Replies

1. 
   RickL | Aug 21, 2009 07:26pm | #1

   Carbide lasts 10 times longer but doesn't have as sharp an edge as HSS. 

   Carbide will shatter if you hit a nail.  The better option is to get a steel backed knife with a carbide edge.

   Carbide is great for machining epoxy glue joints and is a must got mineral embedded woods like teak.

   You might also lokk at the Esta Dispoza Knife System...Grizzly carries it as well.

   http://www.estausa.com/self-set.html

   I would get HSS knives. Never buy stock blades that came with the machine. Wisconsin Knife and several others make better knives than are supplied with the machine. Stock knives are never the best quality.

1. 
   philip_r | Aug 21, 2009 11:14pm | #3

   Rick, as usual, you're a stud.

2. 
   xmike | Aug 21, 2009 07:53pm | #2

   I buy hss blades. I like being able to touch them up.
   I keep intending to make the excellent jointer blade sharpening jig that was posted on knotts a year or two ago. It uses the scary-sharp system and looks like the berries.
   I should just go find the article again and do it, since I now have two sets of dull knives sitting around.
   Mike

3. 
   BrianDerr | Aug 23, 2009 08:53am | #4

   My planer/moulder came with 13" HSS blades. Seems like they get small knicks almost immediately after being re-ground, and leave annoying tracks in the work. Of course I can touch them up myself, the same way I could touch up a carbide blade with any of the diamond stones I have around. Carbide blades for this machine are on my to-do list.

   Brian

1. 
   xmike | Aug 25, 2009 12:02am | #5

   Shift two of the three blades a "smidge" to the left (blade two) and right (blade three) to eliminate those annoying little ridges w/o having to resort to changing or sharpening the blades. It works because while one blade is making a little ridge, the next one is cutting it off.
   Mike
   Here's a question. Don't carbide blades get little chips in them as well?
   Mike again

   Edited 8/24/2009 5:04 pm ET by Mike_D

1. 
   BrianDerr | Aug 25, 2009 08:55am | #6

   Thanks, I may have thought of that before, never actually tried it, and forgot until you mentioned it. May or may not be the ultimate solution . . . I'd perfer no knicks at all! I'm sure my next planer will have a helical cutterhead. My jointer has carbide blades and it gets very, very tiny knicks compared to the large tracks my planer leaves. By comparison, you almost have to feel for the jointer's tracks to know they are there. Brian

1. 
   philip_r | Aug 25, 2009 06:08pm | #7

   I have a 10" jointer with SC and, this year, upgraded to a 15" planer with a SC.  Absolutely love it.  It is soooo much nicer than my old lunchbox.

4. 
   JMartinsky | Aug 26, 2009 03:32am | #8

   Dear Spindle,
   When I bought my jointer, I didn't want to do machine work, so I swapped out the cutterhead for a Byrd "Shelix" indexed head. It is one of the few things that I have ever bought that actually performs as advertised. It is not cheap, but I use the machines to make a living and time is money. Benefits include:

   1) Easier feed
   2) Quieter............. much quieter
   3) No blade setting. Wear out an index, rotate it 90 degrees and you are back in business.
   4) The indexes seem to never wear out.

   Best,

   John