# My planer knife honing jig



## sofalinux

I finally made a honing jig for my planer knives. Heres some pictures for anyone interested. 
As the slots for the blades are a little to wide, thus the blades won't keep from falling out, I simply cut wedges to wedge them into the slots. Works pretty well.


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## Gene Howe

Thanks Daryl. Just the ticket.


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## oldschooltools

Nice one, will try this out, would that be a surface plate under the glass paper?


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## sofalinux

Its just a piece of plate glass (I think its an old shelf from a cabinet of some sort) with wet/dry taped to it. I am going to get some spray adhesive to stick the paper down instead. Tape comes lose from the paper. Spray contact cement may work out better and you could also put two papers end to end for a longer stroke.
My biggest problem was cutting the slots. The table saw won't adjust far enough. I had to brush up on my geometry and do some drawings. If you have trouble with that let me know.


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## Gerry KIERNAN

Hi Daryl

Great little rig. I have some planer blades to resharpen, and that looks just the ticket. What is an appropriate angle for the slots?

Thanks

Gerry


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## Clouseau

Daryl, try some double stick tape like carpet tape or tape used for golf club grips. Also this might not help for this fixture, but shipping tags are about .010" thick and good masking tape is about 003" thick. Cereal boxes very. These all make good shim stock as well as soda cans.


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## sofalinux

Gerry.
You have to measure the angle of your blades bevel and go according to that. Mine are 42 degrees. You may find that your saw does not go to 42 degrees and so you will need to go 90 deg minus 42 deg equals 48 deg (90-42=48). then turn your block 990 deg and use that angle (48 deg).

These drawings suck but it was fun practice.


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## lucas.j.dunton

I say GENIUS!! So simple even a caveman could do it...Or maybe even me! I've been looking for a way to hone my planer knives w/out buying an expensive sharpening system, thank man.


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## sofalinux

Let us know how it works. I am not impressed with my results. But I think I need a bigger sanding sarface and a little less winter weather to work in. I also think that you should shim in the center of the blades as well as the ends so as to be sure the blade stays flat against the jig. I did get an improvement in my blades but they should be sharper than they are. Maybe someone with more experience could chime in here on this subject. 
I also have some nicks in my blades. Should I just keep honing till they are gone or should I hone the blades at 90 degrees to the sand paper till the nicks are gone and then hone the bevel back in?


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## woodnthings

*My honing jig*

Daryl I posted this jig back on 5 -05-09. It hones only one blade at a time, and with a 3 blade jointer or planer you get the blades honed individually this way. By honing 2 at a time you've always got the 3rd blade remaining unhoned, so that's a problem. Here's the link:

http://www.woodworkingtalk.com/f2/honing-jointer-blades-how-10066/

The idea is similiar however. bill


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## sofalinux

Ah yes, the mysterious diamond honing plate.
I saw them at the store a couple weeks ago and asked if they could be used for honing planer blades. The guy knew nothing about it.

As for your jig...I was wondering where I got that idea. Couldn't remember where I first saw it. 

I have a 2 blade planer so I don't have a problem with that third blade.

Is it possible to use those short honing plates for a longer (13 inch) planer blade or sandpaper on glass the only proper way to do it?


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## woodnthings

*Let's think about this*

For longer blades you'd like to have the hone contact the blade on the entire length. The diamond hones aren't long enough for that so I've seen a slurry of grinding compound on glass or 2 pieces of wet/dry taped end to end on glass to get the longer length. A rolling or sliding jig to hold the diamond hone might work. More thought is required...:blink: bill


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## sofalinux

I found this website that shows another version of the jig made by me (copied from Bill:yes. It shows a manufactured jig for small planer blades and then it shows a home made jig for bigger planer knives. And he explains things pretty well too. I recommend it. 
http://www.ablett.jp/workshop/oak/doug_abbott.htm


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## woodnthings

*Daryl check this out*

Seems as if we weren't the first to do this! :laughing: bill


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## Clouseau

Woodnthings: Do you know if they have the plans for the magnetic guard anywhere? That looked slick to me.
Dan


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## TimPa

*wet or dry?*

thanks for the thread. this inspired me to make one (actually 2) for my planer blades. i just have a 12" delta benchtop model, serves me fine when you keep 'er tuned up. i run a lot of hardwoods thru it and blade sharpening/honing has been something i needed to do as i have 5 sets uf double edged blades laying around. my first jig was 44 degrees and hit too hard on the edge of the blade. new jig is 41.5 degrees and hits all the surface. now to set up a glass plate sanding wet/dry surface, will post pics when done. do you guys use it dry or wet? if wet what? water, oil? thanks again.


