Home Sharpening of Woodslicer BS blade
gpwest | Posted in Power Tools and Machinery on
I have a Woodslicer brand blade on my bandsaw which I use for resawing. It’s starting to lose its sharpness and will need replacing soon. I’m thinking of trying to resharpen it myself. My idea is to mount it on the saw upside down (teeth pointing up) and with a slim rat tail file or maybe even a cone shaped stone in a Dremel tool, put an edge back on the teeth. I wouldn’t try this with a fine tooth blade but this one is about 3 TPI, variable pitch. Has anyone ever tried this with a Woodslicer or with even a carbon steel blade. Any ideas appreciated. GP
Replies
A new high end sawblade costs me about 20 minutes of income. Not cost effective for me.
But if I had a kid working for me, I would give him an electric chain saw sharpening kit modified to suit the saw blade.
I have used a 5/32 diamond Dremel bit. I find the stones lose their diameter to quickly. Not a very cost effective thing to do unless your hourly rate is as cheap as mine! I didn't bother with turning the blade up side down. I got maybe 50% more use out of the blade. This does not address putting 'set' back in the teeth.
I think it would go faster and produce a better edge if you arranged a jig at the proper angle and location for sliding the dremel back and forth. Apply slight downward pressure on the blade with your left hand while holding the Dremel and honing the teeth with your right hand.
My diamond Dremel bits have a constant diameter; i.e. - not cone shaped.
PlaneWood by Mike_in_Katy (maker of fine sawdust!)
PlaneWood
We resharpen blades for our timberharvester bandmill but the set up includes a setting device and costs about $1,500. Considering we pay $20 a blade and buy at a dozen at a time. I can set and sharpen one in about ten minutes so it is cost effective for us. The setting is very important. If you try home sharpening I think you will find it less than a new blade in performance and hardly worth it especially if you do not reset the blade. We usually run a .025" set. As a blade dulls the set usually decreases. So try it and see or you will always wonder.
Gp, I hope you'll give it a try and let us know if there was any improvement. If I could get 50% more life out of $30.00 blade in an hour, I'd do it. Times no problem here.
Ian
FWW had an article in Issue 40 (May/Jun 1983) on making a jig to sharpen bandsaw blades. It involved, among other things, shaping a grinding wheel to the shape of the gullets, so it doesn't seem to be a trivial project. Also, if your blades have hardened teeth, you would need a diamond stone to be able to sharpen them.
Very easy to sharpen these blades. I only sharpen 4 tooth or less , blades with more teeth are not cost efficient. As a previous post mentioned, I also use the Dremel tool with chain saw stone. I remove blade from saw, place in saw vice and grind every other tooth. Then I take blade and bend it inside out and grind remaining teeth.
The Dremel tool should be held at 90* to the blade, the tool angled down just slightly, 5* or so. I usually push the tool back and forth 3 or four times, but always the same amount of times on each tooth.3 times mostly unless I waited to long to sharpen. I use 133" blades and can sharpen the blade better than new in 15 minutes or less. If you do not own a saw vice, rip a 30* bevel on two 1x3 stock , tape the bottom together for a hinge. Place in regular vice with blade gullet about 1/16"or so above the 1x3.
The Dremel stone lasts for one blade , sometimes I can get another half a blade from first stone.I have tried to sharpen on the saw but it is not comfortable for me, much easier to see what I am doing when blade is horizontal.
mike
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