Re-sharpen or buy new

[Jacob]

£9 for sharpening 3no 12" planer blades
http://www.lmcuttingtools.com/LM_Cutting_Tools/L_M_Cutting_Tools_saw_blades.htmlHave been using them for many years - never a problem always spot on.

 

[sammy.se]

Users of this forum have used leitz in Essex before:

https://www.leitz.org/en-gb/services/re-sharpening-tool-repair
Anecdotally, I do hear that blades can come back sharper than when bought, so I will try sharpening when the time comes, rather then re-buying.

 

[johnnyb]

I haven't tried the chester sharpeners ...yet. but I will. the local saw doctors are called Spencroft saws. not good unfortuneatly. I do sharpen but I look out for new cheap.

 

[Rorton]

thanks, I may try one of mine at Emersons then to see how they get on

 

[D_W]

I am seldom a TS user (my TS hangs on the wall in front of the belt grinder so that the sparks hit it instead of the wall), but also wonder if the TS fascination is much like the premium plane fascination on the HT side. That is, for almost all work except very specific finishing cuts, buying cheap blades and an inexpensive dry CBN sharpener would seem to get just as much done with less hassle.

I did have higher dollar stationary stuff in the past, but arbor runout that delta said was in spec made for more inaccuracy than cheap vs. higher dollar TS blades.

one of the more prolific furniture builders over here generally uses inexpensive thin circular saw blades to do most of his TS work (you can just use them, they're thinner kerf, cheaper on power soaking (not talking cost, but ease of pushing wood through), and if you damage one, you can pitch them.

 

[Rorton]

My local outlet is charging me £7.95 + vat for a 40t 254mm blade. Gonna take it down this afternoon.

apparently, he takes his blades to somewhere in Derby where he says…

I take my blades to a company in Derby, each Thursday, with a £140,000 Robot machine for tct Sawblades and a magnetic bed for planer blades.
Two very impressive machines.
I am pleased to say that since trading I have had no complaints

see how it goes

 

[JobandKnock]

It was a 40 tooth ATB combination blade with a 15 degree bevel. It came back with 19 degree bevels, with the carbide ground down and into the steel blade teeth. They took 3mm to 4mm or more off the diameter.

There are only two reasons that I can think of why you'd lose so much off the diameter - firstly there was some damage to one or more teeth meaning that they needed to take so much off to make all the teeth equal (but TBH before taking so much off they should have contacted you to see if another solution which could minimise the tooth size reduction, such as replacing the current teeth with new ones then grinding, was possible) - or that basically they aren't competent. Given that they screwed up the grind angles as well, it suggests the latter

 

[Inspector]

There are only two reasons that I can think of why you'd lose so much off the diameter - firstly there was some damage to one or more teeth meaning that they needed to take so much off to make all the teeth equal (but TBH before taking so much off they should have contacted you to see if another solution which could minimise the tooth size reduction, such as replacing the current teeth with new ones then grinding, was possible) - or that basically they aren't competent. Given that they screwed up the grind angles as well, it suggests the latter

There wasn't any damage to the teeth, at least not when I brought it in in a wood case with metal edges and a bolt in the middle to hold it in place. The case is one Sandvic used to send the heavy milling machine cutters where I used to work. I think they are hacks and won't be going back but some others around here like their work.

Pete

 

[JobandKnock]

...for almost all work except very specific finishing cuts, buying cheap blades and an inexpensive dry CBN sharpener would seem to get just as much done with less hassle.

I'm at a different part of the spectrum on this. I am mainly a site carpenter by occupation, so I typically spend 8 to 15 hours, sometimes more, a week solid sawing stuff - sheet materials, softwoods, cement board, hardwoods, etc. using a variety of saws and cheap blades are definitely more work. In general stuff like Silverline or Toolpak (in the USA possibly Harbor Freight?) doesn't cut as quickly or as smoothly as better quality generic stuff, like Saxton (in the UK), or OEM blades. The really cheap blades are also a lot more likely to cause relatively underpowered portable power tools to overheat more readily. On top of that they tend to give a poor quality cut, don't last as long and won't regrind as many times. So they just aren't the bargain they might seem to be at first glance.

On static tools the overheating and power loss aren't as noticeable, but the rough cutting, poor cut surfaces and short life are (I've dabbled in commercial joinery a time or two).

So whilst I agree that the absolute top end blades (in price terms) won't deliver many advantages over a mid market blade, very often the cheapest blades can be a false economy

 

[D_W]

I guess I was thinking of the lower cost blades as being the types made by freud, etc, and not necessarily blades that may not have plate tension or some fundamental quality to be able to saw straight. I think this type of blade is about $8 for a circular saw or $20 for a full sized TS blade, but I do agree that if there's something ratty about a low price range and you're using the low price range gadget all the time, then it's false economy to save $2.

My dad has done a lot of kind of crude work, and my FIL has, also (as in, they'll make things, but they're not looking to be woodworkers per se - things like benches or pine bookshelves shelves for a seldom used bedroom). It drives me nuts to work with them because they are the types who will buy something cheap and then use it until it's dull and then use it for another several years. Frugality goes so far that it works backwards in terms of time wasted.