Hobbyist, Mid-tier Saw Blade Sharpening Trial

[David M Peters]

There's little argument that it's worthwhile to get high-end saw blades professionally sharpened, but a question that I've seen here before is if it's worthwhile for mid-tier blades. To find out I took the plunge and got four 10" Freud Diablo blades sharpened at Buffalo Dynamic. These blades retail in the $30-$40 range.

Shipping out to Buffalo was only $10 as I was able to use Priority Mail's Regional option. The cost of the service plus return shipping was $65:





Here is a sample blade; this 40T had lots of chipped teeth so it looks like they had to grind away material for clearance.


The one blade I've tried so far cuts great, just like new. To the touch they feel very sharp, too. So as I see it for $75 I got four new blades, not a bad deal. One can see how shipping needs to be carefully considered when doing the math on this.

Here is an imgur album with more photos: https://imgur.com/a/xuLs928

[Thomas Wilson]

Did they grind off the anti kickback shoulder on this blade?

[glenn bradley]

I think there is an argument for resharpening any quality cutter that has enough material left for sharpening. The cost is generally less than a new cutter. The inability to handle complex geometries resulting in cutting into the blank can be disappointing but, not necessarily critical as long as the blade remains balanced and performs well. The loss of a certain feature of the cutter can be valued by the user and the service can be used again or not.

With the appearance of flat rate mailing boxes from the USPS, sending a batch of Whiteside router bits to Whiteside for sharpening is a great way to get multiple "new" bits out of your purchase. I even have straight and spiral bits sharpened; this 'under-sizes' their dimension but, they remain useful in the way that I use them.

Full kerf 10" blades get heavy quick. I try to send them in as multiples too. I have morphed my 10" blade arsenal to a single maker over the years and now can send batches of blades to the original maker so they are simply reapplying the original geometry to the carbide (now cermet in most cases).

[Bruce Wrenn]

Having used Dynamic for years, my only beef is grinding off anti kick back fingers. Every blade was returned sharper than new. With their CNC sharpeners, each blade's geometry is checked before sharpening. My WWII came back from them as good as, if not better than Forrest, and a heck of a lot cheaper. My problem is, after retiring, I won't ever go thru my stack of blades. Our kids ( and wife) will probable sell them at a yard sale for a buck piece.

[John TenEyck]

Dynamic Saw is about 20 miles from home so I use them for all my sharpening needs. I drop off the blades and pick them up so there's no shipping charges. I've toured their cramped facility a couple of times. They have a mix of old school and amazing state of the art equipment. The owner is an encyclopedia of knowledge with regards to sharpening. The staff is hard working and always respectful and friendly.

They joint behind the back of the tooth on every blade from what I remember, but I don't know why. I'll have to ask next time I'm there. As others have said, blades sharpened at Dynamic Saw cut at least as well as new. They replace chipped and/or missing teeth, too. Their prices are very, very competitive.

John

[Mike Kees]

I have a 60 tooth ATB 12'' blade for my Felder slider that has been sharpened so many times the teeth are probably only half as high as they started from new. My sharpening service says no problem to do it 4-5 more times yet. As I can no longer find this blade I probably will. It gets used for plywood and cutting rougher things like rough lumber to rough lengths breaking down stock. Is it hard to find sharpening services where most of you guys live ? I am curious why so many of you ship blades in the mail to get sharpened. Where I live here in Alberta I have two different places about 80 kms away that are both real good. For years there was a guy in Taber (only 30 kms) that was amazing, sadly he passed away about 10 years ago.

[Bruce Wrenn]

I have a 60 tooth ATB 12'' blade for my Felder slider that has been sharpened so many times the teeth are probably only half as high as they started from new. My sharpening service says no problem to do it 4-5 more times yet. As I can no longer find this blade I probably will. It gets used for plywood and cutting rougher things like rough lumber to rough lengths breaking down stock. Is it hard to find sharpening services where most of you guys live ? I am curious why so many of you ship blades in the mail to get sharpened. Where I live here in Alberta I have two different places about 80 kms away that are both real good. For years there was a guy in Taber (only 30 kms) that was amazing, sadly he passed away about 10 years ago.

For me it's convienence. Two sharpeners in my county, both on the other side of county, across largest city. Takes at least an hour each way, times four. Post office is five minutes away. If I want, I can order Flat Rate box and have it dropped off, and picked up at my shop. Flat rate box, plus return shipping is a lot cheaper than my costs to drop off, and pick up. I still have a "bad taste in my mouth" from one of the sharpeners from years back. Plus Dynamic is cheaper per blade. We usually do a "group ship." Only problem is blades come back with who ever ships them's name laser engraved on blades. Not a big deal for the quality and price of sharpening

[Jim Becker]

I believe that sharpening is justified for mid-range blades with the caveat being that one may not be able to do that for as many times as one can for a premium blade that starts out with "more tooth"/more carbide to work with. But if you can get, say...two sharpenings...on a 40-50 blade (conservatively speaking) it works out financially in a nice way.

[Alex Zeller]

I think in the end the mid range blades aren't going to hold that sharp edge as long (just like they didn't when new). Still if they cost $50 each and you can have them sharpened for 1/4 the cost and ship several of them together then it still works out to being cheaper than buying new. It's the mid tier blades that go on sale, like the DeWalt two packs for their CMS for less than $50. The savings aren't that great having them sharpened vs just picking up new blades locally.

[Mike Kees]

Bruce I get it now. Here in Canuckistan I would hesitate to trust Canada Post with my good blades. And for sure not a whole bunch of them together in one box...

[Patrick Kane]

For me it's convienence. Two sharpeners in my county, both on the other side of county, across largest city. Takes at least an hour each way, times four. Post office is five minutes away. If I want, I can order Flat Rate box and have it dropped off, and picked up at my shop. Flat rate box, plus return shipping is a lot cheaper than my costs to drop off, and pick up. I still have a "bad taste in my mouth" from one of the sharpeners from years back. Plus Dynamic is cheaper per blade. We usually do a "group ship." Only problem is blades come back with who ever ships them's name laser engraved on blades. Not a big deal for the quality and price of sharpening

I have a place locally that is very similar to Bruce's situation. 45-60 mins one way. Same CNC sharpening system as Dynamic. Finally, Dynamic is slightly cheaper than this local place. I used th elocal group the last two sharpenings, but im about to send stuff to Dynamic. Its not worth the fuel, miles on the car, or my time to cart blades around to save $20 in round trip postage.

[Don Coffman]

The sharpening service I use (locally) averages $10/blade for 10". He builds, replaces/grinds carbide as needed. If I need a square cut for box joints or an angle for saw cut dovetails he'll grind for my need & tilt. I haven't had a special angle yet to confirm pricing, but assume up charge in minimal.