Circular saw sharpening jig

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gwaithcoed

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Has anyone used one of these jigs and if so are they as good as they claim.
At present if I need one sharpening I have to take it to a local hardware shop who send it away with a man in a van who then takes it to be sharpened.

When it comes back and each has had his cut, for a couple of pounds more I could buy a new blade which is why I have 6 blades that need sharpening.

Alan.
 

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I had to serve a year in the saw shop as part of my apprenticeship, I used several circular saw sharpening and gulleting when TCT was extremely expensive as each tooth was brazed by hand.
I'm used to similar machines as you have pictured, but they were all upright, whereas the pictured example is horizontal
You must clean the teeth face as perfectly clean as possible or the abrasive wheel will clog and you will waste time and money continuing this action. Half An old hacksaw blade, ground as a knife, and a wood and tape handle will do nicely!
Get a wheel cleaner and shaper toolas recommended by the maker.
The Stop post and stop looks to be a little fragile, remember this needs to be accurate to keep the teeth working evenly, beef this up if needed.
But remember the old cast stuff I was taught on was made to be used all day, every day for many, many years.
As you say it will save you some money, as long as you have factored in you're time.
Do NOT use it in the wood shop, because of the sparks, getting in contact with wood slivers, rags/cloths and paint, etc,
It won't happen for a while, then one day you're workshop will be burned down!
And goggles are a MUST, and have a spare pair!
Please Let us know any outcome.
Regards Rodders
 
Hello Rodders, thanks for your quick reply I think I'll go ahead and purchase one. Regarding factoring in my time, no problem as I am retired and have all the time in the world, well not really I'm 78 but you know what I mean. :shock:
Good tip about sparks, thoughts like that usually hit you when as you say your workshop is on fire.

After I've sorted out how to use it I'll post my findings.

Alan.
 
I got one of these about a year ago.

When I first plugged it in, it ran for about 5 mins before it started speeding up and slowing down of its own accord.......!!!!!

On further inspection ( I ended up stripping the complete motor apart ), I found one of the brushes had jammed and was failing to make contact with the armature. After fixing the problem, putting it back together and adding a few washers here & there to tighten up some of the loose mounting screws/bolts, it does a pretty good job of sharpening my blades.

TBH with you, I don't use it to sharpen my Festool blades or my Dewalt Series 60 blades that cost a fair bit, but its perfectly ok for use on my table saw blades.

One of the reasons I don't use it on my Festool TS55 & TS75 saw blades is the distance between the teeth varies on these blades, so other than setting the spacing setting on the sharpener 3 different times for 1 blade, its too much hassle.

One thing I can tell you is, it does take a fair amount of time to get it set up as it is a fiddle, but once set, it will do a reasonable job.

For what it costs to buy, overall I would say its worth the money.
 
The blade sharpener arrived on Sat. Morning. First impressions as it came out of the box was the quality of the machine is very good.
Sat down and read and re read the instruction (a first for me as my wife remarked) The instruction book was not very informative but gave me a good idea of what was required to set it up.
I first checked the angle gauge to ensure that the blade was at 90 degrees and adjusted it as it was not correct.
The swivel arm that carries the blade was not very stable, but to cure this I fashioned a washer to fit underneath in the flange and put a washer on the top which beefed it up.
The fixing nuts for the motor swivel had a serrated back and I noticed that it was cutting into the ally casting even after a couple of adjustment and this was cured by putting a washer behind the nuts.

I then took my first blade (315mmx28tooth perform blade) and cleaned off the teeth as suggested by Rodders.
The next problem was finding the correct angle for the teeth to be ground at and this is a real fiddle. After trial and error 5 degrees was as close as I could get. I then set the back stop on the motor to the depth of the tooth.
After setting it up I then had to set the locking pin so that each tooth was being ground to the same dimension and this really is a pain in the a--e.
After I was satisfied that all was as good as I could get I did the first blade and was chuffed with the result.
I had 3 more blades the same as the first and and these were done in no time as no adjustment was needed.

I have no idea how much people have to pay to have their blades sharpened but years ago I sent a 6 inch blade away and it cost me £9- 50. and since then I thought it cheaper to buy new blades.
I find I now have 4 more blades to do (all different sizes) so I think buying the sharpener was the way to go.


Alan.
 
Excellent news on the saw sharpener, I saw there was a few vids on utube on the subject, one showed a super duper
angle finder, which apart from possibly costing as much as the sharpener,made it look very quick and easy.
I see a member mentioned oven cleaner to clean off the resin build up, not tried it myself and you would need to be careful of you're eyes, nasty stuff.
Regards Rodders
 
Ordered mine from FFX Tools for £62 last night and it will be delivered free of charge tomorrow. Need to get looking at the videos on you tube.
 
Harbor Freight Circular Saw Blade Sharpener Review and Modifications. Item 96687

Have look at this on youtube not the same brand but identical. very good tips.

Alan.
 
brianhabby":dvh4vsco said:
John Heisz posted this video on You Tube which I thought made the process look simple. I haven't tried it so have no idea how efficient it is but it might be of interest to some.

regards

Brian

Nice and simple so I'll be making my own but I thought diamond stones were lubricated with water not oil :?

Cheers,
John
 
ColytonJohn":jidjsile said:
brianhabby":jidjsile said:
John Heisz posted this video on You Tube which I thought made the process look simple. I haven't tried it so have no idea how efficient it is but it might be of interest to some.

regards

Brian

Nice and simple so I'll be making my own but I thought diamond stones were lubricated with water not oil :?

Cheers,
John
I really don't think it matters (although I am happy for someone to correct me), I understand that you can use either but oil makes them last longer. I use Johnsons Baby Oil on my diamond stones when sharpening my chisels.

regards

Brian
 
acewoodturner":siax8d3f said:
Ordered mine from FFX Tools for £62 last night and it will be delivered free of charge tomorrow. Need to get looking at the videos on you tube.

I've been considerign one of these for a while as the builder bloke I share a house with pays £10 per blade to be sharpened - and that doesn't even include doign my own, so it would pay for itself in a month or two.
 
ColytonJohn":3cj6oro6 said:
brianhabby":3cj6oro6 said:
John Heisz posted this video on You Tube which I thought made the process look simple. I haven't tried it so have no idea how efficient it is but it might be of interest to some.

regards

Brian

Nice and simple so I'll be making my own but I thought diamond stones were lubricated with water not oil :?

Cheers,
John

I watched that, but my search for "diamond sharpening sticks" has not yielded much.
 
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