Planer Knife Sharpening Jig

[rodger.]

I needed to get out to the shop for a little "shop therapy", and decided to make a jig to sharpen my planer knives.

I have a ridgid tp1300 planer, and I really like it - it has been a solid performer for years. The problem is that I cannot get blades for it - even amazon.ca has them as "unavailable". I have one double sided set (dull) and a new double sided set left in the package. I should be able to get a while longer out of this unit before I need to resort to calling ridgid and seeing if they even still manufacture these blades.

Regardless, I did some resarch and came across DIY Tyler's solution on YouTube. I watched his video, which led me to a lumberjocks post that had some measurements.

I made the jig from a solid piece of 8/4 cherry. I cut 45 degree bevels on the sides to give a hand hold, and to allow a space to tap some holes for machine screws. Then I reset the fence and cut the slot at 45 degrees to hold the blades. Next, I tilted my drill press table to 45 degrees and drilled some holes to accept a 10-32 tap.

Sanded it, finished with wipe on poly, and placed the machine screws in. I'll give it a test later this week, but it looks like it will work great. Ill sharpen on various grits of sandpaper attached to a piece of MDF or plate glass.

 

[Chet]

Thats pretty cool Rodger, especially if it works.  Also you might give http://www.ereplacementparts.com a try for your blades.

[Unknown craftsman]

Looks great much nicer than the ones I've made.Soon your planer will have razor blades for knives.

What are you using for flat rub surface?

Aj

[rodger.]

1 minute ago, Unknown craftsman said:

Looks great much nicer than the ones I've made.Soon your planer will have razor blades for knives.

What are you using for flat rub surface?

Aj

I think I'll use some fine grits of sandpaper stuck to some MDF or plate glass (spray adhesive should work just fine).

[Tom King]

I bought one of the jointer knife sharpening jigs from Lee Valley.  I use sandpaper on a granite surface plate.  The first time I used it, I was surprised how fast the knives sharpened.  It really goes along much faster than you would expect.  It should work the same with this jig.  The good thing about a granite surface plate is not only that it's Really flat, but the texture on the surface adheres wet-or-dry sandpaper to it, good enough for shapening, with just a splash of water under the sandpaper.

[rodger.]

1 hour ago, Tom King said:

I bought one of the jointer knife sharpening jigs from Lee Valley.  I use sandpaper on a granite surface plate.  The first time I used it, I was surprised how fast the knives sharpened.  It really goes along much faster than you would expect.  It should work the same with this jig.  The good thing about a granite surface plate is not only that it's Really flat, but the texture on the surface adheres wet-or-dry sandpaper to it, good enough for shapening, with just a splash of water under the sandpaper.

What grits did you use? I was thinking 220, 400, 600.

[wdwerker]

I sharpen the blades for my lunchbox planer on my Tormek with a  planer knife jig that was expensive years ago and is ridiculously expensive now.  But it gets the edge so sharp it's glossy. I think it's worth going as high as 4000-6000 grit at least once. The wood comes out of the planer with a sheen similar to a freshly sharpened hand planes results. There's still a slightly visible planer ripple but virtually no tear out.

[Woodenskye]

Nice work!  You could also use glass, but Tom is right granite is best.  As for knives, I'm not sure if you can buy from infinity cutting tools, and have shipped to Canada but they may carry your knives.  They also have the Duelen version of this jig and have rolls of sandpaper. 

[Ronn W]

Found this on Ebay

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/POWERTEC-128070-13-Inch-HSS-Planer-Knives-for-Ridgid-TP1300-Set-of-2-New-/351412506864?epid=1665265489&hash=item51d1d150f0:g:KXgAAOSwwvZZVcnS