WM pro series sharpener and Cooks sharpener with pics.

[terrifictimbersllc]

I have a 2" medium cup brush in my floor standing drill press, pressed against a wooden table with a wooden fence next to the edge of the cup.   I flip all the blades to be cleaned inside out, and pull it under the spinning cup brush (between the bottom of the cup and the wooden table), with the teeth pointed away from the pulling direction.  It takes about 15 seconds to clean the inside of the blade and it gets stuff off the teeth too.  It is very fast and optimal for me.  My blades aren't dirty on the other side.

[barbender]

I have a 2" medium cup brush in my floor standing drill press, pressed against a wooden table with a wooden fence next to the edge of the cup.   I flip all the blades to be cleaned inside out, and pull it under the spinning cup brush (between the bottom of the cup and the wooden table), with the teeth pointed away from the pulling direction.  It takes about 15 seconds to clean the inside of the blade and it gets stuff off the teeth too.  It is very fast and optimal for me.  My blades aren't dirty on the other side.

That sounds slick ;)

[Bibbyman]

How many re-sharps can you get from the .055 blades? I found three or four was about it.

Know a guy that ran an LT300. He'd re-sharp one time then pitch them. He didn't want to risk breaking a blade and having to stop to change it out.  Time was worth more than the blade.

[Chuck White]

That would be nice finding someone close by that only sharpened a couple of times, I'd be there with my hand out!  ;D

[Bibbyman]

We've been using up old blades all summer and fall.  I'd probably been far better off just pitching them - time and production wise.

I'm down to about 6 9° blades and then it's 7°s from now on.  Most all of our remaining blade stock has been re-sharpened the first time and only time by Re-Sharp service.   I'm hoping to get through winter without doing too much sharpening. 

[Peter Drouin]

Thats all I get 3 or 4 sharpens on the .055  7s . but I do leave them on to long  :D :D :D :D

  

  These are  the WM tools that I use   ;D

[customsawyer]

I can't tell you how many times I sharpen a blade. It varies depending on what I am cutting. If I am cutting cypress there is times when I will cut all day on the same blade. (give or take 10,000bf) These logs are clean and the cypress cuts like butter. If I am cutting my regular logs then I get about 2,500 bf from each blade. If I am cutting the junk logs I am happy to get anything over 100 bf. I guess what I am saying is it all depends. The blades I use on each type of logs I keep separate this way I get the most out of each blade as it is cutting the same thing that it started out on. 
I can hear the eye brows rising in the back ground with the 10,000 bf per  blade but you have to remember that my main product is timbers so there is times that I am cutting 10X12 or 16X20 or even a few 22X22 timbers. These timbers add up. This helps to keep your board foot per blade up. With my regular cutting I am usually going for a 12X12X40 so this helps to keep the bf per blade up also.

[fishpharmer]

Customsawyer,  thanks for starting this very informative topic, good photos.  All the contributers (here) really add value by sharing hard earned experiences,  allowing us readers to make more educated decisions about choosing sharpening equipment.  Thanks to all.

It would be cool if someone could come up with a calculator to determine the level of blade usage/ resharpening that gives the economic "breaking" point justifying purchase of sharpening equipment.  (I may play around with a spreadsheet toward that goal). Lots of variables:cost of new blades, Bdft per blade, $ Bdft, "resharp+shipping " cost, average resharpenings, Actual cost of sharpening equipment.  Level of usage to justify owning resharpening equipment.  Lots of variables.  Any ideas?  Or Bad idea?
Thanks

[Bibbyman]

Wood-Mizer Re-Sharp must have come up with some limit as they reject blades that are too short.

I think your answer would depend greatly if you own your oan equipment and don't count your time and expense vs use a sharpining service.

[Magicman]

and don't count your time 

I could justify resharpening my blades if I considered the resharpening cost alone.  The kicker in my situation is my time.  Sure, I'm "retired" and have plenty of time.  Not.

For me, ReSharp is a bargain, but I have found this thread interesting and informative.  I also followed Bibby's thread with each post that he made.  Thanks to Bibbyman and customsawyer for starting these topics and to all others who have contributed meaningful information and suggestions.  We all learn together.   

[terrifictimbersllc]

Customsawyer,  thanks for starting this very informative topic, good photos.  All the contributers (here) really add value by sharing hard earned experiences,  allowing us readers to make more educated decisions about choosing sharpening equipment.  Thanks to all.

