How to sharpen your own Band saw Blades

[Arlin Eastman]

from 3/4 tpi to 10 tpi blades.

First I used to use stones for my Dremel tool and now I use this I got from Grizzly and instead of using two stones per blade I have only used one diamond cutter for 2+ years now.

Grizzly link

http://www.grizzly.com/products/Mini-Dia...rizzly.com

YouTube links


This first guy does it the exact same way I do.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_akVVJo3G0M

This guy almost does it right but he does not go Under the gullet up to the point and that is needed as much as coming down to the point.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bg34znYDcVE

This last guy does way to much and changes the gullet and never gets to the point either up or down to it.  So you see what not to do.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iu56Lm2ieP0

Also as you can see from all three guys using stone and how all three stones are getting all the grit ground off of them and that is the reason I use the diamond cutters and so far they have lasted for 2+ years and have different sizes as well for the smaller teeth.

Last it would be a great help to lengthen the life of the blade by using this stone to round off the back of the blade on the two sides and helps to greatly reduce stress fractures on the blade

https://www.amazon.com/Olson-AC70013-Bla...B003A07FNM


Hope this helps and also help someone else save money on blades and give them the links.

Thank you to Timberwolf who told me about doing this 4+ years ago and now I have refined it to what you see now.

[mike4244]

from 3/4 tpi to 10 tpi blades.

First I used to use stones for my Dremel tool and now I use this I got from Grizzly and instead of using two stones per blade I have only used one diamond cutter for 2+ years now.

Grizzly link

http://www.grizzly.com/products/Mini-Dia...rizzly.com

YouTube links


This first guy does it the exact same way I do.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_akVVJo3G0M

This guy almost does it right but he does not go Under the gullet up to the point and that is needed as much as coming down to the point.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bg34znYDcVE

This last guy does way to much and changes the gullet and never gets to the point either up or down to it.  So you see what not to do.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iu56Lm2ieP0

Also as you can see from all three guys using stone and how all three stones are getting all the grit ground off of them and that is the reason I use the diamond cutters and so far they have lasted for 2+ years and have different sizes as well for the smaller teeth.

Last it would be a great help to lengthen the life of the blade by using this stone to round off the back of the blade on the two sides and helps to greatly reduce stress fractures on the blade

https://www.amazon.com/Olson-AC70013-Bla...B003A07FNM


Hope this helps and also help someone else save money on blades and give them the links.

Thank you to Timberwolf who told me about doing this 4+ years ago and now I have refined it to what you see now.

Arlin, I have been sharpening 3tpi or less band saw blades with the Dremel stone used for chain saws. Been doing this for 20+ years. Recently bought a diamond coated cylindrical stone from Dremel. Got it on Friday so I haven't had a chance to use it yet. I have not looked at your links yet, but the method I use hones the gullet and the point at the same time. My blades are sharper than new. I'll find out one of these days if the diamond stone I bought does  as a good of job as the chain saw stone. Takes me about 15/20 minutes to hone a 113" blade for a 16" saw. I remove the blade guard, vacuum saw dust and the hone.

mike

[Arlin Eastman]

Yah Mike I sharpen the whole thing since it is so easy.  I will never change the gullet like the guy on the last video did since it was not made like that and it will weaken the metal.

[Alan S]

 I will never change the gullet like the guy on the last video did since it was not made like that and it will weaken the metal.

To be fair, he says he has sharpened that blade 12 times already, and is not sharpening but deepening the gullets to allow sharpening again.  His usual method does not touch the gullet.  He could use a larger diamond burr.

[LongLook]

from 3/4 tpi to 10 tpi blades.

First I used to use stones for my Dremel tool and now I use this I got from Grizzly and instead of using two stones per blade I have only used one diamond cutter for 2+ years now.

Grizzly link

http://www.grizzly.com/products/Mini-Dia...rizzly.com

YouTube links


This first guy does it the exact same way I do.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_akVVJo3G0M

This guy almost does it right but he does not go Under the gullet up to the point and that is needed as much as coming down to the point.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bg34znYDcVE

This last guy does way to much and changes the gullet and never gets to the point either up or down to it.  So you see what not to do.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iu56Lm2ieP0

Also as you can see from all three guys using stone and how all three stones are getting all the grit ground off of them and that is the reason I use the diamond cutters and so far they have lasted for 2+ years and have different sizes as well for the smaller teeth.

Last it would be a great help to lengthen the life of the blade by using this stone to round off the back of the blade on the two sides and helps to greatly reduce stress fractures on the blade

https://www.amazon.com/Olson-AC70013-Bla...B003A07FNM


Hope this helps and also help someone else save money on blades and give them the links.

Thank you to Timberwolf who told me about doing this 4+ years ago and now I have refined it to what you see now.

Lee Valley sells chain saw sharpening burrs in various sizes that work very well in sharpening bs blades.

