Shopsmith Forums

Ryan, Shopsmith says that after the width reaches 11/16" the jointer knives should be discarded.

To sharpen, you can use the conical disk with the jointer/plainer sharpening jig sold by Shopsmith or you can use a homemade jig (see Power Tool Woodworking for Everyone) and a grinding wheel. And there are a number of sharpening machines out there that will do the job quite well. Makita makes a nice machine for sharpening blades up to 15" wide.

The video you referenced shows a jig and method that looks like it should do a really good job for dull blades. Using the scary sharp method to remove serious nicks however, likely would be very time consuming.

I scored a refurbed Magna with nice blades delivered from FleaBay for $72 about 4 months ago. So scour the Internet before making that leap. There are plenty out there to be had. Usually they go for about $100 in great clean condition.

i.e.:http://cgi.ebay.com/Shopsmith-4-inch-Jo ... 500wt_1137

Thanks Art,

I just purchased a new set on knives and the jointer manual; not sure if the existing knives are worth saving.

I'll compare them to see.

The sharpening thing is something new for me. I've only used new knives for the planer but would like to sharpen them as well.

I found several references with respect to jointer/planner knives and setting the knives (in no particular order):

http://www.shopsmith.net/forums/showthr ... ght=knives
http://www.shopsmith.net/forums/showpos ... stcount=25
http://www.woodcentral.com/bparticles/k ... ment.shtml
http://www.finewoodworking.com/Workshop ... px?id=5294
http://www.woodshoptips.com/tips/052404/index.htm
http://www.academytips.com/clean_cuts/index16.htm
http://www.shopsmithacademy.com/SS_Arch ... Knives.htm



Thanks again everyone for the help !!
.

Save those old knives and use them to practice your sharpening technique whenever that new set gets dull.

pennview wrote:Save those old knives and use them to practice your sharpening technique whenever that new set gets dull.

Then use them for scraping!