Planer/Jointer Blade Sharpening Guide

[dusty]

I just finished sharpening my planer and jointer blades. The sharpening guide, in conjunction with the conical disk, works fine. I was looking around for something else to sharpen.

There are two observations I made.

1) The sharpening guide has three nylon or plastic buttons that are there to provide a smooth ride along the rip fence. They work fine but they also come out very easily. They travel right along the edge of a t-slot in the rip fence. It is very easy to snag one on the t-slot and pull it out. I did that; fortunately, I noticed before I messed up a planer knife.

2) There are two spring washers in the sharpening guide. These must be positioned very carefully. If not, they can be located under the knives and throw off alignment of the knifes in the guide.

Both are minor issues until one fails to pay close attention and then they could be very irritating.
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Making Sawdust Safely

[Bruce]

Dusty,
Thanks for the heads up. I don't have the 520 fence yet, so the t slot is not a problem for me yet. I don't remember the spring washers, so I'll get my guide out and re-familiarize myself with it. Thanks again.

[charlese]

Dusty, I think you have the answer to the sloping planner blades. Check out my entry on 2/09/07. My guess is the spring washers can force the blade out toward the snading disk.
Charlese:)

[dusty]

There are two spring washers but there are three bolts with wing nuts. The spring washers are on the two outside bolts (left and right ends).

If you are sharpening a planer blade and both washers are out of place you may not experience a problem. If only one washer is out of place it seems the knife would be high on one end by the thickness of the washer. The washer is thicker than the intended depth of cut when resharpening.

If you are doing jointer blades, all three at once the possibilities are numerous. It is possible that no two knives would be ground the same.

I am tempted to remove the spring washers but have not done so simply because I trust they have a specific purpose. I do wonder why they are so large which is what makes their positioning so unpredictable.
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Making Sawdust Safely

[charlese]

Dusty - Doesn't look like you are going to get an answer concerning the washers! Yes I agree! The spring washers (part No. 516210) are too wide to acomidate easy loading of knives. As I surmise, the function of the spring washers is to raise the clamp. (See page 4 - Number 8 in the instructions.

I have found that I can avoid the hang-up by: Prior to loading the knives, loosen the wing nuts and turn the whole sharpening guide jig on its back and rap it on a wooden surface. You can make the spring washers disappear under the clamp.

The illustration -figure 5 - on page 5 infers the washers have a thickness that levels the clamp. That is not true! When tightening the clamp onto knives the washer has effectively no height. The clamp closes on the knives before fully compressing the washers.

Perhaps we can find spring washer of a lesser diameter at the hardware store!

[charlese]

Here is two easy fixes for the planer/jointer knife sharpening guide. I think replacing the spring washers will put an end to rounded off planer blades and straighter sharpening for planer blades.

First -- replace the 10mm spring washers that are included with the guide. Use 7mm spring washers instead of the original ones. You will find the knives easily slide in the slot between the base and the clamp and stay abutted to the base of the guide. No more removing the entire clamp and fitting the knives under the spring washers. Funny thing -- With the 7mm washers the closed clamp with blades installed looks just like the figure 5 on page 5 of the instructions. With the origional washers, the clamp was slanted when tightened down.

(5mm washers are too small to fit over the bolts -- 6mm washers will work, but don't raise the clamp back up very well. Sounds like "The Three Bears" - the 7mm washers are just right!!)

Second -- Put a drop of Lock tight on the headless screws that hold the wing nuts. This will put an end to reaching for that small slotted screwdriver.

[dusty]

It worked before but now it really feels right and looks right. Those oversized spring washers were just in the way.

Thank you for sticking with this. I had given up, at least for the time being. I got both sets of blades resharpened and was no longer pressed for the correct solution.

I have been really surprised by the silence on this one, especially from Shopsmith.

Thanks Again Chuck.
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Making Sawdust Safely

[Bruce]

Sounds like Shopsmith let a bad bunch of washers out the door.

[dusty]

Actually, we don't know whether the spring washers that were there originally are correct or not. We have no way to confirm that without some feed back from Shopsmith.

The spring washers are just larger than seems appropriate. By replacing them with smaller (in diameter) spring washers they no longer protrude out from under the hold down bar and can no longer interfere with the knives seating properly.

This is one of those situations where "it just doesn't feel right so don't do it". The design engineer may have a reason for the larger washers but it isn't obvious. In the absense of comment, the washers have been replaced and the sharpening guide "seems" to work fine.

[beeg]

Bringing it UP FRONT for Dusty.