Anyone out there sharpen their own saw blades???

[Martin Siebert]

Is it worth it, especially when the nearest sharpening service is 2 hours away??? I see there are sharpeners available for around $200 or so, but I don't know if that will really do it. For those of you that do sharpen your own, what sharpening machine do you use??? Thanks in advance for any info, it is greatly appreciated!!!!

Edit: I guess I should clarify...I want to sharpen 10" carbide tipped table saw blades and others along those lines......

[Bradley Gray]

No it is not worth it. Use UPS or USPS

[Jacob Reverb]

Side question: How much does it typically cost to sharpen a 10" table saw blade with 50 teeth? I have a few Freud LU84M011 blades (ATB&R) that need sharpening...

[Ben Zara]

Do not sharpen your own saw blade. Clean yes. Sharpen no.

[John Blazy]

Well worth it - been sharpening my own carbide for nearly 20 years. Doesn't require machinist level skill either, and it takes about 3 minutes each blade. I am a professional, so I have many types of blades - Triple chip, ATB, negative hook high ATB and you know what they have in common? All have flat faces, 90° to the plate - the only difference is hook angle. Get a 600 grit diamond blade from North Jersey Diamond Wheel co, or any industrial diamond wheel supplier of sharpening, and make a bushing if it does not have 5/8" arbor. These blades are typically 8 to 9" DIA, and are about .060" thick at rim, continuous sintered diamond. Mount diamond blade in T-saw.

Then make a magnetic base centering pad with a center to hold blade like in my pic below (aluminum in a sliding dovetail slot). Then hover blade to be sharpened with flat inner tooth face against the diamond edge til flat to match hook angle. Then slide the magnetic centering base under blade to match hole to establish same angle, each tooth. Then slide the center back to clear, turn on T-saw, and hit every tooth - easy.

I do my dado blades, dado chippers, small and large blades. I have some blades that I have sharpened literally over a hundred times (19 years of sharpening / heavy use) and they all cut like a Forrest blade.

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[Jamie Buxton]

Side question: How much does it typically cost to sharpen a 10" table saw blade with 50 teeth? I have a few Freud LU84M011 blades (ATB&R) that need sharpening...

About $30 for me, done locally. I expect that the cost varies quite a bit across the country.

[Carl Beckett]

Well worth it - been sharpening my own carbide for nearly 20 years. Doesn't require machinist level skill either, and it takes about 3 minutes each blade. I am a professional, so I have many types of blades - Triple chip, ATB, negative hook high ATB and you know what they have in common? All have flat faces, 90° to the plate - the only difference is hook angle. Get a 600 grit diamond blade from North Jersey Diamond Wheel co, or any industrial diamond wheel supplier of sharpening, and make a bushing if it does not have 5/8" arbor. These blades are typically 8 to 9" DIA, and are about .060" thick at rim, continuous sintered diamond. Mount diamond blade in T-saw.

Then make a magnetic base centering pad with a center to hold blade like in my pic below (aluminum in a sliding dovetail slot). Then hover blade to be sharpened with flat inner tooth face against the diamond edge til flat to match hook angle. Then slide the magnetic centering base under blade to match hole to establish same angle, each tooth. Then slide the center back to clear, turn on T-saw, and hit every tooth - easy.

I do my dado blades, dado chippers, small and large blades. I have some blades that I have sharpened literally over a hundred times (19 years of sharpening / heavy use) and they all cut like a Forrest blade.

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I used a grinding wheel on the TS arbor for years for sharpening jointer knives - worked great. Never thought to do it for TS blades. Neat trick, I will be trying it out at some point. Thank you for sharing.

(note some will be adverse to generating grinding dust in/around TS bearings... a fair concern so this technique may not be for everybody)

[Richard Coers]

I send all mine to Forrest. For what I spend for a quality blade, I'm going to let a professional sharpen mine. Not a fan of the idea of putting carbide dust into the elevation and tilting mechanisms of my table saw.

[Lee Schierer]

I send all mine to Forrest. For what I spend for a quality blade, I'm going to let a professional sharpen mine. Not a fan of the idea of putting carbide dust into the elevation and tilting mechanisms of my table saw.

