X-rated photo - Sharpening a bandsaw blade

Thank you

MikeinCapeMay

>

Re:Sharpening a bandsaw blade *LINK*

Lyn J. Mangiameli

>Great photo and discussion. I first heard about this from Steven Russell and he advocated reproducing the angled bevel for the alternate teeth. Like you, I've never found that necessary to get a sharp blade, and again like you, I don't find I am able to resharpen a blade effectively more that two or three times. That still makes it all financially worth while, with it taking no more time for me than changing a blade.

Only difference from your tools is that I use the LV diamond carving disks mounted to my Dremel. They have a safe edge and never fracture like the Dremel cut off disks. For me, that makes the task less tedious and the disks are a bargain.

Another thing that makes the task easier for me is that I have a Moffat lamp permanently attached to my band saw (Iturra Design sells a version that will swivel horizontally and has the hardware to fit to the top of the post mount on the Delta 14). Attached to that lamp is the fairly cheap Moffat magnifying lense. The combination gives me excellent light and magnification so that I can get a good view of the teeth while grinding. Perhaps not so important for younger eyes, but invaluable for most eyes that have over 50 years on them.

Along with googles or a face mask, I'd also recommend respiratory protection. Particularly with a cutoff wheel, there will be lots of grit strewn into the air, made all the worse becaue most will have their head down close to see.


Diamond cutting disks

Re: X-rated photo - Sharpening a bandsaw blade

Bill Grumbine, Kutztown PA

>Russ, if you swing the Dremel back and forth at the proper rate, you can sharpen the blade while the saw is running, saving a lot of time! Hee hee hee.

(editorial note: I am JOKING) Do not run the bandsaw while sharpening the blade. It is not good for your fingers or the Dremel.

For what it is worth, I can get about 2-4 sharpenings, depending on how heavy my hand is that particular day.

Bill

Re: X-rated photo - Sharpening a bandsaw blade

Jim Pugh, Ohio

>Just food for thought...I have found that by putting two cutoff wheels on the Dremel the wheels are stiffer and much less likely to shatter during bandsaw blade sharpening.

Re: X-rated photo - Sharpening a bandsaw blade

Dave MacLuskie

>Thanks Russ! I'd have never thought of doing this. In the photo the angle makes it look like you are changing the shape of the tooth -- a "flatter" back (more parallel with the main blade body then previously). Is that just an optics trick in the photo?

Re: X-rated photo - Sharpening a bandsaw blade

JamieDonaldson

>Bill G- you neglected to mention that the saw must be running in reverse so that the grinder doesn't hang in the teeth???!!! Here we go again- pro grinder in a closed shop- don't try this at home alone!!!???

Oh sure

Mike Schwing from Md.

>Now that he's not moderator he's posting raunchy x-rated stuff..

Re: X-rated photo - Sharpening a bandsaw blade

Barry Irby

>Has anyone tried shaprening teeth by honing the gullet? Couldn't you use a small round stone in a Dremel similar to the one you use to sharpen a chain saw and touch under the tooth?

How about dueling Dremels? One in each hand?

Barry Irby

Re: X-rated photo - Sharpening a bandsaw blade

john Lucas

>Barry

That's exactly what I did last time I had a problem. I somehow pulled the blade off the wheels and it ran against the metal guard. Dull doesn't even describe what it did to the blade. My blade guy is closed on Sundays so I pulled out the chainsaw sharpening bit, decided what the proper angle would be and sharpened every other tooth at that angle. Then I held the dremel at the opposite angle and sharpened the ones facing the other way.

It cut well enough to finish the job. Most jobs probably wouldn't dull a blade that bad. I'm going to try Russ's technique next time. I can buy blades from my local guy for $6 so I don't usually spend much time sharpening a blade.

Re: X-rated photo - Sharpening a bandsaw blade

Russ Fairfield

>Bandsaw blades are a disposable item. Nobody ever intended for us to be sharpening them when they got dull. Anything we do is an attempt to get a little more life out of something that was made to be thrown away when it got dull.

There are many ways to sharpen a dull bandsaw blade. Is this the best way to do it?? Probably not. We grind on the top of the tooth because it is the easiest thing to do, there is nothing critical about it, we can use a simple tool, and it works. Anything else would require a steady hand or some tooling and jigs to keep the angles right for proper cutting by the saw tooth.

