Tool sharpening

[Laurie Brown]

Table saw blades, router bits, drill bits, planer/jointer knives... can/should all these things be sharpened, or should they be replaced when dull? How do you know when a blade/bit/knife is dull enough to need sharpening/replacing, and where do you go to get them sharpened?

[Dewey Torres]

Always try to sharpen before replacement. When wood starts to burn and you can remember the tool cutting much better new, it is time to look at sharpening. Do a search local and see if there is someone who does lots of woodworking stuff. Take them a few things and see how they do before you dropp of your entire shop. If that doesn't work, go with mail order like this one (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=103846):

One other note... sometimes pitch buildup will cause an otherwise sharp tool to cut like a dull one.

[Bruce Shiverdecker]

At the cost of new blades, you should look for a good sharpening service in your area. A good one will sharpen them better that the original factury edge at a lot less. For instance, we have a service here that offers pricing of:

Planer and joiner knives at $1.00/inch. Saw blades are based on the diameter and the number of teeth per inch. Thet averave less than 50% the cost of a new blade.

Hope my opinion helps.

Bruce

[glenn bradley]

As Dewey states, noticeable reduction in cut quality, difficulty in feeding material, outright burning, all these indicate some TLC is required. I change TS blades and router bits several times a day. I give them a visual before they are returned to storage. If I see any build up, I squirt some LA Awesome on a paper towel and wipe it off. Sometimes just a dry brushing with whatever bench brush is handy is adequate. The increase in interval between $harpening$ by taking a moment to clean things up as you go cannot be overemphasized.

If you let things go, sometimes a soaking is required. Remove bearings from bits and oil them after reassembly. If the things are just toast; I replace $5 bits bought during Woodcrafts sales and their like, I sharpen better bits and all blades. The breaking decision on replace or sharpen usually has to do with how cheap they were or what quality and how many sharpenings it has already had. If I got a killer deal on an average bit and can sharpen it for less than new, I sharpen.

[Sonny Edmonds]

I was brought up sharpening my edges. Drill bits had to be hand ground back into a working edge, stainless steel took a different, less aggressive grind. A lot of trial and error, error, error back then.
I'm still one to sharpen my steel myself. I have a collection of sharpening stuff. Some of it is specialized for things like twist drill bits, I have a drill doctor. I got it because I wanted to make split points out of discarded metric drills for my lathe turning.
I invested in a Tormek system for doing chisels. So happens I also got the other jigs and can sharpen my own planer and joiner knives. Even got a sizzors jig and practiced on ever pair of sizzors we had before sharpening the wife's hair cutting sizzors. (You DO NOT want to goof on a $125.00 pair of sizzors!):rolleyes:
I don't do saw blades. I can hand sharpen them with a diamond strop, but I don't. I do use my diamond strops to touch up router bits occasionally.

Sharpening is another skill one needs to learn for the shop. Stuff will get dull. If you can see light glinting back from what should be a sharp edge, it's dull and time to sharpen.
You need to study and understand what the grind was, and follow those angles back to get each edge the same.
Gentle and slow, beats a fast and furious hack job that destroys the geometry of the tool.
If you think it might be dull, it is. Correct that, and you are back to happy woodworking again.

[Tom Adger]

Table saw blades, send them out, to a sharpener you know is good. Drill bits, assuming you are talking twist, as Sonny says, a Drill Doctor does a very good job. Router bits, I use a diamond paddle to touch them up. Jointer and planer knives are each a different story. Jointer blades are shorter, 6" or 8", and can be sharpened yourself. As with any sharp edge, chisel, plane iron, or a jointer blade, first, flatten the back. Use a flat (very flat) piece of wood, double sided tape, and scary sharp with sandpaper. Then make yourself a jig to hold the blades at the right angle, then scary sharp again to do the bevel. You will be amazed at the difference over store bought. As to planer knives, which are at least 12", I don't recommend trying to do them yourself. Send them out, as long as both sides are in good condition, or just buy new ones.

[Dave Bureau]

I just bought a Tormek also. OMG the sharpest tools I have ever seen. get the band aids out. I've done lathe tools, hand chisels, knives and planer blades so far. there are more recent posts in the turners forum. saw blade around here are .35 cents a tooth.

[David Christopher]

Laurie, when sending TS blades out make sure you know the guys work. we sent some TS blades out and when they came back they were sharp but you couldnt cut a strait line no matter what. that guy messed up 10 of our expencive blades. so make sure you know the sharpeners credibility

[Sue Wise]

What do you guys do with Bandsaw blades? Send them out? Do it yourself with a dremel?

[Laurie Brown]

I definitely have no interest in buying even MORE equipment and doing my own sharpening. I can just see the horror caused when I make the attempt with no idea what I'm doing, and ruining expensive blades in the process. No thanks, I'll let the experts do that.

I don't think there's anyone in my local area that I know of that I'd trust to sharpen these. I have a guy in town I'll take things like my hedge trimmers and gardening tools to, but I wouldn't take my saw blades to him.

[Jack Ellis]

For hand planes and chisels, DIY is almost mandatory. Other than sandpaper or abrasive powders, all you need for Scary Sharp is a guide, which could be shop made.

For saw blades, try a mail order place if you don't have a service nearby. I touched up the knives on my 6" planer with a diamond paddle and it seemed to work well. I won't hesitate to do the same with the backs of router bits. I'm not confident enough to do the bevels on jointer knives or the profiles on router bits.

One thing you can do to extend the lives of planer knives, router bits and jointer knives is to take smaller bites.

I clean dirty tools with Simple Green. Don't soak carbide in the stuff, but wipe on, toothbrush crud off, rinse, dry with paper towels. It's cheap, effective, and probably a lot safer for all concerned than oven cleaners.

[Paul Atkins]

Sue, I have sharpened my bandsaw blades when I don't have another and need to cut something now. Usually only the 4 tooth/inch because mine are over 12 feet long and that's a lot of teeth. I use a dremel and a small chainsaw bit and just touch the gullett side for a quick job. It is faster to go to the tool store and get another one if I need, but I now get 100' rolls and weld or silver solder them myself.

[Bruce Wrenn]

For sending blades out to be sharpened, use a "priority mail box" from the post office. Costs less than ten bucks, and you can get about ten blades in one. For sharpeners, I use Dynamic Saw in Buffalo NY (dynamicsaw.com). Their work is second to none, Forrest included, and a heck of a lot cheaper than Forrest.

[Don Orr]

Laurie,

There is a member here on SMC that has a saw/sharpening shop in Glendale, AZ. His name is Scott Whiting. I have never used his service, but rumor has it that he does good work. You can search his name and PM him for contact info. Local is fine if you know their reputation. We had a good shop but they closed.

Good luck and let us know how things work out for future reference.

[Tom Walz]

There is info on this at

http://www.carbideprocessors.com/sawsharpening.htm

[Scott Whiting]

As the last two posters noted a reputable local sharpening service is best. Since sharpening is never done while you wait once the trip to the sharpener gets to be over a half hour each way (2 hours total drive time) it doesn't make much difference whether you use local or mail them off. Local sharpeners are also a good source for cutting tools you can't find in big box stores. Commercial cabinet shops are a good source of reference to find local sharpeners.

[Tom Walz]

That is if you have a local sharpener like Scott Whiting. Some of them are much better than others.

There is a good reaosn people ship blades to Scott.

Tom

Disclaimer:
Scott and I do some business and are members of some of the same professional organizations. However, if he wasn't very good I just wouldn't have said anything.