Not to mention the dust is toxic.

[Bill Zickel]

http://quinnsaw.com/carbide-tipped-saw-blade-sharpening/

[Martin Siebert]

Thanks for all the replies so far folks!!! It is greatly appreciated. For those of you that just said "no" or "don't do it" can you tell us the reason why not??? I get that the dust is toxic, but cant you wear the proper protective gear?? Thanks again guys.

[Jeff Duncan]

Well one reason I can think of off the top of my head, (besides the toxicity of carbide dust already mentioned), is it will be exceptional difficult to maintain any real accuracy from tooth to tooth without a precision blade grinder. In the old days of HSS blade you could maybe get by with just a simple jig. These days with more sophisticated carbide blade tooth configurations you'll have a lot more to contend with. If your trying to fabricate some system on your own you need a way to set up to do multiple different angles. Say on a simple alternate bevel blade, you'll have a face angle, two top angles, the two sides all needing to be set up separately. Of course if you try to sharpen a triple chip..... well, even more different angles to figure out how to set accurately. So your going to spend many hours figuring out how to set up and sharpen these blades..... or you could pay $20 - $30 each and have them done while you working on something more fun;)

I have two places for sharpening my blades. My 10" blades still go back to Forrest, I have a box I built for shipping them and when it gets full I send it via USPS and let them handle it. For 12" - 16" blades I use a local place that's a bit cheaper than Forestt and still does a very nice job.

good luck,
JeffD

[Ole Anderson]

Different blades look so complicated, but as John said, the face of the tooth is at 90 degrees to the plate and that is all you really need to sharpen. I recently got the HF blade sharpener and it works quite well. Is it a CNC quality sharpen? Of course not. A few adjustments and you are ready to go. Worried about the dust? Use a mask. Not one blade I sharpened wasn't significantly better than when I started. A first I was just going to do my junk blades, but it was somewhat addictive so I did my Freud rip and crosscut blades. The HP sharpener has a stop that is intended to provide a consistent cut, but I just ignore it and hit each tooth the same, seat of the pants. Try it, if you don't like it, all you are out is $43 (with the 20% coupon) presuming you don't do something stupid. A number of YouTube videos out there.

[Kevin Beitz]

I sharpen everything... But don't forget that set is just as important...

[Bruce Wrenn]

For prices, check out Dynamic Saw's web site. There are two sharpening places in my county, but both are within a mile of each other, only forty miles away from my shop. I order a flat rate box from USPS, mail man drops it off at door, then picks it up. Three days later it's at Dynamic, and two weeks after that it's back on my porch. Shipping both ways is around $35, which wouldn't cover the cost of time, much less gas to drive across the county. The drive across the county includes two cities of over 150,000 population each, so it's a minimum of two hours each way, times four (drop off, and pick up.) Often it's not the price, but actual cost that counts!

[John TenEyck]

I sharpen some of my BS blades but my TS blades go to Dynamic Saw in Buffalo, NY. They are local to me, but I'd still send them there if I lived elsewhere. I've been in their place several times and they were happy to give me a tour and watch their machines run. At a cost of $10 - 15 for a typical TS blade, I don't see the point of trying to do it myself knowing I could never do as well.

Watch the video of the Vollmer grinder in operation. It's worth 3-1/2 minutes of your time. It can grind a lot more than the tooth face.

http://dynamicsaw.com/index.html

John

[Dan Baginski]

The place I take my TS blade to does it for $12 and it's about a week turn around. Kind of a no brainer for me.

[Chris Fournier]

Do some research and look at the machines that the professional sharpening services use and then ask yourself if your shop set up could do as well? I sharpen hand tools. I touch up machine cutters. I send out TS saw blades.

[Ole Anderson]

I sharpen everything... But don't forget that set is just as important...In a steel blade yes, but the carbide, being wider than the plate, means set is not an issue with a carbide blade.

