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Thread: Rant: Blade Sharpening vs Buying New

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Apr 2010
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    Rant: Blade Sharpening vs Buying New

    Sorry, but I just have to vent. Maybe someone will have a helpful suggestion (ha ha, I mean a good suggestion).

    So I was in the garage this morning and grabbed a pile of saw blades that had been used to the point that they needed to be swapped out. I have 6 of them here, three 40 tooth and three 60 tooth carbide blades. Delta and Oldham brands on them. They weren't particularly expensive.

    I am not aware of any blade sharpening services in my area (NYC suburbs). My guess is it hasn't been the kind of profession that has attracted people lately, and real estate is just too pricey to justify use of the space etc for such a business. I was planning to pack them up and send them to Forrest for sharpening.

    So it looks like the 40T blades are $20 to sharpen, the 60T's are $22. That's $126. Return shipping is $9 for the first blade, $1 for each additional. Meaning $141. Plus whatever it costs me to ship to them, which I assume is about the same $15. So, let's just say it's $150 to send these off and get them sharpened.

    The approximate equivalent saw blades can be purchased new from Home Despot for $16 to $20 each (the Avanti brand 40T is $16.97, 60T is $19.967).

    I guess the partial answer is, it doesn't make sense to use a service like the Forrest service except for high-end blades.

    Fine. But what is a regular guy supposed to do with old "non-high-end" blades? Throw them away and just buy a new one? There is something just plain wrong with that. I don't know why or what the solution is, but it's just not right.

  2. #2
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    recycle
    Wood: a fickle medium....

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  3. #3
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    Hi John, my take on sharpening is a little different.

    I use FS Tools blades, in the $100 plus range.

    My 80 tooth TCG is $16 to have them sharpen it on the CNC machines they use to produce the blades.

    Regards, Rod.

  4. #4
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    I'm by no means a blade expert, but the Harbor Freight blade sharpener might work for the lower end blades. Here's a positive review.

    Here's a positive review.

    It's a low risk option, if you buy one and it doesn't work for you, just go get a refund on it. The worst you will do is ruin a blade that could have been sharpened professionally. If that's a $20 blade, no biggie in my book.

  5. #5
    You need to look harder. You can find sharpeners locally. Check your phone book and inquire at local mills and engine repair shops.

    The fuel and packing costs of mail order sharpening are arguably as karmically 'evil' as throwing out a blade.

    I'm headed for Hades since I buy Oldham ripping blades precisely because they're disposable after a couple projects.

  6. #6
    The better blades are worth resharpening. Cheap ones aren't.

    There is a difference in what they do, but that also depends on you, your work, and what kind of saw you're using.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Location
    Minneapolis, MN
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    Local Guild

    Here in MN I am Woodworkers Guild member and there is a local place that does sharpening for about $13-14 for a 40 tooth WWII with the discount. They use a CNC machine to do the sharpening and I have been very happy with them. Point is that there should be some resource available to you such as a group like a WW Guild that could help you find someone local. An hour drive may be worth it even.

    On a side note, I do believe the carbide in a good blade is thicker and better so you get more use out of a nicer blade. Sharpening a $20 blade is really not worth it but if you can bring a $100 blade back to as good as new (or better) then you have something there. Woodpecker sells the Ridge ones for a reasonable price and they seem nice. Otherwise use a coupon to buy a Forrest from Rockler. Never looked back at the money spent. Makes my contractors saw cut whatever I throw at it.

  8. #8
    Are you ranting about buying cheap blades or the price of getting good blades sharpened?

    Check with your local lumber yard or tool store. They usually deal with a service and that saves you the shipping charge.

  9. #9
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    Forrest is generally at the top end price wise.
    I'm a Creeker, yes I m.
    I fries my bacon in a wooden pan.

  10. #10
    Join Date
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    Thanks for the replies. I do understand that it's a whole different matter when you're talking about an expensive blade. And I don't expect to be buying many more of these cheapo blades. But sometimes the cheapos are what makes sense -- for example, I've been building a fence from PT lumber, including 4 inch posts, and I cut them on my Delta CMS. No point wasting a good blade on a project like that.

    Sean -- I wish you were right, but I have looked. The Yellow Pages for the entire region here lists only one saw sharpening service -- in a town that's well over an hour away. I just can't justify -- not one, but two -- drives for that. I'll keep looking, maybe there's a word of mouth place somewhere.

    Woodworking guilds? Not aware of any around here. Would be nice. Maybe I should start one (like I have time for that...)...

    Edit: Hugh -- thanks for the info on the HF sharpener. Interesting review, I'll have to give that some thought.
    Last edited by John Mark Lane; 07-28-2010 at 5:14 PM.

