How long should a saw blade last

[Tom Walz]

How long should a saw blade last

Depends on what you start with. The thicker the carbide, the more sharpenings you can get out of it. The duller carbide gets the faster it gets more dull. If you go from sharp to dullness level 1 in 1,000 feet of cutting then you will get dullness level 2 in about 800 feet more of cutting and it will take 600 feet more to get to dullness level 3.

The duller the carbide is the more you have to take off to sharpen it and the fewer sharpenings you will get.

Weyerhaeuser once ran a blade very carefully and got ten sharpenings out of each set of tips and did 50 retips.

A dull blade generates poorer cuts and more heat. Excess heat affects both carbide and steel adversely.

Saw blades are sold with a very carefully designed tooth geometry for the best cutting. Any sharpening changes that geometry a bit and affects cutting performance.

[Gary Keedwell]

I don't get it. :confused: Are you answering your own question?
Gary

[Tom Walz]

I was answering Pat Germain's question in an earlier post. "How Long should a saw blade last?"

That question can be taken two ways; sharpness and blade life before total replacement. In addition the original discussion drifted into saw blade cleaning as well.

Even a short and just fairly complete answer is pretty long so I divided the questions up and did new posts.

[Ben Grunow]

Mine are usually good until I hit a nail (happens every time)

[Dennis Peacock]

My big problem is finding someone "local" that can sharpen a carbide sawblade. Called a few saw shops around and none of them do carbide.

[Jim Becker]

I was answering Pat Germain's question in an earlier post. "How Long should a saw blade last?"

Ah...I was wondering the same thing as Gary as you started a new thread rather than replied in the original thread. Do you want one of the moderators to move your comments into Pat's thread for continuity?

BTW, the type of carbide also contributes to the the end answer.

Jim
SMC Moderator

[glenn bradley]

My big problem is finding someone "local" that can sharpen a carbide sawblade. Called a few saw shops around and none of them do carbide.

One of the few advantages of living where we chew our air; there's a lot of major players around. The shop 10 miles from me does work for Tenryu, Amana and a laundry-list of others. I found them by asking local cabinet shops where they have their blades done. Six out of six said "Carbide Saw & Tool in SanBerdoo". They're straight shooters and will tell you if 'one more grind' is going to cause a loss of profile integrity. . . . no association.

[Bruce Wrenn]

My big problem is finding someone "local" that can sharpen a carbide sawblade. Called a few saw shops around and none of them do carbide.Remember that both Scott Whitting, and Dynamic Saw are only an $8.95 priority mail box away. We have two very good sharpeners here locally, but it is a thirty mile trip one way to either of them. Take two round trips and four hours of time. Makes the post office- five minutes away, look pretty good.

[Tom Walz]

Jim Becker,

Do what you think makes the most sense with the posts. This stuff comes up over and over and I was just trying to add some perspective that I hadn’t seen before. I thought that maybe as new posts they would be more searchable. Anyway, Sir, I am very glad that you moderate and do it so well. I am also glad that you do it and I don’t .

Finding a sharpener
Yellow pages is a good place to start. Scott Whiting has a great deal of respect in the sharpening community.