[Martin Siebert]

I think somehow we got a little off track...it was never my intention to cob up some cheesy homemade attempt at sharpening expensive carbide tipped saw blades to try and save .50 cents. Please do not take offense to this statement if you are one of the folks that sharpens blades with a homemade jig. I am sure yours works fine and if it does the job then you are way ahead of the game and you have my respect and admiration. I am definitely not above doing this by no means if it looks like the end result is the same.
My question is is it worth buying a decent, modern, good quality sharpening "system" {maybe that will sound a little better...} over sending blades out??? and which set up are you using??? I am a machinist by trade, so I feel like operating a sharpening machine will probably not present too overbearing of a challenge. I don't just need to sharpen one blade every six months and there is nobody close by that does it. I see these set ups for anywhere from $100.00 to $600 plus. At $30.00 per blade and up it wont take too long to equal out on the money thing {if they work}. I realize there is time involved actually doing it, but how many blades can you sharpen in the time it takes to box one up, address it, drive it to a shipping outfit and receive and un-box it??

[Ole Anderson]

Hey, any excuse for a new tool...

[Peter Christensen]

Viel tools in Quebec make sharpeners for saw blades among other types. Price is about $735US. https://www.vieltools.com/produit/centre-d-affutage-d-outils-au-carbure-viel-meule-320-1088 For myself because I'm not a heavy user it is more cost effective to have an extra blade or two and take them to the local saw sharpening place less than 30 minutes away. If they weren't around then mailing blades off would still make sense for me.

Now buying the profile grinder to make blades for my Williams and Hussey is something I would like to do. ;)

[John Blazy]

I realize there is time involved actually doing it, but how many blades can you sharpen in the time it takes to box one up, address it, drive it to a shipping outfit and receive and un-box it??.

You just addressed the obvious, and thanks for stating it so eloquently. I am a professional with $5K overhead per month, so time is $. Anyone running a pro shop knows this, which is why I hold to a $200.00 minimum order for all my products because $50.00 of that minimum is spent printing shipping labels, packing and shipping, plus cost of shipping - all needed to send blades out, then return.

Maybe I need to shoot a side by side video of the four to six blades I can sharpen with my system in the same amount of time it takes to pack blades, print labels, drop off shipment, then wait for blades to return, then unpack.

The real advantage though for me (might be for others) is the convenience of sharpening on demand. Very addicting. I'm almost like the guys in the hand tool forum that make sharpening a zen-like religious experience (never joining the dark side:D)

I am cutting expensive composite resin / carbon fiber /plywood laminations all the time, and I have grown addicted to the zero bottom tearout and crisp top edge from a well sharpened blade, so I will often mount my diamond sharpener to dress up an already sharp blade, since its so quick to do.

If I were retired and have all the time in the world, then I would ship blades - did it for many years. Then there is the ancillary advantages to having a 600 grit diamond blade - sharpening router bits and carbide drill bits. I needed to make a step drill from carbide for drilling grip screw holes in my carbon fiber 1911 grips since they don't sell carbide step drills to these specs. The diamond blade did it perfectly.

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[John K Jordan]

John Blazy, thanks for the posts. I like your sharpening jig and method. I'm a hobbyist but am also addicted to the on-demand sharpening. I don't use my table saw enough to make sharpening those blades a priority but I do sharpen bandsaw blades regularly, partly because I can extend the blade life, partly because I enjoy doing it - relaxing and satisfying, and partly because I really like doing things myself. I already have some high quality diamond disks.

JKJ

[brent stanley]

I think somehow we got a little off track...it was never my intention to cob up some cheesy homemade attempt at sharpening expensive carbide tipped saw blades to try and save .50 cents. Please do not take offense to this statement if you are one of the folks that sharpens blades with a homemade jig. I am sure yours works fine and if it does the job then you are way ahead of the game and you have my respect and admiration. I am definitely not above doing this by no means if it looks like the end result is the same.
My question is is it worth buying a decent, modern, good quality sharpening "system" {maybe that will sound a little better...} over sending blades out??? and which set up are you using??? I am a machinist by trade, so I feel like operating a sharpening machine will probably not present too overbearing of a challenge. I don't just need to sharpen one blade every six months and there is nobody close by that does it. I see these set ups for anywhere from $100.00 to $600 plus. At $30.00 per blade and up it wont take too long to equal out on the money thing {if they work}. I realize there is time involved actually doing it, but how many blades can you sharpen in the time it takes to box one up, address it, drive it to a shipping outfit and receive and un-box it??

