Bandsaw blade sharpening

Richard - try a google advanced groups search on this very group.

One of the many helpful things from Steven D. Russell down in Texas, the hardest working man in woodturning...

Post you want appears to be Mar 20, 2002.

Yes, I use it.

You need a coarse blade -- no more than 4 tpi. I use a stone which Dremel sells for grinding chainsaw blades.

I mark the starting point on a blade with a sharpie or something so I can see when I'm done -- same as with the chainsaw. I stand to the right of the saw, hold the Dremel perpendicular to the blade and take a pass starting at the top of a gullet, down and off the end of the point. I rest my arm on the table to steady it, work 3 or so teeth working downward on the blade, push the blade up a bit and do it again.

Yes, I know that you really should set each tooth alternately right and left by changing the angle but I don't do it. The saw seems to work well anyway.

Bill

Richard wrote:

Richard I have to agree with the search for Steven Russell's method of using a cut off wheel in a Dremel for sharpening a bandsaw blade. Incidentally, I believe he now uses a diamond wheel in a Dremel but the same method. this is likely on his CD as well. By the way, start with a good band saw blade in the first place. I like the ones from

You can also sharpen band saw blades with files. You'll need a triangular file and maybe a small round chainsaw file. One of those smaller files sets may also come in handy. You put the band in a vise with the teeth up to hold it steady and file each gullet and edge of the tooth. You don't need to file much and the process is faster than you'd think.

I like to use my Dremel and the sanding disks if it is just a touch up. Serious work you need to get in there with a flat file and possibly a round file that can get into the gullets.

Leif

I have been resharpening bandsaw blades with a dremel for a gazillion years (seems like it, anyway), long before Steven's article appeared. I'm sure the method has been discovered independently by a lot of folks. I use either a rigid sanding disk or a diamond disk in the dremel and just lightly tap the top of each tooth. By hitting the top rather than the front face you can position the hand with the dremel in one spot braced on the table and move the blade to the next tooth with the other hand at the rate of about one second per tooth. It's very quick and easy. Steven recommends going over the blade twice, once for the right set teeth and once for the left set teeth. I have done it that way but my normal practice is to do all the teeth straight across. That way I can do them all at once. I haven't noticed any significant difference in the quality of the cut afterwards. My suspicion is that the teeth are formed before they are set and that explains the apparent dual sharpening angles, not that it is a superior cut. I showed the method to Cindy Drozda and she soon came up with a nifty way to speed things up even more, which is the way I have been doing it for several years now. Open the cover over the top wheel and turn it by hand several times at a constant rate in the reverse direction while holding a diamond hone or the dremel in a fixed position so it barely skims the tip of each tooth as it speeds past. I can resharpen a 105" 3 tpi blade in less than a minute (including plugging in the dremel) with this method and the results are fine for general woodturner needs. I don't do precision resawing of flat stock or other demanding applications so I can't speak to that. Maybe some of you guys who do that kind of thing can get back to me on that.

-mike paulson, fort collins, co

What size of bandsaw ? The Wood-mizer (for which it is worth resharpening blades) costs three or four times as much to re-sharpen its blades as it does to buy a new blade for my 14" workshop bandsaw. The workshop saw also has more teeth and the sharpening work would be fiddly and thus harder / slower to do.

There's also the problem that a small workshop bandsaw bends its blade round a sharper radius and runs with a higher tension/area on the blade, all of which increases fatigue in the band itself, causing the band to break not too long after the teeth are wearing.

Although I'm sure it's _possible_ to re-sharpen bandsaw blades for small workshop bandsaws, I really can't see the economics of it working out.

I use this method. As another post mentioned, don't bother with fine toothed blades. I only sharpen 2 or 3 tooth resaw blades with the dremel. I use a 3/16"chainsaw cylindrical stone. This will file the gullets and the face of the tooth at the same time. Before grinding, clean the saw of any dust, a spark could cause a fire. Raise the guide post up. The dremel goes straight in and out, holding it level and square to the blade. Bandsaw blades are filed in the rip configuration, no need to angle the dremel. Usually four strokes are needed. In ,out ,in and out again. My saw blade is 113", takes about 20 minutes to file the blade. You will find this method will sharpen a blade better than new. Most new bandsaw blades are stamped out and not ground.My blades last for several years,they break from metal fatiuge rather than dull blades. mike

Same here Derek. I have the old Rockwell/Beaver 10" bandsaw. It is about 25 years old. because of the 10" size I assume it has greater metal fatique in the bands than does a 14" saw. However, I get 3 or 4 sharpenings at least for a regualr blade and 6 or 7 from a low tension blade. Since it only takes a few minutes to sharpen, I am more than satisfied. After all, I can sharpen a 3 point blade in the time it takes to change it.

Hi,

The Dremel with a thin grinding stone worked very well. I'm sure its even sharper than when new. I will try the filing method next time, as i think you have a bit more control over how much you take off.

Cheers.

Richard:

Generally, you don't need to worry about how much you take off. With a Dremel and a light touch you shouldn't take off much at all. And, a blade cannot be reground forever. As mentioned in the thread, the blade will eventually start cracking, usually in the gullets and you don't want it to break on the machine if possible. While you are grinding it is a good time to look for the start of problems.

Bill

Richard wrote: