First Stage Complete

keakap · Post by **keakap** » Sat Aug 18, 2012 2:34 pm

[quote="JPG40504"]It is only the addition of a dial indicator to the SS stuff that has caused consternation regarding getting it 'perfect'. For decades, no visual light between a square/straight edge and a surface was AOK!!]

And then there's always... Dept.: before I had my breakdown and ordered all new parts, I didn't have a "no visual light between" situation. There wasn't one straight, unbowed, undipped, unwarped surface or edge in the whole 60 cubic foot of shop space that contained this MV. That includes the tables (esp.!). Imagine someone building a SS Mark V entirely out of cardboard panels, then spraying it down w/ water, letting it sit in the sun for 3 days, then measuring.
Viola!
;-)

emagnet · Post by **emagnet** » Sat Aug 18, 2012 4:38 pm

dusty wrote:Be careful and be critical of your end result. That taper is there for the purpose of holding the blade in place. I shutter to think of the possible consequences - all to avoid buying blades or a proper sharpener.

The point of showing the procedure I used for sharpening the knives was that the belt sander is a proper sharpener. Now, grinding knives from blanks, that's another story. Maybe the belt sander won't be up to the task. Maybe I won't be up to the task. Either way, whatever I produce will not be put into the jointer unless I'm satisfied that it's a correct fit. But, if I can do the job right, I may well end up with superior jointer knives that will hold a finer edge and last longer between resharpenings, depending on what material the blanks are made from. As far as money is concerned, yes, I believe $125 for the Shopsmith approved way of sharpening the blades is excessive when a perfectly good way via the belt sander exists for considerably less. However, I have no problem, whatsoever, spending $25 for a used set of knives on ebay . That might very well be less money than I would have to spend on the blanks. So, believe me, money is not the issue in that case.

emagnet · Post by **emagnet** » Sat Aug 18, 2012 7:50 pm

Took out my trusty bevel protractor and measured a 2 degree taper on the jointer knives. Can anybody either confirm or refute that assertion? And don't tell me to call Shopsmith.

emagnet · Post by **emagnet** » Tue Aug 21, 2012 4:06 pm

The supplier I contacted has responded by telling me that he has jointer knife sized blanks for sale in M-2, M-42, T-15, and V-10. After doing some research, I was impressed with the V-10's capabilities for this application. It has high hardness and exceptional wear resistance. It will go many times longer between resharpenings than M-2. It is supposed to be tough to grind, though, so this could be a the challenge for the Shopsmith ceramic belt. I have purchased some of these blanks and will be attempting to grind them into jointer knives. Anyone interested in the properties of V-10 as it applies to woodworking should read this article:

http://www.woodturnersamerica.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=516:conventional-vs-pm-whats-the-difference&catid=99:jerry-wright&Itemid=149