Here's another, higher end option: ​https://www.scosarg.com/cit-july-600-circular-saw-sharpener-for-tct-saw-bl

[Steve Demuth]

I realize there is time involved actually doing it, but how many blades can you sharpen in the time it takes to box one up, address it, drive it to a shipping outfit and receive and un-box it?

Understand that my answer is from the perspective of someone who does woodworking a few hours to a day a week, for relaxation and self-satisfaction, not a professional shop owner. So my needs differ.

That said, it takes me minutes to box a couple of blades and get them ready to ship (I keep the boxes ready from the last time they were used), and no time at all to actually ship, since I just put the box in the outgoing, and it gets shipped when I have a compelling reason to go to the shipping store.

I do "hone" my carbide blades. A very simply jig is sufficient to make it straitforward to freshen up the edge with a flat diamond file. But if they need anything more than 3 swipes of that file per tooth, I send them out. I would enjoy sharpening my own if I had the tools. I do it with lots of other types of blades, and its quite satisfying. But to me, a table saw blade is a precision tool, and I would want a machine matched to that expectation - which would be a dumb use of money for the amount I do, and the space I have.

[Martin Siebert]

Thank you gentlemen for all the replies. Some very good points and interesting thoughts. It is all very greatly appreciated!!!

[Tom M King]

I miss the days when a Saw Service would have a guy come around in a van, pick anything up that needed to be sharpened, and then drop them off next week on his rounds. There was no charge for anything but the sharpening. No packaging needed. That was when wages were cheap, and gas was less than a buck a gallon though. I don't remember any prices but for sharpening a hand saw, and that was $1.50 with a really nice job done.

[James Biddle]

I've seen the complex machinery it takes to sharpen a blade accurately...you can't duplicate that by hand and most likely not with a $50k machine. Own more than one blade and send the other in.

[Martin Siebert]

I've seen the complex machinery it takes to sharpen a blade accurately...you can't duplicate that by hand and most likely not with a $50k machine. Own more than one blade and send the other in.

Do I understand this correctly that you believe a saw blade cannot be properly sharpened with a $50,000.00 {50K} machine???? What does the machine cost that actually will do it right???

[Peter Christensen]

Do I understand this correctly that you believe a saw blade cannot be properly sharpened with a $50,000.00 {50K} machine???? What does the machine cost that actually will do it right???

Two points of view.
(1) It’s the operator running the machine not the machine. So priceless.

(2) It’s the operator running the machine not the machine. So $22.00 an hour.

[Bruce Wrenn]

I miss the days when a Saw Service would have a guy come around in a van, pick anything up that needed to be sharpened, and then drop them off next week on his rounds. There was no charge for anything but the sharpening. No packaging needed. That was when wages were cheap, and gas was less than a buck a gallon though. I don't remember any prices but for sharpening a hand saw, and that was $1.50 with a really nice job done.Tom, some still do. Scott Smith has a service that comes to his place regularly. Because he isn't far (less than 10miles) from me, I've been toying with the idea of having them do some of my blades.

[John Ziebron]

I'm with Ole in that I recently bought the Harbor Freight sharpener after watching many YouTube reviews and modifications. Their design is loosely based on some much more expensive European machines. Being a machinist as well allowed me to make a couple of rather simple parts allowing setup to be much less finicky and more solid.

I like using the Kempston rip blades on my TS and when the first one became dull I just ordered another due to their low cost. So that was my first "victim" to practice on but the resulting burn marks were disappointing. I remember one reviewer complaining about the coarse grit disk (probably 100) that comes with the unit. So I ordered one of those slow boat from China 600 grit disks and that made all the difference.

Scrap pieces of 4/4 red oak and 6/4 ash were ripped and the finish was silky smooth. I've since sharpened one of my dull Woodworker II blades and rips and especially crosscuts were as good as a new blade. Using a 25% off coupon (HF New Years sale) I'd say the $30 I paid for this sharpener was well worth it.