Any ideas for sharpening bandsaw blades. Here's what I'm working on now. Seems to work fine. Only did 4 blades so far. If it works out. I will only have 30 more to do. Going to be using a hand setter for now.
you got it aced , a similar purchased rig would run ya around the $500 mark. Just a note that as you touch up the teeth that your kerf is going to shrink. So eventually to keep reusing blade you need to reset the teeth for clearance. Depending on the blade either by off setting or swagging. With some types of blade neither is possible because the most of the tooth is hardened to apx. rockwell 55 or slightly more. Basically if a file can be used to sharpen the tooth it can be reset. At minimum you need .005 per side.
Am I understanding this right, you have adapted a chainsaw sharpener for sharpening band saw blades? Actually a pretty clever idea. I like it!
Going to try and use a hand held tooth setter. my uncle has several pairs, something should work for now.
I have a couple around I use for handsaws- faster than trying to set up a machine- do not see many hand saw any more, 20 years ago it would 10 or more a month. I have a machine that pushes the file back and forth and holds the file face at the same angle, but the engagement depth and the advancement is manual. I think I may have used once in the last year. The last handsaw I did about a month ago was one of those very small modeling backsaws. Around 14 tpi.
Ward Hoarder, Looks like a pretty well though out rig there. You'll just need to pay attention to keeping the gullets at a reasonable depth over several sharpenings. Don't know what you're thinking about using for setting the teeth but there are several options that were once the standard and now mostly obscured by clever marketing & gimmicks. I still use many versions of handsaws, including 2 man crosscuts and do all my own sharpening by hand, including setting. Depending on the saw I might use a saw wrest such as these Saw wrest | eBay You can also make one of these yourself fairly easily. I've seen lots of old saw files with a slot cut in the end to set the teeth with. Or the method that was very common with large handsaws and mill blades, essentially a handheld anvil & setting hammer. A lot of the methods commonly used for setting/swaging teeth on 2 man crosscut saws should be equally effective for your application. This forest service download has a very good tutorial. https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/environmen...cations/fs_publications/pdf/pdf77712508lo.pdf Some modern versions of these here. Saw Tools Archives - Crosscut Saw Company
I suggest trying setting on a blade of the same make that is trashed prior to the "good " one. Reason being that unlike plate saws and most handsaws bandsaw blades are heat treated in the tooth area for the most part. They might be to hard( brittle ) to be successfully set. Back in the day ( eons ago ) bandsaw blades were for all intents and purposes just a type of spring steel. As such were mallable. If a file can cut the tooth then you will likely ok . Also depending on the style/mfg of blade not every tooth is set. The blade material thickness itself ranges from .035" for 1" wide , .042 for 1.25" wide and .050 for 1.5" & 2" on average, with some 2" blades at .063" . these are there most common sizes used in the small band mills and are considered narrow kerf blades . Again .005- .010 is the off set range for these blades. The wider the kerf the more power you will need to pull the blade through the material. Water with a dash of dish soap in it is the most common lube. Cools the blade and reduces pitch build up.
Good information. I wonder if it would be worthwhile to temper them back down to be less brittle. In any case, should be able to take 1 or 2 light sharpenings without having to worry about the set getting too small.
I've only done a couple of sharpenings with out resetting the teeth. Mostly been cutting pine. We had several storms earlier this year and it's been plentiful. Have been using soap and water in warmer weather and windshield washer fluid in cold weather.
