Sharpening table saw blades

[Pat Barry]

What does it take to sharpen table saw blades in your shop? Are there some simple jigs or tools to accomplish this? What if you wanted to do this - what would it cost to get started? Does anyone have experience?

[John McClanahan]

For expensive blades I would send them to an expert. For run of the mill blades, Harbor Freight sells a saw blade sharpener for $49.95 that doesn't do too bad. You have to set it up by eye, as there are few setup marks. I have one, and I would say it has paid for itself.

[Bruce Wrenn]

Half a million dollar Walter's Five axis grinder and about ten years of experience will get the job done. Oh yeah, you will need three phase power. For what Dynamic saw (dynamicsaw.com) does my blades, I couldn't even think about sharpening a blade unless it's a hand saw.

[Pat Barry]

Thanks for the tip. I also see another one that might be a bit more expensive from Universal Sharpener. Anyone have experience with that unit?

I see that the Universal Sharpener costs about $1800. Thats a lot less than half a million but slightly out of budget. Maybe the Harbor Freight unit??

[Phil Thien]

I think the HF unit is worthless. The "cup" that came with mine is nothing more than a rather aggressive diamond blade you might use to cut tile.

[Van Huskey]

Half a million dollar Walter's Five axis grinder and about ten years of experience will get the job done. Oh yeah, you will need three phase power. For what Dynamic saw (dynamicsaw.com) does my blades, I couldn't even think about sharpening a blade unless it's a hand saw.

+1

I understand the idea of saving money but I don't think one can. I bet doing it "at home" would cut the number of sharpenings in half. I am all for DIY stuff but if you spend a little time educating yourself about the complex shapes of modern saw teeth and how small changes in those shapes drastically change the efficacy of the blade having it professionally done makes more and more sense. If it is designed as an exercise in learning more about saw tooth geometry that is a whole different story, but if it is an attempt and "gaming the system" and saving money, I don't think it is gonna happen.

[Pat Barry]

It can't be all that complicated to do this for ordinary saw blades can it? I found a video on-line of a guy doing it who claimed he had 30 years experience and he didn't have any computerized equipment, just a couple dedicated grinding setups. What am I missing? Now, I should add, I'm not a professional woodworker with a large shop, just a weekend warrior with a bunch of saw blades needing a tune-up.

[Van Huskey]

It can't be all that complicated to do this for ordinary saw blades can it? .

Modern saw blade's tip geometry has gotten VERY complex and requires VERY tight tolerances in sharpening to retain the quality of cut we initially pay for. Again if it is just a learning experince then go for it, if you want blades that cut well, like they did when new, just pay a company with MILLIONS of dollars of equipment to do the job correctly. Some of the equipment to sharpen modern blades correctly: http://www.cookssharpening.com/id3.html BTW that web site has a coupon for a free sharpening.


An analogy is car tire balancing, the guy that was the best in the world 30 years ago with a passive balancing machine couldn't get close to what someone can do with a few month training and a Hunter Road Force 9700, I pick my tire stores partially by the machines they use, a blade sharpener should be picked the same way.

[John McClanahan]

Somewhere between "simple jigs and tools" and an $1800 sharpener, I got lost.

[Jeff Duncan]

Make sure your comparing apples to apples! Back in the day blades were made out of HSS, which is much easier to grind, and depending on the type of blade probably had fairly simple grinds. Newer blades are usually carbide tipped, much, much harder to grind, requires special wheels to do it, and is also probably not a good dust to be breathing.

Take a close look at a newer good quality carbide blade and you'll see many different angles. There's a grind angle for the bottom of the tooth. Another angle for the top of the tooth, and depending on the blade possibly 3 different angles for the top of the tooth. Then there's the sides of the teeth. So at a minimum 3 different grinding setups for a single blade, and possibly many more again depending on the type of blade. Then of course there's the ability to very precisely set the grinding wheel to the tooth each and every time and possibly have to account for the small amount of wear the grinding wheel. Repeatable precision like this is going to be tough to accomplish without a significant outlay of money and time.....ie probably not a harbor freight type of thing

So compare that to taking a blade to the local outfit that charges say $15 or so....it's probably a goose chase. Unless your blades are all HSS which could be a different story.

good luck,
JeffD

[Neil Brooks]

My first thought is ... if you decide to play the home game ... talk to a local framer or two who has blades that they're DONE with, and might otherwise throw away.

Practice on something that doesn't matter, if you trash it

[Tom Walz]

A pro shop will also check for flatness and replace teeth as well as correct tension issues.

Tom

[shane lyall]

I bought one of those from HF a year or so ago just to try it out between projects. It did ok on some 7.5 HSS baldes and an old plate joiner blade. I think I may have tried it on an old miter saw blade as well IIRC. I played with it a time or two and put it away.

Think about it this way, one wrong grind could destroy a $100+ blade. I send mine out.

[Van Huskey]

A pro shop will also check for flatness and replace teeth as well as correct tension issues.

Tom

Tom, I can only assume you didn't have much time to post. I expected you to wax poetic about the complexities of sharpening cabide TS blades...

[glenn bradley]

Modern saw blade's tip geometry has gotten VERY complex and requires VERY tight tolerances in sharpening to retain the quality of cut we initially pay for.

I can't agree with this enough. Anyone who has had an average sharpening job and then had a good one can testify to the impact that an improper geometry can bring to a cutter's performance.