recommendation for local blade sharpening service

[Col]

Hi,
Does anyone have a local (Romsey, Hampshire) recommendation for sharpening planer/thicknesser blades please?
I found a couple of places searching online (Havant, Eastleigh) but if there's one you've used and can recommend then that would be preferred to choosing one at random ... thanks, Colin

 

[custard]

The best is Leitz just outside Winchester. They're the best, which is why premiere local woodworking businesses from Barnsley Workshops to Cimitree all use them, they're not however the cheapest!

 

[Ttrees]

Steve Maskery, from this parish does a video on the subject
you just need a tablesaw to cut the angles ...
Doesn't look too difficult,
I wonder if anyone has done similar with 3 blades using wedges or whatever ?
worth a shot ?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIBKp9_hWLo

 

[Col]

Ttrees - thanks for the pointer. I've avoided investing in a table saw (space and safety) but could probably make it another way. The comments to the video suggest a process for 3 blades (sharpening equally in pairs - so three passes). Definitely useful for honing but I think my blades have probably gone too far this time and need professionally sharpening (trouble with gritty reclaimed victorian floor boards and failing to spot a few nails as well!) ... Colin

Steve Maskery, from this parish does a video on the subject
you just need a tablesaw to cut the angles ...
Doesn't look too difficult,
I wonder if anyone has done similar with 3 blades using wedges or whatever ?
worth a shot ?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIBKp9_hWLo

 

[Ttrees]

You can get really expensive sandpaper for the job ...
I've seen some in homebase ..I expect this stuff is way faster than regular wet and dry ?
This is about the only thing I could think of using it for at that price :shock:

 

[Myfordman]

I use sawtech in Eastleigh. Very happy with them.

 

[Eric The Viking]

We have a branch of Leitz Tooling in Bristol, and they are brilliant.

You can spend a long time doing it yourself, and risk mucking it up, or you can get a pro to do it to "known-goodness". I do my own hand tools, obviously; I may yet attempt a bandsaw blade; but the circular blades and the knives (when thoroughly worn) go to Leitz.

I'm the proud owner of one of Mr. Maskery's honing guides, and it's brilliant for the purpoe he designed it for. But I have one set of planer knives that was "sharpened," either with a with a lump of granite off the roadside or something intended for scythes in a BBC period drama. That pair is going to Leitz, as will any of the others that gets nicked by a lump of metal.

In passing, I also have a planer knife jig for my "Tormekkalike" wet grinder, somewhere. I'm sure, in some universe somewhere, somebody has got the system to work well (for planer knives), but in my system there are just too many variables I can't easily control to get a pair of knives ground identically and well.

I don't mean honed: Steve's jig is brilliant for that. It's the complete regrind of a pair of damaged knives that's too hard to do by hand - you need the consistency of expensive machines. Given that properly ground blades transform the performance of otherwise average machines, Leitz are very good value.

E.

 

[Ttrees]

I had in my mind two jigs, one for the initial bevel ...
And one for the microbevel ...
Maybe one for a backbevel too ....that's another story though .
I have a feeling that sandpaper is good stuff ...it's about 20 quid for about a meter in homebase.
It must be fast ...maybe not 20x times ..but faster than sending them away.

I will be looking these brands up online when I do get a planer/thicknesser or whatever ...
I would be trying to make a jig for this too ...for the three blades ...
maybe some screwed inserts for adjustability too ...This can't be that difficult ...

So..... has anyone used these sandpapers I'm on about ?

 

[Jamesc]

Has anyone any experience with Applby Woodturnings Ltd? I have just received an email from them offering to sharpen any circular saw blade for £8.95. I presume you would have to add on postage costs.
It seems a good deal if they do a good job.

James

 

[Eric The Viking]

Has anyone any experience with Applby Woodturnings Ltd? I have just received an email from them offering to sharpen any circular saw blade for £8.95. I presume you would have to add on postage costs.
It seems a good deal if they do a good job.

No idea about their sharpening service but I bought two sets of planer knives from them which were (a) not expensive and (b) good quality. they were nice people to deal with, and I shall use them again when I need to. They have been on the forum occasionally in the past.

I'd say it's a very good deal if they do a good job. I'd ring them and enquire about it first, I think, and package your blade carefully - say two bits of ply or hardboard with a bolt through the middle, so the blade is kept safe on both journeys.

 

[Jamesc]

Thanks Eric, I think I will give them a try

James

 

[Col]

Hi Eric - agree with your concerns about diy on damaged baldes. Per Custard's earlier recommendation I've already contacted the nearest Leitz service centre since the blades are beyond honinig ... Thanks Colin

We have a branch of Leitz Tooling in Bristol, and they are brilliant.

You can spend a long time doing it yourself, and risk mucking it up, or you can get a pro to do it to "known-goodness". I do my own hand tools, obviously; I may yet attempt a bandsaw blade; but the circular blades and the knives (when thoroughly worn) go to Leitz.

I'm the proud owner of one of Mr. Maskery's honing guides, and it's brilliant for the purpoe he designed it for. But I have one set of planer knives that was "sharpened," either with a with a lump of granite off the roadside or something intended for scythes in a BBC period drama. That pair is going to Leitz, as will any of the others that gets nicked by a lump of metal.

In passing, I also have a planer knife jig for my "Tormekkalike" wet grinder, somewhere. I'm sure, in some universe somewhere, somebody has got the system to work well (for planer knives), but in my system there are just too many variables I can't easily control to get a pair of knives ground identically and well.

I don't mean honed: Steve's jig is brilliant for that. It's the complete regrind of a pair of damaged knives that's too hard to do by hand - you need the consistency of expensive machines. Given that properly ground blades transform the performance of otherwise average machines, Leitz are very good value.

E.