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These blades are so thin that I'm wondering if they can have a secondary bevel put on them?
Thanks in advance for your help.
WoodCrazyLady
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Apparently, whatever is left of Delta no longer makes replacement blades for its throw away blade planers. Woodcraft has a connection with the third party who now makes these blades available. Their stores stock these blades. The customer needs to know the model number of his/her planer.
Sorry to be the bearer of bad tidings. I hope other replies will be more helpful.
Ken
Ken,
Yes, not good news. I have the DeWalt 735 planer and have dulled my first set of edges and was close to removing them to be sharpened on my T8. The blades are two sided, so all I really have to do is turn them around, but... I have a second set as well, that came with the planer when new (last June), and when I looked at them last year under magnification I could see there is already a secondary bevel. It is very narrow, which partly gave me some hope that they could be sharpened. As one who often has to be shown something, I am likely to try sharpening them. If it does't work, they are throw away anyway, right. I'll report to the group what I find.
I'm a little confused by parts of your post. You mention having an old Delta planer, but also mention having talked to the Woodcraft person. But then you mention the bit about the third party making blades for a planer. But it isn't clear to me if they are making blades for a Delta or a DeWalt.
In regard to Michele's inquiry, being a new Tormek owner/user and her interest in sharpening these planer blades, I would recommend gaining some experience sharpening other stuff before tackling the planer blades. It takes a while to get the feel of the Tormek. Given your needs, I would recommend starting with chisels, as Ken frequently recommends. Then work with some hand plane blades, which of course are slightly wider than chisels, but it would give you some valuable experience with edges similar to the planer blades you want to work with. Practice putting secondary bevels on the plane blades. I think sharpening knives won't help that much directly with the planer blades, but I think the more practice you get the better and you must have some knives that need sharpening. But there also, it is usually prudent to practice with some junk knives from thrift stores before ruining your good knives (ask me how I know... ).
From the sound of things, if the blades can be sharpening, I think it will only be possible with taking off the least amount of steel, which means at least two things to me: 1) it will likely not work with blades that have nicks (which mine do), so take them out and sharpened them before they get nicked, and 2) practice taking off the least amount possible to get a new edge, which is where the practice with chisels and plane blades will help.
This all sparks some curiosity in me to explore the innards of my DeWalt, how the blades are mounted, is there any adjustment for blade engagement that might allow for minimal sharpening, at least, and if there is anything else discoverable by getting in there and looking. But, I'm away from home for at least a few more days, so I can't do much just now.
Rick