  11. #11
    Quote Originally Posted by Shawn Patel View Post
    You need to look harder. You can find sharpeners locally.
    Not me. At least not anyone I would trust to sharpen my WWII and other higher-end blades. My only option is shipping them off.

  12. I don't have any blades that warrant sharpening yet, still new to woodworking and trying to do it on a slim to none budget. I've only gone through a few table saw blades but the ones I'm done using I keep. One of these days I'll find a way to make use of them, at this point I'm just keeping them because there's a story behind them. I'm still learning and each blade represents a different stage of my woodworking skill and time spent in the trade. Sounds cheezy but that's what I do with them. One of these days if I get a real shop I'll probably find a way to display them. I won't be doing this with every blade of every tool I have, just the TS blades. Odd, huh?


  13. #13
    Quote Originally Posted by John Mark Lane View Post
    Thanks for the replies. I do understand that it's a whole different matter when you're talking about an expensive blade. And I don't expect to be buying many more of these cheapo blades. But sometimes the cheapos are what makes sense -- for example, I've been building a fence from PT lumber, including 4 inch posts, and I cut them on my Delta CMS. No point wasting a good blade on a project like that.

    Sean -- I wish you were right, but I have looked. The Yellow Pages for the entire region here lists only one saw sharpening service -- in a town that's well over an hour away. I just can't justify -- not one, but two -- drives for that. I'll keep looking, maybe there's a word of mouth place somewhere.

    Woodworking guilds? Not aware of any around here. Would be nice. Maybe I should start one (like I have time for that...)...

    Edit: Hugh -- thanks for the info on the HF sharpener. Interesting review, I'll have to give that some thought.
    I wouldn't use treated wood to start with, it's ugly and toxic. Why would I want that on my land when a properly installed non treated post will last just as long? If you're burning out a blade on a few fence posts there's something wrong there too, unless your fence is really really long.

    Your point about a lack of local sharpening is common. Most professional shops don't drive their blades around to get them sharpened, that costs money. They send them out just like you would. Shipping is faster and cheaper than driving. Once you're shipping, you can choose the most appropriate service in the country.

    Regarding the cost, think about it for a second. Paying a fair price for someone else's work is fair. Just because you can buy a piece of junk for $20 doesn't mean it doesn't cost $20 to properly sharpen that same blade. It was never properly sharpened to start with. There's a lot more to sharpening a saw blade than just setting a grinder on there.

  14. #14
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    I'm with Chris. Unless those Delta's are something special, they and the Oldham are what I would consider throw-aways. Just to add fuel to the fire; I had never been happy with my Forrest WWII. So many reliable people here raved about them I decided it must have been a lemon and I would have it sharpened and give it another chance (my bad for not dealing with it immediately under warranty).

    Long story short, I used it for a thrasher and an MDF cutter till it lost its edge. By the time I get the WWII to Forrest and get it back in my hands it will run me nearly $50. If I watch for a sale I can get a Freud that I already know I like for that or not much more. For now the Forrest is hanging on a nail out of the way.

    All that being said I do have a good service close by and have had other blades done there for a reasonable price and I can get there and back on my lunch hour. If not for that I would have a different outlook perhaps(?). I found them by asking a couple cabinet shops where they had their cutters done; I couldn't find them in the phone book till I knew their name(??)
    Last edited by glenn bradley; 07-28-2010 at 5:45 PM.
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  15. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jon van der Linden View Post
    I wouldn't use treated wood to start with, it's ugly and toxic. Why would I want that on my land when a properly installed non treated post will last just as long? If you're burning out a blade on a few fence posts there's something wrong there too, unless your fence is really really long.

    Your point about a lack of local sharpening is common. Most professional shops don't drive their blades around to get them sharpened, that costs money. They send them out just like you would. Shipping is faster and cheaper than driving. Once you're shipping, you can choose the most appropriate service in the country.

    Regarding the cost, think about it for a second. Paying a fair price for someone else's work is fair. Just because you can buy a piece of junk for $20 doesn't mean it doesn't cost $20 to properly sharpen that same blade. It was never properly sharpened to start with. There's a lot more to sharpening a saw blade than just setting a grinder on there.
    You're welcome to use whatever kind of wood you want on your land. I happen to like PT (and when I made a fence from non-treated wood the termites ate it). Also, just to clarify, I am not "burning out a blade on a few posts". That was merely an example of some of the work I do that doesn't warrant a costly blade, to illustrate why even going forward I might not always limit myself to expensive blades.

    I also have no objection to paying people a fair price for their labor. I was not complaining about the price of the sharpening service. I was merely pointing out the dilema one faces when considering what to do with cheaper blades. I hate the throw-away culture we live in for various reasons, including the environmental effects.

    Anyway, thanks for your thoughts.

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