The Forestry Forum

General Forestry => Sawmills and Milling => Topic started by: coastlogger on October 14, 2013, 05:00:38 PM

Title: Dinasaw sharpener
Post by: coastlogger on October 14, 2013, 05:00:38 PM
Wondering if anyone has used a Dinasaw sharpener and how they liked it?It appears to have the ability it angle grind as well as straight across. Wonder if this is a good thing .Thinking about getting a new sharpener and kind of like the looks of this one.
Title: Re: Dinasaw sharpener
Post by: SAW MILLER on October 14, 2013, 05:45:20 PM
I have sharpened hundreds with mine but never use the angle feature . It does a good job but takes some time to get good at it . If the angle was that important , I think other manufacturers would be doing it too .
Title: Re: Dinasaw sharpener
Post by: uler3161 on October 14, 2013, 05:46:40 PM
We have one and I'd say overall we like it. My dad does the sharpening, but I've worked with it a bit as well. We used to do the angle grind and I really liked how it cut. However, we have went back to a straight grind. It seemed that it was getting out of alignment once in awhile and that particular alignment doesn't seem to be a problem on a straight grind. It's not so obvious that you have something wrong until you go to cut.

It is a bit complicated to run, so I recommend a lot of patience. I would take some of your oldest blades to practice on first. The instruction book has some hand drawn photos of what to adjust to match the profile, but I found it easier to run the blade through with the grinding head turned off and just a little above the blade and then do adjustments. Some of the adjustments won't quite stay in one place over time, so you have to watch it. They could have made it better with some way to lock the adjustments. I think it would be possible to add some lock handles, but we haven't done it. I don't know if newer machines have been updated. Also, a newer machine may also be tighter and you may not notice this right away.

I would seriously consider going through a company like Baileys to purchase it. There is a metal cam inside the machine that wore out on us. We bought a new one from Baileys, but unfortunately it must have been for a different revision of the machine. As I recall, the shaft was the same, but it was either the shape of the cam or the thickness of the cam that was way off. I don't remember which. We sent it back and I think Baileys ended up machining it down for us.  I'm very happy with Baileys. They went out of their way to help us. As for having the wrong part, I'm not sure what the deal was. Perhaps a different revision of the machine.

I would like to go back to the angle grind and try less of a tooth set. We continued to set the way we always have and we could cut quite fast with the angle grind. But supposedly you can run less set with the angle grind. I just wonder how that would affect cutting speeds. I know some people are skeptical on stuff like this angle grind, but we also sharpened blades for a couple other WM owners and they were also impressed.

Oh, another thing is the grinding wheels seem to be hard to find. The arbor is kind of small. All I could ever find was Dinasaw branded wheels. We bought the grinding back in '06 or '07 as I recall, and since then I think the standard wheels have just about doubled in price. Cyclone wheels have went up quite a bit too. My dad liked those, but didn't feel we were getting enough out of them for the money.

Hope that helps,
Dan
Title: Re: Dinasaw sharpener
Post by: dozer326 on October 17, 2013, 09:44:00 AM
I have a dinasaw sharpener.  It doesn't have the angle feature you speak of but it works well as it is.  I agree with the importance of patience at first.  However, I find it simple to adjust after a few uses.  The grinding wheels were available thru baileys at a price that made me wonder why I was even sharpening my own blades.  Then I managed to find some grinding wheels from harbor freight for about $6.   I drilled the hole out to 7/16",  ( I believe wheels are a 3/8" from the store).   The sharpener is a hand crank model, which is fine by me.  This allows me to monitor the blade for flaws and to ensure the grinding wheel stays perfectly in sync with the teeth.  I would buy another one.

I also have the dinasaw setter.  This setter is awesome!   I can set a blade in a few minutes.  Very fast and precise!  I think I can sharpen and set 3-4 blades per hour if I push it and the blades do not need heavy grinding.  One of the most valuable lessons I learned was to pull band blades from the mill the instant they begin to dull.   Saves costly milling errors AND prolongs blade life AND makes sharpening a breeze.  The "let's make one more cut" attitude never seems to pay off for me. 
Title: Re: Dinasaw sharpener
Post by: thecfarm on October 17, 2013, 10:02:12 AM
dozer326,welcome to the forum. What have you got for a saw? Been sawing long?
Title: Re: Dinasaw sharpener
Post by: dozer326 on October 17, 2013, 10:12:12 AM
Thank you for the welcome!  i run a cat powered Logmaster LM4. Love it!
And A 40" wide homemade band mill.  Just picked up a 4 cyl diesel to build either a 60" wide bandsaw mill or a hydraulic driven chainsaw slabber mill.  We'll see. Been doing this about 4 years.  Saw mostly mesquite, walnut, and desert ironwood.
Title: Re: Dinasaw sharpener
Post by: thecfarm on October 17, 2013, 10:15:56 AM
We would like to come along on your build. Start a thread and let us see it. Others have and are doing a thread.
Title: Re: Dinasaw sharpener
Post by: ND rancher on October 18, 2013, 08:32:51 AM
I have an old one (1999) that came with the mill I bought last year and am still trying to figure it out. The instructions were weathered and hard to see so I tried to contact the company in NZ. to get new one and they didn't have one(?). So just been experimenting, doing it like  uler3161.My lowest hook settings are 8° and 12° so I hope that is what I'm sharpening at. Western Woodlot sells them also and have stones for about $6, not name brand.
Title: Re: Dinasaw sharpener
Post by: hamish on October 18, 2013, 03:33:02 PM
Quote from: ND rancher on October 18, 2013, 08:32:51 AM
The instructions were weathered and hard to see so I tried to contact the company in NZ. to get new one and they didn't have one(?). So just been experimenting, doing it like  uler3161.My lowest hook settings are 8° and 12° so I hope that is what I'm sharpening at. Western Woodlot sells them also and have stones for about $6, not name brand.

Western Woodlot has the instruction manual for the sharpener available on there website.
Title: Re: Dinasaw sharpener
Post by: ND rancher on October 18, 2013, 08:35:39 PM
hamish, all the manuals I looked at are for the newer versions, not the older ones! Everyone  I talked to couldn't find the older version. The outside is about the same, but the inside is different.
Title: Re: Dinasaw sharpener
Post by: hamish on October 18, 2013, 09:13:11 PM
Quote from: ND rancher on October 18, 2013, 08:35:39 PM
hamish, all the manuals I looked at are for the newer versions, not the older ones! Everyone  I talked to couldn't find the older version. The outside is about the same, but the inside is different.

Do you have the manual crank version, not the QP or RB ones. Plastic or metal cams? The lads at Dinasaw AU are great sent them an email, you will surely get a copy of one.
Title: Re: Dinasaw sharpener
Post by: ND rancher on October 19, 2013, 09:36:56 PM
I have a manual crank, metal cams.When I contacted them with the serial # they said they had no info?