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## sofalinux

I used it wet and had a lot of trouble with the paper not sticking down cause the tape got wet...duh. Next time I will use it dry.
Using it wet also leaves the jig covered with nasty black residue. Not good.


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## TimPa

i used mine wet today, did 2 sets of double sided. you're right, it does get messy, but i think the paper lasts longers wet. i glued my paper down with 3m spray adhesive. the 80 grit tended to curl up and cause problems on the seams, others ok. my knifes sharpewned more on the ends then in the center. i think the glass was flexing on the rubber non-skid pads, gonna' eliminate them next go around. you knw, i think 42 degrees would have worked for me too. i measued on one set, and found all of my knives were slightly different in the surface angles by the way they were sharpening. anyway, i'm sure they are sharper then having it done, or even new!


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## One Ozark American

Thanks for posting your idea :thumbsup:. I made one from a piece of laminated maple workbench top. I had to reset my table saw blade and fence alignment and tweak the cutting angle a couple of times but ended up with a very usable jig. Fortunately my blade made the exact width cut required to hold my Dewalt 734 blades quite snug. I ended up with a 40 degree angle. Ran a set of very dull blades through 1200 grit and what a difference a sharp set of blade made. Wow! I cut my sandpaper in half across the 9 inch width and glue to the two pieces down to plate glass to give an 18 inch working surface. I moved the jig and blades back and forth along their long axis to sharpen and then a few light passes on the back to remove any burrs. Thinking of buying rolls of fine grit silicon carbide paper rather than trying to use 2 half sheets back to back.


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## TimPa

daryl said:


> I finally made a honing jig for my planer knives. Heres some pictures for anyone interested.
> As the slots for the blades are a little to wide, thus the blades won't keep from falling out, I simply cut wedges to wedge them into the slots. Works pretty well.


i made a slight modification to the original - dadoed out the section in the middle, and made another piece - same shape, but slightly wider. when i screw it into the block, it clamps against the blade and block like a gib, holding it secure and flat. this eliminates shimming. thanks daryl for a great thread. it was a very good idea you shared with us....


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## Pirate

Nice simple solution daryl.
Does anyone know what could be used with this jig, to hone solid carbide, 6" jointer knives?


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## WillemJM

This thread is grand.:thumbsup:

How about 15" blades sharpening on 220grit 6" x 48" belt sander using a similar jig?


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## woodnthings

*another approach*


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## TimPa

WillemJM said:


> This thread is grand.:thumbsup:
> 
> How about 15" blades sharpening on 220grit 6" x 48" belt sander using a similar jig?


the beauty (and necessity) of this system are 1. the jig - holding the blades at the exact needed angle throughtout the pocess, and 2. the flatness of the glass. remove either one of those and your results may be less desirable.


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## BigJim

WillemJM said:


> This thread is grand.:thumbsup:
> 
> How about 15" blades sharpening on 220grit 6" x 48" belt sander using a similar jig?


On a machine, you can over heat a blade very quickly, heat will destroy an edge and quick. If the blade ever shows a color change the edge is shot. A slow sharpener is really best as the heat won't build up like a fast sharpener.


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## Gerry KIERNAN

Hi Daryl

I made a sharpening jig along the lines of yours, and it works really slick. Not trying to steal the thread, but along the same vein, the planer blades I sharpened are for a 15 inch planer that has no blade setting jig. I am having an issue getting exactly the right extension on the blades for efficient planing.

Any input from anyone as to how to determine the correct blade extension?

Thanks in advance.

PS: I have a magnetic micrometer blade setting jig set, but it doesn't rest completely on th blade drum, so doesn't help much. Works great on the jointers.


Gerry


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## norkota

Here is somthing i just drew up. maybe food for thought


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## hokeyplyr48

I know this thread is 2 years old, but in response to norkota, did you ever make this? Or did anyone?

I've been entertaining the idea of using 3 since that's what I need for my planer, but I see two issues with that design:

1) will it stay flat and not tip? Since all blades are angled the same direction, I feel like the jig would want to lean the opposite direction, causing you to accidentally steepen the angle

2) it makes setting the knives more difficult in the jig because with only two knives they will always contact the surface that you are rubbing against. Now with three knives, unless all three knives are identical in length, one knife may or may not touch the surface if it's too short. 

If anyone has made one of these, did you encounter any of these issues?


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