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Terry

I explored sharpening planer blades about 10 years ago 

Two people who sharpen blades replied - Charged $1 and 1.25 per inch

Cost more to sharpen than to buy new

100% agree with Accurate Cutting Tech. If you have disposable blades, yes buy new. Solid blades it’s worth it to sharpen. 

It was considerably cheaper than buying another new set of blades. 

Depending on the planer and its blade design, you can typically regrind a set of blades 2 to 6 times. A light honing you can do much more, and do at home  (see further down).

 I currently keep three sets on hand. That seems to be a suitable maximum. One is in the planer, and over the years I’ve acquired two spares, so even if a dull set is out for sharpening, I still have a spare set on hand. 

As already mentioned, Accurate Sharpening sets up a table at our meetings. If I send my blades out again, they’ll be my choice. 

However, I expect to be sharpening my own, soon. I bought, but haven’t set up yet, a Rikon slow speed  sharpener which is a clone of a Tormek.  

( Note: Rikon sharpener, not grinder. They also make a slow speed grinder, which is much different)

It takes most of the Tormek jigs.  But the Tormek jig for sharpening long planer blades is not a direct fit on the Rikon and I need to modify it.  

If you are planning on sharpening other tools as well, You might also look at Grizzly and Wen, who also make similar sharpeners. All are much less expensive than Tormek, but use similar wheels, in a waterbath, at similar speeds. And they take the Tormek jigs, or their own. I originally bought the Rikon for sharpening lathe tools. The idea of using it for planer blades was an afterthought. 

Meanwhile, I’m looking at the planer blade honing jigs Rockler sells. These appear to be simply a nicer version of a piece of 2x2 with two 45 degree slots in it. I can probably make that, and I’ll probably try. 

The version Rockler sells is a nice hardwood, the slots are brass lined, and they have a row of thumbscrews to hold the blades in these slots. Once the blades are in the jig  it is simply tubbed over a flat piece of fine-grit sandpaper to restore the cutting edge.   It seems like a great idea if you use it before the blades get grossly dull. For three blade sets, you do two at a time. 

Rockler online currently is out of stock, or has discontinued the 12” version.   

Hope this helps

Paul Jacobson

Terry, I am no expert, but i have sharpened planer blades using the technique described by William Ng to good effect. I figured nothing lost if results were poor because the blades were otherwise unusable, but I have been able to use the sharpened blades as if new. I can imagine the suitability of the method would be impacted by the condition of the blades before sharpening, but in my experience even chipped edges can be restored. The basic idea is to fix the blade into an angled saw kerf and run your stone over the edge that barely protrudes from the surface.  Check out Ng’s video: