Sharpening Jointer Blades

[Otoe]

How does one sharpen a 6 1/2" long joiner blade? Can you do it yourself or must one have them sharpened by a pro?

Otoe

[Nova]

You could use the Veritas Jointer Blade Sharpening Jig:

[GarageWoodworks]

I sharpen my own after every major project.

You can use the veritas jig or you can make your own jig. AND yes, it works!

[Mike O.]

You can do it yourself but we have ours sharpened. If I remember, a set of 3 (6 1/8") costs us about $10.00 plus tax to be sharpened. We usually take in a bunch of stuff at one time so we do have some volume but the knives are not expensive to have done.

Mike O.

[George]

Cheap. The reason I bought my Makita sharpener was because they wanted fifty cents an inch (15 years ago) and I still had to clean up after the sharpening on my honing stone.

In the interim I cut a saw kerf in a block of wood at the proper angle, wedged the knives in it and raised it with thicknesses of paper and passed it beneath a cone-shaped stone on my drillpress. Worked great, but the Makita's better.

[B A R R Y]

Same here. Straight, non-carbide knives are really cheap to have sharpened.

I have three or four sets of planer and jointer blades, rotating a bunch out to the sharpener when needed.

[GarageWoodworks]

I stopped sending mine out because I could do a better job (sharper). The "professional" sharpening job left rough scratches on the knives.

[Otoe]

I'm having a hard time visualizing this sharpening mechanism. Is the block of wood against a fence to keep equal distance while pushing the blade across the stone? How is the angle adjusted to the stone in the drillpress? The joiner blade sharpening angle is 38 degrees.

Otoe

[dpb]

I believe he's saying saw the kerf in the block at the proper angle and insert the knife into it to hold it. Then the edge runs against the surface of the stone.

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[George]

If you're a member over at FWW, run the index. Kerf is at the proper angle to present the bevel parallel to the table of the drillpress. 38 if that's yours. The stone is lowered to kiss the tallest knife, then sheets of paper added under to raise the entire apparatus as it's slud left and right..

[Mike Dembroge]

I use a tormek which works great. It's very spendy though, especially with all the jigs. However, their jig is wide enough to do 12" planer blades too, so I don't have to send to send out anymore.

Mike

[Otoe]

I got the kerf concept with the blade placement. The issue is moving the blade across the stone and keeping the blade straight so you have a straight, sharp blade on the tip. Somehow, I'd think the kerf jig has to be maintained the same distance from the stone so you don't put a smilely across the blade.

Is the blade just being dragged across the stone? If so, how does one get a straight edge across the blade?

Otoe

[Otoe]

Oh, additionally, could a drum sander be used instead of a stone? Or would that cause a tempering problem?

Otoe

[Otoe]

I looked that up and found the cost too steep. I'm on the cheap and it appears the best overall solution is to buy new blades; as its a two blade Sears jointer and costs about $17 for the pair. I just hit the blades with a hard knot that dinged up the blades. Any guess the sharpening cost for 6 1/4" blades?

Otoe

[George]

The blade and its holder/jig are moved as one while sitting on the drillpress table. Since the quill is locked, the setup doesn't even really demand a perfectly flat or perpendicular table for reference. The distance from stone to table and in between is just diminished by sheets of paper or increased by wear on the stone.