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When time comes around I will need to sharpen the planer blade. I was wanting to know how many times I could sharpen these blades before it becomes 'accurate'. Meaning, as I sharpen the blade X times it will get shorter so when I turn the knob it might cut 1/32 less than I want. But I will be doing this by hand so I think that I could do this many times. Edit: This is a 13" thickness planer

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  • This is about a hand plane, right?
    – Raystafarian
    Commented Jan 27, 2017 at 21:35
  • @Raystafarian No, this is a thickness planer. I made a edit for future reference, thank you for asking.
    – Ljk2000
    Commented Jan 28, 2017 at 0:27

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In general, planer blades are adjustable, such that they are repositioned to the original cutting position (protrusion) after sharpening. So the question becomes "How many times can I sharpen my planer blades before I can no longer reposition them properly (or safely)?".

The answer to this depends on at least two things:

  1. How much material you remove when you sharpen the blades.
  2. How much "extra" material the blades have on them to begin with.

If you are merely restoring sharpness to an otherwise good blade, you may be able to remove only say 0.015" (fifteen thousandths). If you need to grind out nicks in the blade, you may need to remove much more.

Some of the newer blades I've seen have very little extra "meat" on them and can perhaps only realistically be sharpened once or twice.

So you'll have to consider your particular situation and see what you think.

Note that the length of the planer blade has no connection to the maximum depth of cut. The planer blade remains stationary in the rotating head regardless of the depth adjustment. Only the infeed positioning is changed by the depth adjustment.

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  • Another thing that can go wrong with multiple sharpenings is that the edge becomes "wobbly", i.e. there has been more material removed from some points than others. Depends on the sharpening technique how easily this happens.
    – jpa
    Commented Jan 27, 2017 at 8:19
  • @scanny I am pretty sure that the planer blades are not adjustable as you say because there are pinholes in the planer head that centers the blade. So with that said I really do not have much meat but still very possible hence I ask. But it helps since it is double sided (sharpened on both sides) .
    – Ljk2000
    Commented Jan 27, 2017 at 12:44
  • @jpa thank you for that helpful comment. I would not have though about that till I would have gotten to sharpening. I will be using a sheet of sandpaper and glue to a board. One side will be like 100 and the other 220. Really did not think of it to far but that was a thought. And another for 400 and 800 etc. I would just hole it with my hand and run it along the sandpaper. What do you think of that? Should work pretty well.
    – Ljk2000
    Commented Jan 27, 2017 at 12:45
  • @Ljk2000 Sounds pretty good, if it is wide enough for the whole blade. Then it only a matter of left side vs. right side balance. Many people use glass sheets for the purpose as they are very flat (more accurate than wood).
    – jpa
    Commented Jan 27, 2017 at 13:11
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    Comments here are getting v. long! But I wanted to caution against attempting to do this by hand. Even a real pro would probably not do try to do this freehand but would use jigging of some sort to ensure even results. This isn't like a plane iron where you can get away with a lot, these are mounted in a fast-spinning head and hitting the wood at high speed, uniformity in the blades is vital to balance and smooth operation.
    – Graphus
    Commented Jan 28, 2017 at 10:05

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