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Planer blades

Started by lynches lumber, October 22, 2012, 07:55:52 PM

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lynches lumber

Ok guys, lets talk planer blades. Ive got a woodmaster 725. I use their blades. They just dont hold up. Ive had the planer since mid summer and have already gone through 3 sets of blades and I only use it for personal use so its not like Im really planning a whole lot. They really seem to nick real easy. They do ok on pine as long as you dont get a loose knot.Oak dulls them in no time. They last a little longer if I take off minimum wood in each pass, but whose got time to take all morning to plane a few boards?  I dont know what type of high speed steel these are made of. Are the carbide blades worth the extra money? Ive been working on a jig to sharpen them but havent got it perfected yet. Enlighten me fellas Im puzzled about what to do.

beenthere

Hardwoods vs. softwoods take different angles ground on the planer blades, from my recollection.

http://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/documnts/usda/tb1267.pdf

But knife quality would also be important.
south central Wisconsin
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

WDH

Make sure that your wood is not dirty or has any sand/soil on it.  That is a killer. 
Woodmizer LT40HDD35, John Deere 2155, Kubota M5-111, Kubota L2501, Nyle L53 Dehumidification Kiln, and a passion for all things with leafs, twigs, and bark.  hamsleyhardwood.com

lynches lumber

Thats some  interesting facts Beenthere. Ive saved that for future reference.WDH the boards are clean. I blow them off good with air hose before they go in the planer. Ive learned how bad sand can be on blades from sawing dirty logs. What I was actually looking for was some input on the quality of different blades. Does anyone know if maybe the woodmaster blades are of lower quality? Should I consider trying blades from some where else? OR is this just the way it is and I need to hurry and get my sharpener perfected?

Larry

I used Freud blades in my Belsaw.  They seemed to give good service on hardwoods.  I looked on Amazon and they had a lot of sizes...maybe you can find some that will fit there.

Larry, making useful and beautiful things out of the most environmental friendly material on the planet.

We need to insure our customers understand the importance of our craft.

lynches lumber

Didnt know Freud handled planer blades. Ill check it out. Thanks, Larry.Do you by any chance know what grade of hss the ones you use are?(m1,m2). Has anyone ever used the ones with 18% tungsten?

Axe Handle Hound

When you say carbide are you talking about the helical cutterhead?  Like WDH said, as long as your lumber is clean they're a good idea.  They run quieter, take less HP, and aren't bothered by really hard woods, but the initial investment is not small.  The nice part is blade changes are pretty simple.  Even if you hit a nail you're really only looking at replacing a few cutters instead of removing and sharpening all three HSS knives. 

lynches lumber

Axe, actually I was talking about regular blades. They make them carbide tipped and solid carbide if Im reading right.From what Ive read the helical heads are nice. Hope to have one someday. Do you use the helical head? If so hows the finish?

woodmills1

buy the relatively inexpensive grizzly blade sharpener, it does a good job on these blade( I have one and a woodmaster and a belsaw)

then you will only complain about how much time you spend setting :D
James Mills,Lovely wife,collect old tools,vacuuming fool,36 bdft/hr,oak paper cutter,ebonic yooper rapper nauga seller, Blue Ox? its not fast, 2 cat family, LT70,edger, 375 bd ft/hr, we like Bob,free heat,no oil 12 years,big splitter, baked stuffed lobster, still cuttin the logs dere IAM

lynches lumber

Woodmills, are you sharpening 25" blades with it ? If so which sharpener is it? Complaining about only one thing could get a little boring. ;D

dchiapin

I have been using American National Knife out of Hickory, N.C.
You can google them and get their website.
I have been very pleased with the quality of the blades and they do last a very long time on my Powermatic 20" planer

Axe Handle Hound

Quote from: lynches lumber on October 23, 2012, 07:24:37 PM
Axe, actually I was talking about regular blades. They make them carbide tipped and solid carbide if Im reading right.From what Ive read the helical heads are nice. Hope to have one someday. Do you use the helical head? If so hows the finish?

I really wish I had, but I don't.  I have done quite a bit of research on them as I tried to talk myself into purchasing one.  Seeing as how I haven't been successful in talking myself into one yet, whenever I have a really nasty, gnarly piece of wood to plane I take it to a local shop that has an Oliver with a helical head and have them run it.  The finish varies with the age of the cutterheads and the depth of cut, just like it does with a HSS knife, but if I catch them on a day when they've just rotated the cutterheads and make sure they understand I don't mind paying more for multiple shallow passes, the cut is great.  Because there's really only a few cutters hitting the board at any one split second in time there's less tearout on tricky grain.  Not to say there's no tearout, that would only occur in a magical world, but it can be significantly less than if using a straight blade.

Busy Beaver Lumber

I must be extremely lucky with blades. I have a small delta planer at home and have literally run hundreds of boards through it and am still on the first edge of the first blade set that came with it. Have not even flipped them over yet and it still cuts like butter and gives me a very nice finish. I plane just about everything from Hickory to Oak and lots of softer woods as well. Do have one little nick in the blade from a staple that i missed in the end of a piece of wood i bought at Lowes 5 years ago, but no big deal as it is almost all the way to the right side, so i just plane on the left. This planer gets a lot of use and I fill a 30 gallon garbage can about once every two weeks with wood shavings coming off of it.

Woodmizer LT-10 10hp
Epilog Mini 18 Laser Engraver with rotary axis
Digital Wood Carver CNC Machine
6 x 10 dump trailer
Grizzly 15in Spiral Cut Surface Planer
Grizzly 6in Spiral Cut Joiner
Twister Firewood Bundler
Jet 10-20 Drum Sander
Jet Bandsaw



Save a tree...eat a beaver!

beenthere

With a nick in the blades, try to move one blade to the side a bit to allow at least one blade to clean up the ridge left by the nicks.
south central Wisconsin
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

woodmills1

I have the very cheap grizzly

good grinder


white wheel  was like $160  when I bought it maybe 17 years ago


yes I do my 24 inch woodmaster knives on it
glad I did the 12 inch belsaw for years first :D
James Mills,Lovely wife,collect old tools,vacuuming fool,36 bdft/hr,oak paper cutter,ebonic yooper rapper nauga seller, Blue Ox? its not fast, 2 cat family, LT70,edger, 375 bd ft/hr, we like Bob,free heat,no oil 12 years,big splitter, baked stuffed lobster, still cuttin the logs dere IAM

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