Planer Jig sharpening - A first experience.

[Rob]

the dip tank is most certainly alive and well in my workshop.  There are certain times when you've either been too impatient or just pushed too dam hard and you need it.  Every time I do that I'm wracked with guilt about the notion of micro-crystalline cracks forming in the HSS as per multiple discussions here but I have to say, if they were a big problem then the entire turning community would have given up by now.  Perhaps they do exist and perhaps they do help to deteriorate an edge but for practical purposes they don't seem a problem.

[Herman Trivilino]

For a dipping tank to prevent those fractures you have to dip often. It's forgetting this that causes problems. A constant water bath means you don't have to remember to dip.

[Rob]

yet you DO have to remember to have your fingers amputated due to the osteo-arthritis caused by spending 17 hours grinding using a slow, wheel :-)

[OnealWoodworking]

yet you DO have to remember to have your fingers amputated due to the osteo-arthritis caused by spending 17 hours grinding using a slow, wheel :-)

Imagine the poor fools out there trying to sharpen planer blades with just some cobbled together homebrew jig, sandpaper and a flat surface... 

Tormek is a hundred times better than that both speed and quality wise. 

[mark1]

I also had my first experience recently with using the Planer jig, though I used it for 6" jointer knives. Did it take a long time? Yeah, sort of. I can blame myself for much of that because I waited far too long to sharpen them and they were pretty uneven. I fully expect the next sharpening to be much quicker (as long as I don't ignore them again for too long).

As for setup and use of the jig, once you read the pamphlet and understand the concepts, it all just kind of falls into place. I think next time I will be able to do the setup without resorting to the manual - it's that straightforward.

One complaint I do have is that the AngleMaster doesn't work unless the knives are pretty wide. I have Freud knives that are 5/8" wide (standard for my jointer) and the AngleMaster was useless on them. That is something I think could be improved upon.

[Rob]

I think for planar knives you're meant to use the sharpie on the bevel technique.  ie manually spin the wheel to determine if the clean line you've just ground (ie erased the sharpie line) runs all the way across the bevel.  If it does you know your angle adjustment is accurate.  If it's only erasing the sharpie at top or bottom then you need to adjust accordingly.