Dull bandsaw blades

[Chris Nolin]

I recently bought a used bandsaw, and the seller included five old blades (regular steel teeth, not carbide). He said they probably needed to be resharpened and reset, but after taking a close look at them, I see the teeth are coated in pitch. I've cleaned a couple individual teeth so I could check for sharpness and they do feel a tad dull. Not really dull, but not as sharp as a new blade. They're 158" long, so that's a lot of hand-filing. What would you do with these blades. Are they worth saving? If so, how?

[Van Huskey]

I would clean them (standard ways you clean TS blades but I wouldn't kill myself getting them spotless) then try them out. If they don't cut well I would toss them and buy new ones, maybe keep a couple of the best ones to cut nasty stuff. Carbon steel blades don't last that long no matter what you do, once they get pitched up they go downhill fast. My next purchase would be a Laguna RK probably the 1 1/4" version for your saw this would be the blade I would leave in the saw. I can't remember if you have a smaller saw for curves, if not I would get some Lenox Flex Back blades, although carbon they do great for curves (unless you cut them all day every day). I get mine from Spectrum Supply and always had good luck and haven't found a better price.

[Josiah Bartlett]

Good quality new carbon steel blades are so cheap I wouldn't bother, unless you really think learning how to set and file bandsaw teeth is a skill you want to pick up.

[Chris Nolin]

I guess I just haven't done enough bandsawing in my life to know what to do with well used blades. I just needed someone to tell me it's okay to get rid of them (carefully, or my trash guys might be unhappy with me!)

[Phil Thien]

I use a Dremel with a chain saw bit to sharpen my blades. They get sharper than new. My blades are short (72-1/2" bandsaw), so it goes pretty fast. But your blades should only take about twice as long.

[John Hart]

I do the same thing as Phil...Dremel and Chainsaw bit. When I first tried it, I was a bit clumsy...but nowadays, I can do a 90 inch blade in about 10-15 minutes. Phil's right....sharp as new.

[Chris Nolin]

Hmmm, okay. Maybe not so fast to the trash can, then. Sounds like it might be worth a try.

[John Hart]

Funny thing...I thought I'd hunt around for an instructional video...and it seems everyone has a different method.

Now, I got my idea for using a chainsaw sharpening bit from an old amish guy who sharpened his sawmill blades that way. The method is to roll the bit up under the gulleys then down the face of each tooth. Once you get into the rhythm, it goes pretty quick.

But in searching for videos....I think I might try this guys method:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-AnDvUqe1Ac

[Phil Thien]

But in searching for videos....I think I might try this guys method:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-AnDvUqe1Ac

I've seen that video, and I can't imagine it works as well as a burr into the gullet. Let me know how it works for you if you try it.