Sharpening shaper cutters

[David Peterson]

I'm the proud new owner of a very old Delta shaper. The machine runs great and it came with a dozen 1/2" bore cutters, some of which need a good looking after. Anyone have a good suggestion about where to send them to be resharpened? I was trying to think of a jig that could be created to do it myself but the importance of keeping the three profiles identical in shape scared me off. I can sharpen a blade or an iron pretty handily but not so sure about these little beasts.

[J.R. Rutter]

So these must be high speed steel? Regardless of what they are made of, any saw blade sharpener should be able to touch up the faces. Their equipment will remove exactly the same depth from each face so that the profile depths match.

[Don Wacker]

The problem with those tiny little shaper cutters is alot of sharpening services charge more than the cutter is worth.

Don

[David Peterson]

That's what I'm afraid of. I sent a couple over to Forrest, where I get my saw blades sharpened. I told them, "estimate only, please". It might not be worth the cost. These cutters date from the time the machine was purchased in the early 50's. High speed steel? Dunno. It remains to be seen whether or not this freebie shaper is going to cost me a bunch of money to get going. I don't need all the cutters sharpened - just a few user profiles.

[Don Wacker]

That's what I'm afraid of. I sent a couple over to Forrest, where I get my saw blades sharpened. I told them, "estimate only, please". It might not be worth the cost. These cutters date from the time the machine was purchased in the early 50's. High speed steel? Dunno. It remains to be seen whether or not this freebie shaper is going to cost me a bunch of money to get going. I don't need all the cutters sharpened - just a few user profiles.

You can get real affordable carbide cutters at MLCS. I think all of theirs are 3/4 but come with 1/2" bushings.

Don

[david brum]

Also check out Grizzly.http://www.grizzly.com/search/search.aspx?q=1 2 shaper cutter They have a decent selection of 1/2" carbide cutters in the $22ish range. I have several that are very sharp and cut beautifully. The nice thing about newer cutters is that they have chip limiters, essentially limiting the cutter from taking a huge bite and kicking out the piece.

You can also get new 1/2" HSS cutters from Carob. http://corobcutters.com/shapercutters.aspx

[Peter Quinn]

My father gave me a handful of HSS 1/2" cutters a while back. I had one ogre sharpened, it cost me far more than it was worth, so now when they get too worn for me to touch up the faces on a diamond stone, they get recycled and replaced.

[David Peterson]

Thanks for the links, David. I'm expecting a big number from Forrest so the advice here is just what I was looking for. I'll touch up what's here to see how they perform. Some of them will be OK. For the couple that may still be needed, I'll buy new.

[Mike Heidrick]

Ask Mike Jackson at leitz www.leitztooling.com (http://www.leitztooling.com) if he can help you out.

[David Peterson]

Update: $7 - $10 apiece for 1/2" bore profiles. That'll be worth a try.
Jamison's Sharpening, Inc. / 5630 Grandin RD EXT / Roanoke, VA 24018 / (540) 989 -2744

Thanks for all the suggestions and info.