Selecting a Sharpening Service - Trial and Error?

[Mike Shields]

I have several TS blades from 2 different manufacturers that require sharpening.

When I bought my WWII at the local woodworking retail store, I inquired about sharpening, as was told "don't send it to the manufacturer, use our sharpening service".

For all those who have been there: How do you go about finding and using a sharpening service?

Do you only find out by "taking a chance", and risk discovering only after it's too late, and your $100 blade is now jacked because someone says they can sharpen, but they really can't?

Mike

[Greg Cole]

I use a local shop with a "CNC sharpener" as they call it. Not sure the "CNC" is just digi readouts or if it's fully automated... never seen it in action.
It's not toooo expensive and the blades are great when I get them back.
For high tooth count blades, between the sharpening cost per tooth and shipping both ways... the cost gets close to a new blade.

Greg

[Mike Cutler]

Mike

Pm Scott Whiting here on the board. He has a sharpening service that is well regarded both on this forum, and the Wood Central forum.
You'll have to mail him your blades though, he's in Arizona.

[Ray Schafer]

I am not sure that I would take my WWII to a local service. I think that will void the warranty.

For my other blades, I took mine to a local Ace hardware ... it is a "neighborhood" hardware store that has a service center where they work on small engines and have a sharpening service. They really did a great job.

I don't know if that helps, but I like to know that it is being done by a place that does it a lot and I like to be able to look in the face of the person responsible for my blades and be assured that they will do a great job.

[glenn bradley]

I would skip the cost of trial and error and rely on recommendations from folks here who have used a service.

[Pat Germain]

I think Glenn is spot on. I used a local sharpener who was highly recommended by several woodworkers. He made my WWII cut better than it did from the factory.

When I asked the guys at my local Woodcraft, they were candid and revealed their contract sharpener was less than stellar. They advised against sending a WWII to those folks.

[Peter Quinn]

I use a professional grinding and tooling outfit with fully automated CNC machines capable of grinding, sharpening and making nearly any cutting tool imaginable for the wood working industry. Having modern saw blades and carbide cutters sharpened is not a low tech job. Great precision is required. I work for a millwork company and just have my own stuff sharpened by the same firm they use, so I didn't have to do any searching there.

I'd maybe call a few cabinet shops or millwork shops and ask for a reference in your area. Companies that work wood for a living don't have much margin for trial and error, or have already made the errors and can tell you who to try. Might also be some info from a local wood working guild, a good wood working tool seller like wood craft or a quality lumber yard.

I'm guessing a few creekers in your area will chime in with a suggestion too. Not every guy that claims to be able to sharpen a saw blade actually can, so your smart in looking for a reference.

[Dave Falkenstein]

I'd use the same sharpening service that your local cabinet shops use. A quick survey will narrow it down to one or two. The worst sharpening jobs I have had done were from dropping the blades off at the local woodworking store and having them "sent out". I am fortunate to have Scott Whiting, previously mentioned, as a local sharpener. Most of Scott's business is pro woodworking shops, but he does just as good a job for us hobby woodworkers.

[tom tangie]

I got some 3/8 glass and glued various grits of sandpaper to it and got one of those wheels to keep the blade angle constant. Works like a charm.

[Larry Couture]

I highly recommend Scott Whiting.

[Tom Walz]

A pro level saw shop can easily have a million dollars or more in machines even before you get into tooling and inventory. Cooks’s sharpening shows a CNC saw sharpener running. http://www.cookssharpening.com/

It is not so much the machines as the staff. You can‘t just put a saw blade on a machine and have it sharpened automatically. Somebody has to read it, analyze it and figure out what to do to sharpen it. When you run a saw blade you change many critical factors. When you sharpen it you change several critical angles by the process of stock removal from the tips. How much to take off where is not something easily learned.

If you work with wood for years and years and you have a certain intuition then you can get a wonderful feel for what is inside the wood before you cut it. It is the same with really good saw filers. The equipment works much as it does in woodworking.

Some people do more beautiful work with a mallet and chisel than others do with a CNC router.