Planer blades, sharpen them or replace them?

[brianwelch]

I am not in the position to replace the original knife assembly on my 15" Grizzly planer with a Byrd, or equal, as I just don't use it for making money, just sawdust... 
I have always sent blades out to be sharpened (steel not Carbide) for my previous planers, 12" and 13" versions. Turns out new sets of 3 can be purchased on the 'Bay for significantly less than sharpening, even before adding shipping both ways by yours truly...Other than sharpening them myself, a possible option, any reason not to just replace them with new? 
Thanks in advance...

[R Clark]

If it was me....

I think I'd take a chance on the new blades from eBay, but keep the old blades and be prepared to send them off to the sharpeners.  

If the price for "new" is less than sharpening the old, my first question would be about the quality of the steel for the replacement blades you might find from some eBay vendor.  You could also find they're not quite as sharp as you'd like.

But...you could be pleasantly surprised.

[Willyou]

First. Are these the flip-over throw away type of blades or the thicker ones that are intended to be re-sharpened? If the latter, I just remove them occasionally and lightly hone them with a fine diamond hone. I'm still using the original knives after ??? years. However, as a hobbyist, my planner doesn't get the same use as a commercial one would. As long as the edge is not nicked or otherwise damaged or seriously dull, I don't think professional sharpening is needed.

[jteneyck]

I am not in the position to replace the original knife assembly on my 15" Grizzly planer with a Byrd, or equal, as I just don't use it for making money, just sawdust... 
I have always sent blades out to be sharpened (steel not Carbide) for my previous planers, 12" and 13" versions. Turns out new sets of 3 can be purchased on the 'Bay for significantly less than sharpening, even before adding shipping both ways by yours truly...Other than sharpening them myself, a possible option, any reason not to just replace them with new? 
Thanks in advance...

I sent out my planer knives for sharpening just once.  Whoever did it was a hack.  They looked like the guy used an angle grinder.  That motivated me to learn how to sharpen them myself.  Turns out it's not very hard.   For years I used a simple jig I made, similar to a Duelen jig, and waterstones.  Later, I bought a Grizzly knife grinder at a good price and that's what I use now.  Using waterstones it might take 30 to 45 minutes to sharpen the 3 knives; with the knife grinder it's about 15 to 20.  

I bought some Titan knives on Ebay once for one of my planers.  They are made with very good steel, and they were amazingly cheap.  If your knives are shot buy new ones.  If they are just dull learn how to sharpen them yourself.   

John

[Timberwolf]

First. Are these the flip-over throw away type of blades or the thicker ones that are intended to be re-sharpened? If the latter, I just remove them occasionally and lightly hone them with a fine diamond hone. I'm still using the original knives after ??? years. However, as a hobbyist, my planner doesn't get the same use as a commercial one would. As long as the edge is not nicked or otherwise damaged or seriously dull, I don't think professional sharpening is needed.

..........................
This.............no reason I can see to send them out for sharpening..I would choose a 400/600grit diamond hone and touch them up...should be fine as long as they are not nicked..Jig up if you have to but maintain the same factory bevel angle. Take the blades back to where they have a feather edge..good to go..

[Bob Vaughan]

I bought some Titan knives on Ebay once for one of my planers.  They are made with very good steel, and they were amazingly cheap.  If your knives are shot buy new ones.  If they are just dull learn how to sharpen them yourself.   

John

My experience with Titan knives differs.  I got a set for a jointer and did 200 linear feet of cutting for a project.  At the end of that short session the knives were totally dull.  I took them out and tossed them in the trash can.  I put in a sharpened set of Amana blades and all was good again.  Point being that some cheap HSS blades are soft and may not even justify the effort it takes to install them, particularly in a planer.  Good quality knives are worth getting sharpened by a quality sharpening service.

[jteneyck]

My experience with Titan knives differs.  I got a set for a jointer and did 200 linear feet of cutting for a project.  At the end of that short session the knives were totally dull.  I took them out and tossed them in the trash can.  I put in a sharpened set of Amana blades and all was good again.  Point being that some cheap HSS blades are soft and may not even justify the effort it takes to install them, particularly in a planer.  Good quality knives are worth getting sharpened by a quality sharpening service.

Titan uses several grades of steel.  Link.  The ones I had were M2.  Over 4 years I ran thousands of BF through that planer and sharpened them 3 or 4 times. 
The knives were still in it when I sold the machine.  

John

[brianwelch]

Thanks all. 
Ordered a set of M2 blades, and going to work on honing the set that has dulled...they aren't in that bad a shape, just not getting the clean results I get from new/sharp blades...
These blades are single sided 15"x 1" x 3mm (just shy of 1/8"), so I would not consider them as throwaway...
Thanks again

[rwe2156]

I used to do that too. It was once $80 for a cheap set of four 20" blades vs. $25 to get them sharpened, 2 trips across town, etc.

Then one time I bought a set of knives that my sharpener makes. He claimed they were better steel and would last longer. I paid $140 for the set and never regretted it.

My philosophy on any cutting tool is buy ones worth resharpening.

[brianwelch]

Not sure what all this means, but, this is the response from the seller wrt the planer blade material (3 blade set for 15" planer, $25 delivered, plus tax):
M2/SKH51/W12Mo5Cr4V2 Hardness: HRC 63-65 degrees
Don't know if I purchased junk or got lucky...time will tell...