Planer Blades

HSS (High Speed Steel) planer blades  are made of high hardness alloy steel, high temperature resistance and good toughness, suitable for general wood or softwood processing, initial cost is low but easy to wear, need to be sharpened frequently; TCT (Tungsten Carbide Tipped) planer knives are embedded with super-hard tungsten carbide tip on the steel body, extremely wear-resistant, especially suitable for hardwoods, high loads or long time operation, although the price is higher and the tip of the knives is more brittle (easy to chipping when encountering nails), but the service life is significantly longer. However, the service life is significantly longer and suitable for professional scenarios.

There are four main types of planer heads: First, the traditional straight blade planer head, cutting by 2-4 parallel blades, low cost but noisy and prone to wood grain tearing; Second, the spiral/beveled tooth planer head, which arranges the small square or round tungsten carbide blades in a helical line, which makes the cutting quieter and the wood surface smoother, and the blades can be replaced individually; Third, the split modular planer head, which reduces the maintenance cost through the combined structure; Fourth, the double-sided Disposable blade planer head, the blades can be reversed, but need to be replaced directly after exhaustion, suitable for short-term economic needs.

The cost-effectiveness of sharpening depends on the blade material and the degree of wear. High-speed steel (HSS) blade if only passivation without gap, grinding or send repair  can significantly reduce costs; and tungsten steel (TCT) blade if the edge chipped, usually need professional equipment to repair or replace the blade, the cost of a single higher, but high-end blades are still worth maintaining. Overall recommendation: give priority to sharpening high-quality blades, and replace cheap blades directly with new ones, which is more cost-effective.