Sharpening Jointer & Planer Blades

[DBurke]

Do you sharpen your jointer and planer blades yourself or is this something that should be sent out? If you can do it how? Is this something a "newbie" should try and tackle.
Thanks,
Duncan

[newbie2wood]

Rockler sells a jig for sharpening planer and jointer blades, but I think its cheaper just to buy new blades unless you are wearing out the blades rather quickly.
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IOLITE PORTABLE VAPORIZER HERB CHAMBER

[cgallery]

I do it myself, using sandpaper. Many people refer to this as the Scary Sharp(tm) method [the (tm) is kinda a joke by the enthusiasts of the practice]. While sharpening w/ sandpaper has been around as a practice for years (used to be Boy Scouts used the method), it has really exploded as of late.

There have been recent articles on the method in Woodsmith and also Fine Woodworking, among others.

You can also find it on Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scary_sharp

I purchased a used Inca 410 (8-5/8" jointer/planer) a couple of months ago and have successfully used the techniques to sharpen my knives. I've included some pictures of my jig.

My knives were in TERRIBLE shape. The previous owner had used a honer with the blades mounted, and had essentially sharpened the blades in the wrong direction. This put small scratches in the blades that were parallel to the knife edge and were a devil to get out. But I was patient, took my time, and did only one knife per evening.

I purchased the Rockler kit for this. It includes a 12" piece of float glass (flat), a honing guide (which I was able to adapt to my jig--very clever if I do say so myself), and some wet/dry sandpaper. I learned that for early cutting, having some of the newer, 3X Norton or 3M 60-grit papers helps move things along.

Random notes: (1) You can get very sharp using this method. Certainly sharper than machine-sharpened. Leads to longer use between sharpenings, too. (2) You can control how much you remove. Blades for my Inca are no longer made. I want to make them last as long as possible. Hopefully I'll find another pair. But I was worried that if I sent them out that someone would remove too much material and shorten their lives. (3) Sandpaper is discarded when worn. No worries about keeping stones flat or any such problems. (4) This method is cheap. The Rockler kit is the most expensive thing I bought. You can do it for less. I was quoted $15 and one week to sharpen by knives by a local shop. I figure after my 2nd sharpening I'm even. And future sharpenings won't take an entire evening per knife! And I can use the materials to sharpen by chissels and other tools, too. A bargain!

I think the jig for the long knives is important, so I spent some time making mine. It is a little more elaborate than a 2x4 with some screws to hold the blade (some of the home-brew stuff I've seen out there), but I figure it makes the process move along and I'll appreciate having it in the future. And it is a far-sight less expensive (and works better due to the wheel rather than the post) than the $50 Veritas.

Good luck and don't cut yourself!