hour to sharpen all four knives in two sets. I don't count the time it takes to remove and reinstall them. I use a very light touch, slide each knife across and back, set it aside and do another and by the time I get back to the first one its cooled down if it ever got hot. I'm use a 6" high speed grinder. Never looked to see if it is running 1800 or 3600+/- rpm, but it is not a slow speed grinder like a Tormek.

Astonishing cost

Bill Tindall, E.Tn.

That cost is times what I pay to have blades sharpened at Misenheimers in Morrristown, TN. Indeed that is the cost of new steel. It may be the place that charges that much is sending them elsewhere and you are paying twice. Find a professional shop in your area and ask where they send stuff to be sharpened.

But, if you can rig something to grind straightly you can grind in less time than to take them somewhere, or ship. The key to success is grinding straight, to within a few thousandths over the length. Don't get them hot or they will warp in a bow or crook. The knives will be high speed tool steel and will not loose hardness when grinding.

Re: Astonishing cost

Jesse Cloud

Joe, you might want to look for another sharpener. That price is very steep.

I get my blades sharpened about as often as Bill T does so I don't remember what I paid last time but it was way less that that. I do remember that when I did the original cost/benefit analysis the cost was about 20% of what I paid for the blades.

Simple free solution

Joe in a Cleveland suburb

Thanks for all the suggestions.

It occurred to me that I have one of those stationary belt sanders with the disk on the side. Rarely ever use it.

The side disk has a crappy little table. I tilted to 45 degrees. Clamped a piece of scrap to it to slide the planer blade on.

Seems to work well enough. One of the blades took a bit of time as it had a decent nick in it. Plus the sand paper is pretty worn.

I also lapped the backs on my piece of granite and some 800 paper. Just to clean off the bur, rust, and crud.

Anyway, back in business.

Thanks again.

Re: Astonishing cost

Mark Nowicki

I paid about Canadian$8.00 to get the blades for my 6"jointer done.

This outfit, there must a similar one in your area

http://www.acmesawplus.com/index.php

Re: Simple free solution

Barry Irby

While I don't believe that is any real difference between say 30 degrees and 29.75, you should try to maintain the factory angle as best you can. And, you should keep the blades as pairs and whatever you do to one you should do to the other one, to keep them weighling the same. Dynamically balanced. OTOH, if you have the same planer I do, they are set using the set blocks which index off the cutting edge, meaning they should both cut equally and not have a wide or high knife doing all the work and doubling the distance between the cuts.

Hope it works well for you. Use a Magic Marker and put the date on them. It may be interesting to see how your memory matches up with the facts.

Re: Simple free solution

Joe in a Cleveland suburb

Thanks Barry.

Mine is the older DeWalt 733. It has those magnetic block thingies for setting the blades. I did 45 degrees because I thought I had read that someplace. I'm probably wrong on that...

Re: Simple free solution

Barry Irby

I have the 733 also. I tried to keep the angle the same as it was on the knives.

There is a lot to know about cutting edge geometry. Some angle work better on soft woods and some on harder woods. I don't pretend to know what the proper angles are, I just tried to use what the manufacturer sent on the knives and it works for me. If what you did works for you, keep on going.

Might look into some better sandpaper for next time. Grind away the least amount possible. I'm thinking of buying another spare set on E-bay. Can't go wrong for $24.

Ps...

Barry Irby

If your planer starts to leave snipe or tiny steps at random on the surface, it may be the bushings. I changed mine out and it fixed it. The second clue was the drive chain looked slack.

30-35 degrees typical

Bill Tindall, E.Tn.

I have never see 45 recommended

Re: 30-35 degrees typical

Joe in a Cleveland suburb

Thanks. I knew I was wrong...