Yes, we should probably be making a pass down across the face of the tooth into the gullet to maintain the tooth profile. That is how the professional saw shop would do it. But, that would require a lot more than a hand-held Dremel tool because the hook angle of the tooth is more important that the top of the tooth. It isn't something I can do free-hand. We should also be resetting the teeth after they are sharpened. Again, that is something that the saw shop would do for us. I am not willing to pay someone to do that for me at a cost that is almost that of a new blade, or invest in the equipment to do it myself.

The question is, how much are we willing to invest to get a little more mileage of of a "throw away" bandsaw blade??

If someone comes up with a better way to do it, there are a lot of us who will be listening.

Re: X-rated photo - Sharpening a bandsaw blade

Barry Irby

>Thanks to both of you. I have not tried to sharpen one but I was considering it when I saw this post. I'm very proficiemt at dulling them and I have the "pack rat" gene. It just kills me to throw one away after a few minutes. In one of Raffan's books there is a picture of him sharpening one on a grinder. Sadi it only took a few minutes and he could get another cycle out of the blade. I use mine for bowl balnks on pretty nacty wood and it seems they don't last long. In another post someone metioned one that lasted two years. I'm thinking, Are you kidding? How about two hours? Perhaps sharpeing one would be suffidient punishment to cause me to be more carefull.

Perhaps I will get out the Dremel and stand and stare at the blade and give it a Hmmm, Top of the tooth or gullet? Then I will hang it on the wall with it's wounded brethern and put on a new one.

Is there such a thing as an unkinkable nail cutting, rock chewing bandsaw blade for bowl blanks? Of course it should turn corners like a cheeta and have a 1/64 kerf and cut so smooth you could lick the off cuts.

Barry Irby

Thanks again.

Barry Irby.

FWIW

Bob Hackett

>That`s the way I always did it on our ship saw when I worked at the yacht yard.

As they say in the infantry"Drive on".

MB

Re: X-rated photo - Sharpening a bandsaw blade

Bill Grumbine, Kutztown PA

>Jamie, that is why you have to get into a really good (and fast!) rythym - so you can keep the blade running in the right direction!

Bill

Lightly, LIGHTLY, touch the back of each tooth

Tom Colligan, Peoria

>How does touching the back of a tooth improve a blade's performance? Tia,

Re: I had the same question.

Ronny Eelen

>

Re: It's a matter of where the most wear occurs.

Al Crandall

>These numbers are not exact, but are for illustrative purposes only. Any cutting edge will cut only if there is some relief directly behind the edge. This is what allows the edge to enter the material being cut. When a cutting edge goes dull, it becomes rolled over or approximates a radius. Touching the back of the tooth to sharpen it works because this rounding over doesn't occur at a uniform rate on all surfaces of the tooth. The wear might move down into the gullet of the tooth .004 but will flatten the relief angle behind the original sharp edge for a distance of .020. The economics of sharpening now become one of two choices. Do you want to remove .020 steel from the gullet to get back to a place on the relief angle of the tooth where it is not worn, while at the same time trying to follow a complex curved profile and risking completely changing the shape of the tooth which was the reason you bought this particular style of blade in the first place? Or do you want to grind away .004 of steel in a simple flat plane by resurfacing the relief angle behind the tooth in order to get down into the gullet beyond the worn area of the tooth?

Re: X-rated photo - Sharpening a bandsaw blade

Don Henthorn

>I may have posted this before. When I had my bandsaw mill that would handle a 48" diameter log 16 1/2' long.









I used to free hand sharpen all my blades. I made a special jig that fastened to my work bench and held about twenty inches of blade in a vertical position with the teeth out beyond the vise section of the jig. I used an electric chain saw sharpener and steadying myself against the bench I could do a pretty good job of lightly following the contour of the gullet and exiting off the tip of the tooth. That was the critical part and took a bit of practice. Once you got the hang of coming off the tip at the correct angle and not veering away from the blade as you came off the tip you could make the blade as sharp as a new one. I could sharpen one of those 1 1/4" blades in about ten minutes. If the teeth needed set I had several hand held saw sets that I used. That added a little more to the time. Of course I was a little younger, a little steadier and could see a heck of a lot better than I do now.(-; Sure wish I hadn't sold that band mill.