Ok, so I have an obsession with sharpness, everybody I know realised this when I started going out with almost no hair on my left arm
This had led to quite a few tips and tricks I've discovered from reading old magazines, scouring the internet and experimenting (P.S. Some are a little bit risky and I honestly wouldn't recommend trying them unless you're really desperate... I am)
1. I got a couple of old magazines to look at from my girlfriend's next door neighbour, one of them was open on a particular page (I'm not sure if I'm allowed to scan it due to copyright so I'll try my hardest to describe it): Sharpen your blades on a normal sharpening stone, from experience I'd recommend sharpening to your finest grit stone, don't remove any guides you may be using. Then using a piece of window glass glued securely onto a FLAT block of wood, hone with a little smidgen of Brasso or similar fine abrasive paste. If you want a seriously polished edge then you can use toothpaste afterwards but it won't make that much of a difference to the quality of cut you'll get.
2. This one I saw from a Youtube video for sharpening a straight razor: Using a leather strop actually produces a convex surface to your bevel and in extreme cases this can reduce the quality of the edge, instead use a piece of newspaper of equally coarse paper on a flat surface to strop your blades as if you were trying to produce a very small microbevel, this will remove the burr and create the tiniest microbevel which will be flat. (This one I can swear to, my blades are so sharp I can actually plane Iroko cleanly with a freshly sharpened blade)
3. This one's quite risky but it doesn't half work! I learned it from the same guy who gave me the magazines but I'd heard of it before: For bandsaw blades that have become blunt due to overuse or hitting a staple etc. using a sacrificial coarse stone (DON'T USE A GOOD ONE!), reverse the blade so the teeth are facing the wrong way, to do this put gloves on and twist the blade inside out, and remount on the bandsaw. Whilst the bandsaw is running (this bit's why it's risky) hold the stone gently against the teeth of the blade so that it starts sharpening the backs of the teeth, and keep it there for about 3-4 seconds. When you've safely stopped the bandsaw, unplug and rotate the blade by hand to chack the backs of the teeth are sharpened, you should see a small patch of shiny metal on the backs of the teeth and it'll cut like new (if it wasn't a very good blade to start with it'll probably cut even better than new). ALWAYS REMEMBER SAFETY, IF YOU WANT TO TRY THIS PLEASE BE AS CAREFUL AS YOU POSSIBLY CAN, USE YOUR LONGEST SACRIFICIAL STONE SO YOUR HANDS ARE AS FAR AWAY FROM THE BLADE AS POSSIBLE, NEVER STAND TO THE SIDE OF A RUNNING BANDSAW BLADE AND KEEP THE AREA AROUND YOU CLEAN AT ALL TIMES
Thanks
Anthony
P.S. If I've done bad putting people's safety at risk let me know and I'll remove the last one
This had led to quite a few tips and tricks I've discovered from reading old magazines, scouring the internet and experimenting (P.S. Some are a little bit risky and I honestly wouldn't recommend trying them unless you're really desperate... I am)
1. I got a couple of old magazines to look at from my girlfriend's next door neighbour, one of them was open on a particular page (I'm not sure if I'm allowed to scan it due to copyright so I'll try my hardest to describe it): Sharpen your blades on a normal sharpening stone, from experience I'd recommend sharpening to your finest grit stone, don't remove any guides you may be using. Then using a piece of window glass glued securely onto a FLAT block of wood, hone with a little smidgen of Brasso or similar fine abrasive paste. If you want a seriously polished edge then you can use toothpaste afterwards but it won't make that much of a difference to the quality of cut you'll get.
2. This one I saw from a Youtube video for sharpening a straight razor: Using a leather strop actually produces a convex surface to your bevel and in extreme cases this can reduce the quality of the edge, instead use a piece of newspaper of equally coarse paper on a flat surface to strop your blades as if you were trying to produce a very small microbevel, this will remove the burr and create the tiniest microbevel which will be flat. (This one I can swear to, my blades are so sharp I can actually plane Iroko cleanly with a freshly sharpened blade)
3. This one's quite risky but it doesn't half work! I learned it from the same guy who gave me the magazines but I'd heard of it before: For bandsaw blades that have become blunt due to overuse or hitting a staple etc. using a sacrificial coarse stone (DON'T USE A GOOD ONE!), reverse the blade so the teeth are facing the wrong way, to do this put gloves on and twist the blade inside out, and remount on the bandsaw. Whilst the bandsaw is running (this bit's why it's risky) hold the stone gently against the teeth of the blade so that it starts sharpening the backs of the teeth, and keep it there for about 3-4 seconds. When you've safely stopped the bandsaw, unplug and rotate the blade by hand to chack the backs of the teeth are sharpened, you should see a small patch of shiny metal on the backs of the teeth and it'll cut like new (if it wasn't a very good blade to start with it'll probably cut even better than new). ALWAYS REMEMBER SAFETY, IF YOU WANT TO TRY THIS PLEASE BE AS CAREFUL AS YOU POSSIBLY CAN, USE YOUR LONGEST SACRIFICIAL STONE SO YOUR HANDS ARE AS FAR AWAY FROM THE BLADE AS POSSIBLE, NEVER STAND TO THE SIDE OF A RUNNING BANDSAW BLADE AND KEEP THE AREA AROUND YOU CLEAN AT ALL TIMES
Thanks
Anthony
P.S. If I've done bad putting people's safety at risk let me know and I'll remove the last one