Planer Blades

[neatturns]

About how many ski cores are you able to plane before you need to sharpen the blades?

Is Bamboo tougher on the blades than other wood?

thanks

[skidesmond]

I can't speak about bamboo, but I can plane 8-10 boards (hardwood like maple ash) before I notice the blades need sharpening.

[EricW]

Depends on your planer. I bought a Dewalt and have had the blades chip on the second piece of wood through.

[SHIF]

I have the 13" Delta planer but purchase the 12.5" knives that are made for that smaller machine, they fit fine and are half the price (go figure). I shop on ePay and sometimes buy knives labeled Porter Cable, same darn thing.
I can get a full pair of bamboo ski cores shaped using one edge of a pair of planer knives. These are reversable so I actually get two pairs of skis per set of knives.
I learned that making deeper cuts (.030") and running the material through faster (60 cpi) gets the job done quicker, duh, but also seems to get more mileage out of the knives. The planed surface is not super smooth but I get on it with my 4x24 belt sander next to achieve final shape so the planed surface is not so important.
And YES, bamboo is tough on the knives.

-S