bandsaw blade sharpener

Has anyone built a bandsaw blade sharpener? I am looking for some ideas especially drawings.

You mean for metal cutting blades???

Lifes too short dick....
Get a model kit, have some fun building it, and buy a new blade when you need it.....

You could build a Quorn and find the instructions on how to do it.

Oops!

Norman

I'm with you, dkmc -

I sharpened my 3/4" wide 3 TPI 105" long wood resaw blade - once. I did it right on the saw, using a stone mounted in my Dremel, guided by my (in those days anyhow) very steady, calibrated hands and a little support block. It worked pretty well, and the blade cut almost as well as a new one. Figuring the time involved, along with cleanup, it only cost me a bit more than buying a new blade. . .

I seem to recall seeing a sketch of a jig for sharpening blades in an old woodworking book.

It would seem to make sense only for a coarse pitch blade like Frank's, where had to hone "only" 315 teeth. For a finer blade, he might have had to sharpen thousands.

I think the sharpening jigs were made for using a slipstone or a file.

What I am looking for is like this one.
http://www.suffolkmachinery.com/automatic_sharpener.asp

I'd be interested too. Been looking for one for years. I do sometimes sharpen 1" or 1-1/4" 2 & 3 tooth 198" bands by hand on a pedestal grinder with a narrow wheel. Takes about 10 - 15 minutes to go a round a band complete, top shape and gullets. Yeah, when going fast there may be a few over dubbed or misshapen teeth, but out of 400 or so, it does not affect the cut.

A sharpener would require an auto setter to back it up though. The ones I hand sharpen are sharper than factory the first couple re-sharpenings, then 3rd time about the same, then the set is starting to fade and 4th or 5th time they are beat.

People who don't resaw lumber may not realize how sharp the blades have to be to cut fast and straight. That edge does not last long, and the bands are still in good shape with good teeth that still "feel" sharp but won't cut, or start wandering around making scalloped boards. It's not like a metal cutting blade where by the time the saw is dull, the band is shot too.

smt

Here's a jig and some information, copied from the Audel series of books. This one is entitled _Millwrights and Mechanics Guide_, 4th edition, by Carl. A. Nelson, Macmillan-USA, 1989:




I have not done this myself, but it seems like this info might be useful when there is not enough time to order and wait for a new blade.

Looking at the above jig, I think it is overly complex. All that is really necessary is to have the blade clamped in a wide jawed makeshift vise, or a couple of 10-inch wide boards in a bench vise, as described in the text. I don't think the pulleys are really necessary unless you are going to sharpen a lot of blades by hand. The other written details of how to sharpen the individual teeth sound like good advice.

-Jon

Stephen
About six years ago I built a sharpener using an old chain saw sharpener motor,and stone. It worked pretty well. At the time I used an a.c motor gearbox as the advance mechanism and it ran a little fast. I have now acquired some little d.c motors with reduction boxes. I am going to take another shot at it. In 1999 I built a complete bandsaw mill for a friend with all hydraulic controls. I haven't been around the mill until recently. Now I am interested in doing sawing again. I think I could experiment with changing tooth angle if I could do my own. It looks like 8 degrees is the thing for harder wood. I think the normal angle is 10 degrees. Maybe I'll post a photo in a few weeks.