Sharpening Planner Knives on Lap-Sharp

[George Beck]

Hi

I am considering going back to sharpening my own planner knives. I just can not find a sharpening service that sharpens them the way I like. All they do is grind them like a lawn mower blade. This corse grind makes the edge sharp but it quickly breaks down. I might mention that I prefer the planner wickedly sharp. Years ago I sharpened my own blades on a Makita stone sharpener but found it messy. I have a LapSharp and I like it for lapping the backs of tools and initial grinding of bevels although it is slow.

Has anyone used the LapSharp for their planner knives and if so, does it work and how does it compare to the rotating stone method?

Thanks in advance

George

[Bill White]

Get out the old Makita. I use mine a lot, and it always does a great job.
Bill

[Michael Mayo]

I have a Tormek wet grinder and got the planer knife jig which isn't cheap but it sharpens the 15" planer knives for my DC 380 very nicely. It isn't fast by any means but it is quite accurate and then I use the leather stropping wheel on the Tormek to put a nice polished hone on the newly sharpened edge. I did my knives about a month ago and they are still cutting very clean and i have planed a lot of wood since sharpening them. It takes some serious practice to get used to the Tormek jig but once you get it down it works very well. I always had trouble with sharpening anything with a blade and I tried many different techniques. The Tormek finally gave me the ability to sharpen almost anything accurately and without the need to think about it which was something I needed badly.....i.e. idiot proof. Again it is idiot proof once you learn how to use the machine then it is truly sharpening made easy.

[Kevin Godshall]

Get out the old Makita. I use mine a lot, and it always does a great job.
Bill

+1 on the Makita. Messy? Yes. But it hasn't failed me yet.

[Curt Putnam]

Scott Whiting
Scott's Sharpening Service
5214 West Luke Ave. STE 7
Glendale, AZ 85301

[Anthony Whitesell]

Scott Whiting
Scott's Sharpening Service
5214 West Luke Ave. STE 7
Glendale, AZ 85301

Do you have website for him?