I have owned a 6" open stand Jet jointer for a few years now and I finally reached that point where a new set of jointer knives was unavoidable. After calling Jet customer service and learning that it would cost me alot (one might even say a ridiculous amount) to order the knives from them, I turned to Amazon. I soon discovered these Freud knives for about a third as much as Jet wanted for their knives (and half as much as Amazon wanted for Jet brand knives). I ordered, received, and installed them, and so far I have been happy with the purchase. I have jointed a fair amount of nicely figured, quarter sawn white oak and have no complaints so far. I am a big fan of Freud cutting tools and these seem to affirm my feelings.I recommend these to all who want good quality knives at a reasonable price! Freud C350 6-by-5/8-by-1/8-Inch Jointer Knives, 3-Pack
The blades that I received were decent, however, before using them I highly recommend lapping the back side on a Japanese wet stone. The edge as received was curled over from the sharpening process and will lead to a short blade life if they are not lapped before installing.
Installed these knives on my Jet J-60S jointer & am amazed at how much better they cut compared to the Jet knives even when they were new. Half the price and twice as good--in my opinion. Longevity remains to be seen. Great so far!
I received my jointer blades today and noticed the edges are defective on two of the three and even a bit rough on the third. There are small nicks along the edges (slight but noticeable). I am replacing the original Jet knives for this very reason. I have two Jet knives that are quite new, and one badly nicked one, so I took the best Freud knife and simply replaced the Jet with it. It's acceptable I suppose. For the cost, I didn't want to go through the hassle of returning. The difference between the Jet and Freud knives are 5 grams or 1/4 oz. so no biggy as far as balance goes. I wouldn't recommend their purchase!!
Easy to order these through Amazon, for sure, and much cheaper than the Jet. My jointer is a Jet JJ-6CSX. The Freud blades are thicker than the factory blades, and required that the gib screw head be flattened a bit prior to installing the blades. No biggie (a quick trip to the disc sander and Tormek), but the blades won't fit otherwise, at least on my set up. I also honed the burr off the back on an 8000x Norton waterstone. Haven't had them on long enough to tell about wear, etc., but I would assume they would be at least as good as the original product.
I was let down by these jointer knives for two reasons: 1) There is a healthy burr on them which required honing, 2) worse yet the blades have a bow in them, which then require firm pressure to the honing plate to knock down the burr. Otherwise only the ends of the blade back would get cleaned up. In fact there's enough of a burr that the bevel-edge will require honing as well.
Due to the bow in the blades, I'm not sure if my Veritas honing jig will straighten them out to clean up the bevel.
If I wanted to screw around with tuning up knives, why would I have bought new ones?
Hope you have better luck.
Couldn't be happier.
I agree with another reviewer... lap the back a few times on a 5000-8000 grit whetstone before installing. Other then honing, I have run over 4000 BF across these knives before re-sharpening. They hold thier edge well. - Planer Knives - Freud'
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