It might be best to get familiar with its limitations and work within those limits. I'll bet you can do a lot with that little monkey as long as you don't get too ambitious.

I've never used one, but I do have a Mantis tiller. Their stuff seems to be OK for lightweight use but it's not heavy equipment.

Jointer blades might work but they may be too brittle. I don't know, and it certainly won't hurt to try. Maybe a blade meant for a chipper shredder would be better, if you can find one that would fit. Keep us posted.

"and it certainly won't hurt to try"
yeah, unless that brittle blade shatters. Then you're in for some pain.

Personally, I wouldn't mess with it.

OTOH a jointer does very much the same thing as a chipper, that is, it cuts wood, just with more precision. If the blades are 'cheap, thin and don't last', a thicker jointer blade seems less likely to fail. I would not try to use carbide though, only high speed steel.

That's what I was thinking, toxcrusadr. It seems that jointer operation would be fairly demanding on a blade, much more so than chipping very small branches, leaves, and so on. I'll see what I can come up with.

jport, did you ever find a good replacement blade for this chipper?

Without knowing the size of the original blades it's hard for anyone else to recommend a replacement. I found one link that said the steel in the original blades does not hold an edge well. I don't see any replacement blades for sale by Mantis - they don't even list this machine, which confirms the post I referred to above, from 2009, which says the same thing.

http://www.fixya.com/support/t1841168-changing_cutting_blades_mantis_chip_mate

If you don't hear back from the OP here, if you can remove and measure your blades (LxWxthickness) we may be able to recommend something such as a standard jointer blade from a woodworking supply house.

If you have a good sharpening shop for woodworking shop tools (not just a scissors and knife sharpening place, but a real full service sharpener), they can find something, or make it. I know of an industrial sharpening place in KC that can produce any size blade a person might need. Actually they do mail order so that's a possibility.

What's that place in KC called