How much do you pay to sharpen?

[jack duren]

I have some planer blades in need of sharpening. Fastenal wants $2 an inch. I don't remember it being that high as it has been a long time since.

New is a difficult option. What are you paying on planer blades?

[Darcy Warner]

16 bucks for a set of 16" knives, 30 for 30's etc.

[jack duren]

There 13" blades x 3. Not happy.....................

[Dan Hahr]

That's ridiculous. 50 cents an inch is common and that's too high unless they can do it perfectly. You can buy new knives way cheaper.
Dan

[Bill ThompsonNM]

If you have access to Fastenal you probsbly have access toma number of local sharpeners who will do it for less. Sounds like they sub it out so your paying their markup plus the sharpening charge.

[jack duren]

They CNC the saw blades but not the rest. If they CNC the planer blades I wouldn't fuss. I'm going to look at the blades today and see how gouged they are...

[Dave Macy]

Would a local machinist be able to do this? I have a Hitachi P12RA and the blades cost a fortune.

[John TenEyck]

I bought a Grizzly knife grinder and sharpen my J/P knives myself. It's not hard. Blades out, sharpen, back in in about 30 minutes. Not a great option if you are a pro, but for part timers like me it makes sense.

John

[Eric Commarato]

I bought a Makita Wet Grinder that was used made specifically for sharpening jointer and planer blades. Works similar to the one John TenEyck mentions above. My local sharpening guy went out of business...

[Carl Beckett]

Likely not endorsed by everyone, but I made a fixture to put the knives in. Then a friable wheel on the table saw arbor, with the incra jig clamped to the tabletop. Gently pass the knives across the front of the grinding wheel. Index. Repeat. Can do two sets of 3 15 incher knives in about 15 mins.

I have a makita horizontal wet stone, and a lap sharp. Neither work that great if carbide. This tablesaw method is my preferred.

An alternative I saw on here some time ago used a disk in a drill press. The knives pass back and forth under the disk that cut on the face of the wheel/disc.

(yes there is grinding dust).

[Patrick Kane]

Locally I am at $0.50-0.60 an inch. Just had three 12" jointer blade sharpened for $20 total. If it ever goes to $2 an inch, i would probably install a byrd head or start throwing knives out. That is a ridiculous charge.

[Will Boulware]

I'll second the "look around for another sharpener" comments. I just paid $2 an inch for new custom made jointer knives and would be unhappy to pay the same rate just for sharpening...

[Jake Hillestad]

Sounds like they don't actually want the work so they put a crazy number on it. JMO

[Brian Henderson]

I bought a Grizzly knife grinder and sharpen my J/P knives myself. It's not hard. Blades out, sharpen, back in in about 30 minutes. Not a great option if you are a pro, but for part timers like me it makes sense.

John

No, you just have an extra set on hand that's always sharp. If you were sending your blades out to be sharpened, you'd better have an extra set anyhow or your business grinds to a halt.

[Andrew Hughes]

I started sharpening my jointer knifes this past year.Only because the last two places I used could not do what I asked.A straight edge sharpened at 42 degree bevel.
So far so good for me but I'm thinking of getting a scale to make sure they are close to the same weight.
Im open to trying a sharpening service here in California.