Bandsaw question

[Tim McClelland]

I have a small Rikon bandsaw which I recently used to make cuts on some laminate flooring I was installing. Needless to say my saw is now very dull in spite of the fact that the blade was fairly new (67.5 inch blade). Is there any way and/or is it worth trying to sharpen it or should I just buy a new one. I make mostly small cuts on things such as pen blanks etc.:confused:

[Jeff Nicol]

Tim, I take my dremel tool with a flex shaft and find a small diamond or regular grinding stone that fits the gullet on the blade. Then I start at the weld and work my way around the blade until I have touched every tooth. Use a light touch and watch the direction of the set of the blade. Most are left/right/straight repeating. It gets a bit tedious but unless you hit some metal with it I have sharpened some blades 3 times before they loose to much set. GIve it a try you have nothing to loose!

Jeff

[David Christopher]

Tim, just buy a new one...its not worth the time and effort to even attempt to sharpen the old one.....some blades dull fairly quick and others last a long time...I use timber wolf blades and they seam to last a good while

[David Christopher]

I guess Jeff sharpens his, I never took the time, just chunked them when they got dull....maybe Ill have to give it a try

[Richard Madison]

Tim,
If it hasn't been said before, Welcome to the forum and glad you are here.

If you are relatively young and have more time than money, it might be good to give Jeff's sharpening method a try. If the blade in question is the original that came with the saw, might be better to just buy a new one. OEM blades supplied with new bandsaws tend to be of inferior quality. As mentioned Timberwolf is considered a good brand.

[Bernie Weishapl]

My bandsaw had the OEM blade and dulled quickly. I tried the sharpening thing and it didn't last long. Put a timberwolf blade on and haven't looked back.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Tim - Welcome to the Creek

I have used Timberwolf and Olson blades for cutting turning blanks and find that just about anything was better than what originally came on the saw! I know you can sharpen your blade - as Jeff suggested - but I would advise getting a new 'quality' blade as they are not that expensive.

Best of luck with it!

Now that you figured out how to post - we all look forward to seeing some of your turnings!

[Tim McClelland]

Thanks for the welcome guys and for all the advice and suggestions.
I am going to try the sharp[ening thing as I have nothing to lose. The blade is a Timberwolf that I picked up at Woodcraft. The OEM lasted me a good time but I put a twist in it and had to replace it. I am looking forward to getting this done. Then I can figure out how to post pictures and perhaps show you some of my stuff.:)

[Norm Zax]

Depends on where u live but near by to me there's a blade sharpener. A bandsaw blade will go into his automatic machine for about 12 minutes and cost me just over 10 usd. Worth asking around. A new blade is always better.

[Steve Trauthwein]

I am not young, but I do have more time than money. What I found is I can sharpen a blade faster than I can go buy one. It seems to me that when I need something sharp it is right now and not a day from now. I usually get three sharpenings from a blade. I use the timber wolf blades also.

Regards, Steve

[Jake Helmboldt]

I haven't given sharpening a try yet (but I'm about to on one of my 3/4" using a round file). I figure it probably won't take much more time than actually changing the thing out when all is sadi and done.

I might not have the same opinion once I've tried it a time or two, but I hate changing BS blades.

[Richard Bell CA]

Tim:

If I was only using the bandsaw for occasional cutting, or needed it for very accurate resawing, I would be tempted to simply replace the blade. However, if you go through a number of blades for rough cutting (as I do) then sharpening may be an option to consider.

I tried a couple sharpening methods. Richard Raffan, in his book "Turned-Bowl Design" shows how to grind the tops of the teeth on a standard bench grinder. I prefer to sharpen the gullet instead (similar to the method described by Jeff Nicol above, except I grind all teeth straight across). A good way to hold the blade is an old hand saw sharpening vise as shown in the pictures. It clamps to the edge of the workbench when needed, and securely holds 10" of length (the blade shown is a 1" wide 2TPI). It is also tightened with a cam lever, so the blade can be advanced very quickly. There are also many designs for wooden shop made vises.
Lee Valley sells three different sizes of diamond chain saw burrs at a reasonable price ($5.99 for a set of three) that work quite well for this as well as sharpening chain saws. I turn the blade inside out so the rotation pulls the burr into the gullet rather than riding out the top - much easier to control (don't forget to flip it back!). A bright light and magnifier help for those of us with diminishing vision.

As previously stated above, you have nothing to lose by trying it.

Good luck!

Richard

[Reed Gray]

A good blade is worth resharpening if you can find some one who can do a good job. I use the Lennox bimetal blades, 96 inch for my small saw, and 150 inch for my big saw. I take them in about 5 or more at a time, and the bill is usually $30. Not worth me even trying it myself, and they do a much better job.
robo hippy

[Jeff Nicol]

When I sharpen mine l leave it right on the saw and just work my way around the blade. This way it is tight and the guides help keep it where I want it. I start in the gullet and go out to the point then just follow from that point to the next through the qullet and on and on! I use a very fine diamond bit in the flexshaft and I have it on a pretty slow speed. If you have the speed to fast you risk the chance of grinding away to much to fast and that is not good. Like I said earlier light cuts and a good light to let you see where you are at. Maybe even a magnifing light would help. I did a 1/4" 6tpi the other day and I had to rest once as my eyes were going buggy! But it worked good for about 4 hours of cutting blanks of all sorts until I hit some sand and continued untill I got it stuck and pulled it off the wheels. Then it was time for a new one!

I am cheap and have 15 minutes most times to get one sharpened so I do!

Have fun and save the planet too!!! But heck now there are tons of scrap iron going to china from all the clunkers, we will have blades until the cows come home!


Jeff

[Joshua Dinerstein]

Ok. Somehow this post made it to the wrong thread. Odd.

Anyway, I tried to sharpen one once. My best comparison is that it is like sharpening my turning tools. It can be done but it isn't he fun part. I went back to buying blades for my little old Craftsman Band Saw. They were $9 at sears and my time in the shop is worth way more than that to me. So I buy new ones and never think twice about it.

Joshua

[Kyle Iwamoto]

If you do sharpen your blades, the blades have a "set", meaning that you should sharpen from one side or the other. It really depends on how many teeth the blade has. 14 TPI, too many teeth to sharpen and way too small. 4 TPI not so bad..... I sharpen the low tooth count blades and toss the 14.