Topic: Sharpening Dewalt 735 Planer Blades

[WoodCrazyLady]

Hello

I'm new to the community and a new Tormek T-8 owner with my first of many questions.

We ordered the Tormek jig to sharpen planer blades. 

Hoping to be able to successfully sharpen the blades on our Dewalt 735 Planer.  We love this planer, but go through blades fast and they are pricey to replace.

Has anybody in the community had success sharpening these blades?  if so, was it relatively easy or is there a learning curve?   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

[Ken S]

Welcome to the forum Wood Crazy Lady. I hesitated to reply because I have not used my lunch box Delta planer in twenty years. However............

This morning my grandson and I were out buying some computer parts. The store was near my local Woodcraft store. While there, I noticed a Dewalt 735 planer like yours on display. I told the sales person about your post. I picked the right sales person; she really knew her planers!

I'm afraid that her answer is not what you are hoping to hear. Dewalt designed the blades to be replaced rather than sharpened. They are sized such that sharpening makes them too small to be usable.Alas, not very cheery news.

She did mention one thing which might interest other readers. 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

[RickKrung]

...snip...
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

...snip...
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

[WoodCrazyLady]

Hi Ken & Rick:

Thanks for replying to my po

Honestly it was wishful thinking to be able to sharpen the Dewalt planer blades.  We had a feeling they would be throw aways.  We might take and old set and give it a go for the heck of it like Rick is going to do. 

Trust me, we will be practicing on some old stuff to get past the learning curve.  These guys on youtube make it all look so easy, but I'm sure it's going to take practice to get the hang of the Tormek.

A fellow at a Tegs store here in Canada told us that you could offset a nicked blade and apparently the blade closet to it will correct the nick to get more life out of the planer blade.  Not really sure if I understand how that is possible, but he says it is.

When the blades are good we love the Dewalt Planer.  Only wish the blades lasted longer

WoodCrazyLady (Michele)

[Ken S]

 WCL,

I wish you and Rick every success in attempting to sharpen your planer blades.In the meantime......

There are ways to stretch the life of your planer blades. You can do much of the work with other tools, reserving your planer for the lighter duty finish cuts. A bandsaw can resaw boards close to final thickness.
The SE-77 square edge jig which came with your T8 has the capability of adding controlled camber to plane blades. A jack or smoothing plane with a blade ground to maximum camber can serve as a roughing plane. With a second blade, it can do double duty. The camber reduces the cutting area, reducing the workload on the planer (you). Roughing planes were traditionally smaller. An old Junior Jack plane (#5 1/4) or a smaller smooth plane (#3) should work well at minimum cost. If budget is not a constraint, there is always the deluxe option of a Lie-Nielsen or Veritas roughing plane.
If you are using rough lumber which may have nails, a metal detector will pay for itself.
I like the idea of sliding one of the blades slightly to misalign the nicks. Not ideal, but practical.
You will want to follow good standard practice of finishing your boards with a few light smoothing cuts with a very sharp, delicately set smooth plane. Whisper thin shavings.

Look at the Tips and techniques topic locked into the top of the Tormek General heading. I am firmly convinced that a3/4” bench chisel is the best learning tool. I have a dozen 3/4” Irwin Blue Chip chisels as learning/sharpening tools. (two or three are plenty). They are good tools at a very reasonable cost. I use them to compare ground surfaces. One side effect of learning this way is having very sharp chisels!

Keep us posted; that's how we all learn.

Ken

[WoodCrazyLady]

Hi Ken:

Thanks for the advice. 

My husband and I just got the woodworking bug last November.  We've spent a small fortune on tools, but a long ways from having them all.   We don't have much in hand tools at the moment.  Part of our problem is lack of knowledge.  We don't want to purchase junk, but don't have a flowing bank account either.

We picked up a nice looking Stanley Bailey plane at an auction.  It's an older one, but looks like it's in good condition.  I think it's a #4 smoothing plane.  Now that we have the Tormek, we're going to try sharpening it.

We do only take small bits at a time with our dewalt planer.  Kind of scared to take any more. 

Any advice is extremely helpful.   We have lots to learn.   Spend most evenings watching youtube on the subject.

[Ken S]

Hi, CWL.

You two can go far with an old Stanley #4 smooth plane. Treat it well, tune it, and keep it sharp. It will serve your grandchildren well. (My "new" one was purchased by my grandfather in the 1930s. My older one was made in 1909.) Ernie Conover and Chris Swartz are my two favorite plane gurus. They are both worth googling.

The #4 is the traditional smoothing plane. It is the last plane used and designed to make very fine shavings (around .001”). It leaves a very smooth, burnished finish. Traditionally, the inside of drawers were smoothed with a plane and the burnished finish left unfinished to avoid oders from finishes.

I watched Ernie tune and sharpen a plane. He then did some amazing planing with the original blade. All of my old Stanleys still have the original blades. Don't be in a rush to "upgrade" with a premium blade and chip breaker. Nothing against them; just don't sell a good original blade short. Learn how to do David Charlesworth's ruler trick instead of spending a long time working on the back.

I trust woodworking will prove a very enjoyable shared activity for you and your husband.

Ken

[Even]

Hello.
I have sharpened many planer blades, I do not know if any of them are to Dewalt 735, but at least very similar.
After what I find of information about the size of the blades it should be no problem and grind it with the SVH-320.

Even

[WoodCrazyLady]

Thanks for the advice.  We will give that a go.  Sounds like you know what you're taking  about.

[rose]

any friend sharpening Dewalt 735 Planer Blades ?
i with Dewalt 735 Planer Blades need sharpening now.
thanks tormek help me.

[RickKrung]

This thread is approaching two years old.  I've not tried sharpening any blades from my 735.  So far, just put in a new set and used the machine now and then.  My usage is lighter duty and infrequent, so that has worked.  I'm very likely to replace the whole cutter head with a helical, carbide insert populated head if I get to using it enough to be frustrated by the current blades. 

Rick