Planer Knife Sharpening Jig Caution.

[doug45601]

JUST SO YOU KNOW, I was attempting to do a little sharpening of my planer blades with the Shopsmith Knife Sharpening Jig 555471 and happened to notice that there are 2 spring washers under the clamp down assy. Their purpose is to spring open the the clamp down piece just enough to insert the knives. What I noticed is that these washers are larger then the studs they fit over and with the “slop” of these washers they have a tendency to interfere with the knife properly “seating” in the jig. They stick out between the base of the fixture and the clamp down assy and the knife edge will rest on them rather then being fully seated into the groove.

Before tightening the 3 wing nut down on the blade, check that the knife edge (back) is seated correctly and not resting on these washers.

This issue could be totally prevented with the use of smaller washers, ones that fit over the stud properly which would eliminate the “slop”, preventing the washer from shifting towards the knife groove.

If you use this Jig, check your knife “seating” before you grind or you may mess up your planer knives.

This may have already been addressed but I could not find it in the search..:eek:

[shydragon]

I noticed the same thing when sharpening the jointer knives. I noticed it before I actually started sharpening.

[doug45601]

OK, Admin can kill this post.... I see that Dusty has already brought this up in a previous post in another section of the forum and my post is redundent.;)

See it here: http://www.shopsmith.net/forums/showthread.htm?t=284

[dusty]

OK, Admin can kill this post.... I see that Dusty has already brought this up in a previous post in another section of the forum and my post is redundent.;)

I didn't do that, Doug. I don't know how to retrieve old threads and make them reappear like that. In fact, I was searching for that thread and could not find it.

I am also looking for one that was posted by I believe Ed in Tampa/Nick regarding table flatness and can not find it.

In this war between me and the computer, the computer wins (and I give up).

[reible]

Off topic but this one:

http://www.shopsmith.net/forums/showthread.htm?p=761#post761

Ed

I didn't do that, Doug. I don't know how to retrieve old threads and make them reappear like that. In fact, I was searching for that thread and could not find it.

I am also looking for one that was posted by I believe Ed in Tampa/Nick regarding table flatness and can not find it.

In this war between me and the computer, the computer wins (and I give up).

[doug45601]

Not a biggie Dusty... I just was unable to find any historical data on this issue and just wanted to point it out for others. I know that there are lots of people out there who have yet to experience some of these issues. Also, there are many who have little experience in a technical background to understand some of the things we take for granted.

My eduication in technical fields with hands-on experiences has led me to be un-assuming in most everything that looks and should be obvious. Even today there are many people who have no idea how a light bulb works!

What's important is that "our" (all of us) experiences and knowledge gets shared and passed along.

At least we can be assured others are getting the message no matter if it's repeated or written in different terms. someone will read it..

[james.miller]

I would suspect that one or more of the washers are upside down. The cupped side goes up otherwise the edge of the washer will stick down and catch the knife.

[charlese]

Hi Jim! These spring washers are the same upside down as they are before turning them over. It's a physics law. Or perhaps its one of Murphy's other laws. Believe me, I too, turned them over before I realized this fact. It is kinda like installing a fan propeller backward to get it to blow backwards - it just can't be done. Now I know you are going to try this, but don't be surprised! I was, and had to say Duhh!

You could instead rotate the washers 90 degrees to get the effect you want, but to keep them that way is really tough!:mad: They rotate back very easily!

The jig works very much better, in fact perfectly, with the smaller 7mm washers.