Electric Planers & Blades & Pinblocks

[Ron Nossaman]

>The blades are what seem to go first. I have enough power (unless of 
>course the slower rotation when stressed contributes to poor performance). 
>The unit is wide enough for most of my needs. But the knives get dull 
>quickly. It takes a long time to sharpen them (I spent four hours 
>removing, sharpening, reinstalling and adjusting them yesterday). 
>Yesterday I noticed that one edge was cutting deeper than the rest of the 
>width. I found that one of the knives had bent at one end.

Bent?!! I think I'd spring for a new set of blades. How bent?

>It seems that running wood through the planer with the grain parallel to 
>the knives is hardest on the planer.

That's interesting. I haven't planed enough cross grain stuff to notice a 
difference - except pinblocks, and I assumed it was the glue abrading the edge.

>Are there any wisdom-type rules for such grain when planing with an 
>electric planer?

Not that I know of. What's the bevel angle and the cutting angle of the 
blade face to the bed? In other words, how delicate is the edge, and how is 
it being pushed into the wood?

>I think this planer is just not heavy-duty enough for running lots of wide 
>hardwood through it. Do bigger planers have thicker, more heavy-duty, 
>knives? Are knives of higher-quality metals available -harder (like for 
>hand planes)? Anyone have a recommendation for a bigger planer? How do 
>others handle planer knife sharpening (I am sharpening mine on my Tormek unit)?

I don't know what you've got in there for blades, but 
http://store.yahoo.com/planerblades/thinknives.html might be worth a look 
as a starting place.

Meanwhile, touching up the blades edges from time to time (like you would 
any working edge on a chisel or knife) with a diamond "stone" will get you 
a long way between full sharpenings. I find that the back bevel I've 
mentioned before, while it doesn't stay "new" sharp very long, tends to 
stay "sharp enough" longer than the standard low angle bevel - as well as 
not chipping up maple nearly as badly. It's easier and more forgiving to 
touch up with the stone too.

Ron N