The unsolved mystery of cirkular saw blade sharpening

[heimlaga]

In the summer of 2013 I bought this old Servus cirkular saw blade sharpener. The company Servus still exists in Stockholm in Sweden though they claim to know nothing about theese old machines.

It was rusty and dirty and some moving parts were stuck so I took it apart completely and cheaned everything repaired some damage to the mechanism and shifted all bearings and lubricated everything. My intention was to fit it out with a diamond wheel and start sharpening my own blades.

Then I started researching on the internet. I was told that carbide blades have to be wet sharpened to avoiod fracturing the carbide and that theese old grinders aren't rigid enough to handle the needed grinding pressure for grinding carbide. I was also told that the diamond wheel gets destoyed if it touches the steel in the blade which it of cause will do when grinding the tops of the teeth. The guy who told me this claimed to run a sharpening service somewhere.
I abandoned the project but I could not make myself throw away my newly rebuilt grinder. It still lays under a heap of worn out welding gloves on a shelf in the tractor shed.

Now I have notised that the whole world seems to be full of consumer grade saw blade grinders like this one
http://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/s ... 28686.html
They are all much less rigidly built than my old cast iron grinder. They are all made for dry grinding and they claim to be able to grind the tops of the teeth.

Did I get incorrect information and is my machine better than I believed?........or are the toolmongers selling junk as usual?

 

[Bigstinka]

When using a diamond to sharpen carbide tipped tool I have found the steel seems to clog it up slightly. It will be fine but try not to touch it on if you can and only the bare minimum. Also with the rigidity obviously more sturdy the better but you aren't doing massive chunks just minor regrinding so don't worry. What's the worst that can happen? Just knackered up a blunt blade. I'm a manual metal lathe operator by day...

 

[rafezetter]

That sharpening system you posted on Alibaba I've seen used in a lot of USA based youtubes, and in every single one, it's used DRY, no water.

All of them state once you've got it set up right and the technique down it's quick and simple - far as I can tell they barely touch the carbide tip face to the spinning sharpening blade for more than a second, literally just enough to "freshen up" the tip, nowhere near long enough for any sort of heat build up to fracture the carbide.

If a hard regrind was needed for a badly chipped tooth, it might be different and a wet method used, but I've read unless a carbide tip is so badly damaged to a point it might throw a tooth in use - in which case a new one could be brazed on - a chip will eventually get polished out and won't affect performance.

I was considering buying one myself as it's only about £60 which is the cost of 6 lots of sharpenings, especially as I share a house with a builder who would also need blades sharpening.

Have a look on some you tubes, the machine I've seen used is practically identical, and should put your mind at ease.

 

[heimlaga]

Thanks for yor replies.

What I am risking is the prize of a new diamond wheel plus a day of work making the missing adjustable blade support right in front of the wheel.
I think I will take the risk and see if it works.....but I have other projects to finish first.