Swapping from cooks to Wood Mizer, should I?

[vfauto]

I have a cooks cats claw sharpener and do not have the best luck with it in the setter. I am thinking of going with a fully automated wood miser. I will listen to any input

 

 

  or interest in my set up.

[dgdrls]

What's the challenge with the tools?

D

[vfauto]

With the grinder I don't like the idea of having to shape the stone and readjust the height as the stone wares down.As far as the setter it's very inconsistent and I only use it once every six months so it's like learning all over again. I do not think there is anything wrong with either unit it is just me not using it often enough.

[moodnacreek]

All setters are not created equal but how do you get away from dressing stones?

[Stephen1]

How many blades are you going thru in a year? 
It might be better to sell the cooks, use the money, and send you blades to a resharp. I know If I only had to sharpen/set every 6 months or so, I am not going thru many blades. 
I have the WM BMS250 and dual seter. It works great. The CBN grinding wheel is the best. No shaping any stones. Once I learned the setter, which took quite a while, i'm good to go. I would still rather go fishing or golfing than sharpen any day. 

[YellowHammer]

I had the same setup as you.  Cooks setter and sharpener.  Both worked fine, but I did not "bond" with them, although I spent a lot of time with them.  I sold both and now have WM equipment.  Sharpening has become a non event, too easy, setting a non event also. 

If you have the money, "Do it."   

[terrifictimbersllc]

I have BMS250 and BMT250. Had earlier shop series versions. Much better.  I would only recommend a CBN
 sharpener and a setter that has gauges.

If you're ever down to Mystic I can show you mine. 

[terrifictimbersllc]

All setters are not created equal but how do you get away from dressing stones?

CBN is a coating deposited on a steel wheel.  So shape doesnt change. 

[Wintergreen Mountain]

   I have the Cooks Cat Claw and Dual tooth setter.
     I have to shape Stones only 1 time before replacing them. Also remember you will have to adjust every blades depth of grind and angle. They are all at different stages of wear..
   The dual setter takes some fine tunning to get it to it's best profomance, but once it is tuned in,it is unbeatable.
   I would play with them a little longer before abandoning them.

   Leon

[Banjo picker]

I got the Cooks system you have.  I doubt I'll ever change sharpeners, though from what the guys that use them on here say the woodmizer is probably better.  I can get a blade so sharp it will hurt you...so I am not gonna change.

The dual tooth setter is another animal....I haven't got good with it, and I doubt it will ever come close to the single tooth setter (that I still have and will have) as far as accuracy.  I made one of Chucks desetters and that does help....some.  I have my customers spoiled,  they don't think they should have to plane boards.  Tim

[hersnsh#590]

Any pictures of "Chuck's desetters"?

Dale

[Banjo picker]

Sure, but you need to check out @Chuck White s origional.  Mines pretty crowded where they are now I got them mounted on 1/4 inch steel plate and held in place with a c clamp.  Someday maybe they will have a permanent home.  Just pull the band through a couple times.  I used a Frost conveyer rollers.  They was about $45.00 for the pair.

 

You owe me one I went out in the rain to get those pictures.🙂

[Banjo picker]

If the original poster only sets every 6 months.   A single tooth would suffice ,and is easy to learn.  Tim

[Chuck White]

Any pictures of "Chuck's desetters"?

Dale

Here's a pic of the desetter that I had made!
You did a good job on yours, Tim!

[Banjo picker]

Thanks Chuck, you deserve all the credit.     Tim

[farmfromkansas]

If you want to sell your Cooks equipment, list it in the for sale section.  I am watching the ads.

[boonesyard]

I don't want to get off topic, but had a similar sharpener/setter question. We've been using the Resharp service, but the shipping costs and current unknowns/shipping time frames have made this option less cost effective. I'm going through more blades than ever (funny how that works) and have decided to order a BMS250 and also looking at the BMT200 or 250 to keep the control in house. My question is, is the $700 worth it for full automation over the manual crank on the setter? I know it all comes down to time and what it's worth, but I really don't know how long it really takes to set a blade? Also, I know it's been discussed before, but what's the consensus on whether to set or sharpen first??

Thanks

[ladylake]

  Set first then sharpen , keeps the teeth square with the blade. I'd go with manual crank setter, then you can keep a eye on how it's setting.  Sometimes you get a broken tooth or something else the get the setter out of sequence which would really mess the blade up if your not watching.  Steve

[YellowHammer]

Everybody has their own way, and you will develop yourself.

However, I'd go fully automated.  I posted a video on how to fine tune the setter so it does a better than new job, and shows preset, set and post set measurements in single stroke.  

Setting a band with an auto setter takes about 2 to 3 minutes.  It should set to within a couple thousandths.  I've had a hand crank setter, never again.  

I'm a big fan of sharpening then setting, for two reasons.  On is that the measurements of the set are taken from the tooth corner, so if the corner is dull and not fully formed, it's measuring off a bogus point and can add a few thousandths of error and frustration.  A CBN wheel does the same profile all the time, every time, so I use that to my advantage.  Fully form the tooth by sharpening, then measure off it for the set.  

The second reason I sharpen then set is that many times I don't set at all.  This is something I can only do with an accurate CBN but I can kiss the tooth so accurately, I can sharpen the edge corner and only take a whisker out of the set.  So I may drop the set from .025 to .022, which is the WM standard set on most bands.  
When the band I dull, I reset everything to .025".  It sometimes (not always) takes two passes, one to sharpen, the second to dial in and "home in" on the corner, but I don't care, everything's automated.  

[boonesyard]

Thanks, I need to make the decision and get it done this week.

Woodmizer is crazy busy right now. Mills, parts and blades are all sold and out a long way. 

[Stephen1]

I agree with YH. Fully Automatic.  If you are doing any quantity of blades, it's worth the upgrade to Auto. 
I now sharpen and then set with the CBN wheel.