[Willyou]

I confess that I only skimmed through the videos and didn't listen to the dialog. So, maybe I've got something wrong.
I have done this with a chainsaw stone a couple of times and it, of course, did sharpen the blade. What I did not do was grind the top of the teeth. This grind, if I'm seeing correctly, has a side slope to it that, like a crosscut handsaw, should be at a certain angle. The videos seemed to ignore this. I did not touch the top as I didn't feel that it was necessary and I didn't want to try to find the angle and make a jig to keep it correct. I think my sharpening was pretty good without it. Also, by grinding the top you are apt to change the height of the tooth more than just grinding the under side.

[Timberwolf]

from 3/4 tpi to 10 tpi blades.

First I used to use stones for my Dremel tool and now I use this I got from Grizzly and instead of using two stones per blade I have only used one diamond cutter for 2+ years now.

Grizzly link

http://www.grizzly.com/products/Mini-Dia...rizzly.com

YouTube links


This first guy does it the exact same way I do.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_akVVJo3G0M

This guy almost does it right but he does not go Under the gullet up to the point and that is needed as much as coming down to the point.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bg34znYDcVE

This last guy does way to much and changes the gullet and never gets to the point either up or down to it.  So you see what not to do.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iu56Lm2ieP0

Also as you can see from all three guys using stone and how all three stones are getting all the grit ground off of them and that is the reason I use the diamond cutters and so far they have lasted for 2+ years and have different sizes as well for the smaller teeth.

Last it would be a great help to lengthen the life of the blade by using this stone to round off the back of the blade on the two sides and helps to greatly reduce stress fractures on the blade

https://www.amazon.com/Olson-AC70013-Bla...B003A07FNM


Hope this helps and also help someone else save money on blades and give them the links.

Thank you to Timberwolf who told me about doing this 4+ years ago and now I have refined it to what you see now.

,,,,,,,,,,,
Arlin, it's so easy even a cave man can do it !!!!!!!.
 .A great money saver if you do much band sawing and they usually cut better than new..I have not had to buy a new blade in years...Tune your saw, sharpen the blade and cut veneer thinner than the thickness of the blade !!!!!!!!
 

[mike4244]

I confess that I only skimmed through the videos and didn't listen to the dialog. So, maybe I've got something wrong.
I have done this with a chainsaw stone a couple of times and it, of course, did sharpen the blade. What I did not do was grind the top of the teeth. This grind, if I'm seeing correctly, has a side slope to it that, like a crosscut handsaw, should be at a certain angle. The videos seemed to ignore this. I did not touch the top as I didn't feel that it was necessary and I didn't want to try to find the angle and make a jig to keep it correct. I think my sharpening was pretty good without it. Also, by grinding the top you are apt to change the height of the tooth more than just grinding the under side.

The teeth are similar to a rip saw. Not cut on a bevel like a crosscut saw, so the teeth are ground straight across with the Dremel tool held level. If you look at a new band saw blade you will see what I mean. If the correct hone is used then the gullet and tip of the tooth will be sharpened at the same time. I usually need 4 strokes back and forth to sharpen the blade. I only sharpen blades that have 3 or less TPI. Blades with a high TPI cannot be sharpened with the stones I use. I did try to sharpen an 8 TPI blade once with a Dremel cutting disk, the type for cutting metal off. Takes too long. The blade was sharper, but not as good as I wanted. 
Sharpening the 3 TPI blades produces a better blade than a new one, I believe new blades are not ground but stamped. 
mike

[Derek Cohen]

jHi Arlin

I've posted before how I use a Dremel with a diamond disk to remove a smidgeon of steel from only the back of the blade. The gullet is untouched.

I leave the blade in the bandsaw, get it up to full speed, and then jab down really fast with the Dremel to hit the back of each tooth. You gotta be quick!


..... leave the blade on the wheels, and then rotate it by hand. As each tooth comes up, stroke the back.



It takes about 15-20 minutes for a 3 tpi 1/2" bimetal blade on my Hammer N4400 (your average 18" bandsaw size). It takes about 10-15 minutes for a 1" 1.3tpi carbide Lenox.

This is a Lenox Woodmaster CT (carbide) after 3 sharpenings. There is still plenty to go ...



Regards from Perth

Derek

[Willyou]

The teeth are similar to a rip saw. Not cut on a bevel like a crosscut saw, so the teeth are ground straight across with the Dremel tool held level.
mike

Good to know. Thanks. When I looked closely at mine, I thought I was seeing a bevel. However, I still disagree with grinding the top of the teeth. I think you are taking a risk of changing the height of the teeth relative to one another and, with each grinding, change the depth of the gullet. This could have an adverse effect on cutting. It may not be a huge change, but why do it if not necessary and I don't believe it is necessary to grind both sides in order to get good results.