Sharpening Router Bits

[Mark W Pugh]

How do you guys sharpen your router bits? Any easy way?

Thanks

[glenn bradley]

I just did a bunch of drawer lock joinery on some ply. Plywood is abrasive so the bit I use for this gets touched up more than others, although I touch up fearlessly. Various methods but, over the years I've settled on these. While I have Extra-coarse, coarse and fine, I use coarse and fine only on router bits with fine most often.

I made one of these for holding various round things (shown here with the things I use to sharpen Forstners)

Vise jig for rounds (2)_renamed_11132.jpgVise jig for rounds (1).JPG

and it works for holding my router bits as well.

I also have diamond plates and depending on the profile will use the "hold the bit and slide it along the edge" method (canned image shown).

router-bit-honing.jpg

The important thing here is that you remove material from the flat face. If the beveled edge requires shaping you are better off sending it to the shop as the amount of removal by hand can cause imbalance in use.

[Martin Wasner]

How do you guys sharpen your router bits? Any easy way?

Thanks

I pay the carbide guy $3. It's a fairly straight forward experience.

[scott spencer]

I hone the flat face like Glenn mentioned. An actual resharpening is best done by a pro. Keeping them clean helps keep them sharp!

[Bill Sutherland]

What do you find works best for cleaning?

[scott spencer]

Same thing I do with saw blades.....whatever household degreaser that's handy, spray, short scrub with a toothbrush or brass bristle brush, rinse, dry. Boeshield Blade n Bit works well, but costs a lot more than 409, LA's Totally Awesome, White Lightning, Fantastic, Goo Gone, etc.

[Justin Ludwig]

I pay the carbide guy $3. It's a fairly straight forward experience.

I would call you lazy, but I do the same thing. I don't mess with sharpening anything carbide or tungsten. Only my knives, chisels, and planes.

[Martin Wasner]

I would call you lazy, but I do the same thing. I don't mess with sharpening anything carbide or tungsten. Only my knives, chisels, and planes.

If it took fifteen minutes to sharpen a $25 bit, it'd be a wash for me to just throw it away and grab a new one.