It would be cool if someone could come up with a calculator to determine the level of blade usage/ resharpening that gives the economic "breaking" point justifying purchase of sharpening equipment.  (I may play around with a spreadsheet toward that goal). Lots of variables:cost of new blades, Bdft per blade, $ Bdft, "resharp+shipping " cost, average resharpenings, Actual cost of sharpening equipment.  Level of usage to justify owning resharpening equipment.  Lots of variables.  Any ideas?  Or Bad idea?
Thanks

Here's one way to look at it:  I paid approximately $4500 in order to be able to make about $25 per hour sharpening my own blades.

[Chuck White]

My sharpener cost me $2455.00 delivered.

Figuring sharpening at the rate of $7.00/blade, when I sharpen my 350th blade I will be even, compared with resharp.

Right now, I lack 35 blades and the amortization will be done and my equipment won't owe me a cent!

One of the things to my advantage is that I'm not dependent on an income from my mill, it's just a part-time thing.

[WH_Conley]

I have sharpened over 200 blades til there was nothing left of them. At an average of 5 sharpenings per blade at $6.00 per blade, that would make about 6K. Not counting gas for a 30 miles round trip per batch of blades. On the conservative side, my sharpener has paid for it's self 3 times and more. I sharpen in the evenings in the basement, where it is cool in hot weather and next to the wood stove in cold weather.

[Bibbyman]

I sharpen in the evenings in the basement, where it is cool in hot weather and next to the wood stove in cold weather.

That's my struggle.  Our sharpener is set up in a cold shed.  Gowd-awful hot 6 months of the year and cold 4 months of the year.  When it's nice,  I can always find something more productive to do.

[WH_Conley]

That is the reason mine is in the basement. Tried the shed. Next thing I knew I had a whole pile of dull blades and no sharp ones.

[customsawyer]

The trouble I have is that I hate to work inside so I tend to put it off till I have to. ;D

[bandmiller2]

Its just plain handy to sharpen your own,no need for a large band inventory.I usally cut a half day, many times I will use one band until its worn out taking it off when I go home to lunch to sharpen.I have a couple of millers I sharpen bands for,my cats claw is pretty much paid for. Frank C.

[Bibbyman]

 

 

When I set out to sharpen, I put my white hasmat jumper on and set in for most of the day. 

I had the sharpener and setter set up for 1-1/2" blades for a month or so using up some 20 old 1-1/2" blades.  I got to where I'd take the couple I used that day and take them to the sharpener and fire it up.  I put one on and then go do something like fuel up the Terex.  Then come back and check on the sharpener.  Maybe set that blade while another was running.  If I had time, run off and charge the deck for the next day and so on until I had the day's dull blades back in service.  I was down to two blades for about a week.  If I had the sharpener set up within a few steps of the mill,  I could sharpen as I go.  But it's in a shed about half way from between the sawmill and the house.

Customsawyer,  does the Pro Series keep the spray and drip of the oil pretty much inside the machine?  The CBN sharpen tends to produce a mist of oil and smoke (if grinding too hard) and oil drips off the blade after it exits the sharpener.  In short, it's a mess.

[customsawyer]

Bibby I don't think it sprays all that much. The only oil that I get off of it is the dripping off of the blade. I keep a large pan under the arm that supports the blade. I think that the hood keeps the mist and spray down. It is a bit messy and I don't like having to clean the grindings out of the oil and have been studying on a few different ways to eliminate that part of the job. I do like the thought of grinding with oil versus dry but don't like the mess.

[Bibbyman]

 

  

This is my oil cleaning system except the heater goes under the metal pan.  When it gets below 45°,  I plug in the oil pan heater and warm the oil.  Once it gets flowing,  I can unplug the heater and the grinding and pumping will keep it warm enough.



 

Here is the first model with plastic pan. Except the pump goes in the lower pan.

As the oil falls off the grinder in the top dry aluminum pan,  the slag tends to fall out and collect. I clean this out every month or so. 

The oil then falls over the yellow plastic parts dish with magnets under the dish and the slag collects on it.  I remove the dish about every 10 blades and scrape off the slag into a bucket.

The pump sets in a little box with a pair of magnets that I put in baggies.  About every 50 blades I pull the bags and pull the magnets out of them and put them in new bags.

I've not cleaned out the steel pan yet.

[red pine]

Customsawyer, I may have missed the name of your setter in the messages. I am looking for either a 1 or 2 tooth setter and 2 tooth seems yours. Two seems to be preferred due to time saving although I use my mill only part time. Is it Cooks?
Regarding blade cleaning I use "oven cleaner" on my carpentry woodshop blades if they get gunk/tar on them and it works great. Have not tried on bands. Has anyone?

[customsawyer]

Red Pine I have a Cooks dual tooth setter. I don't think the oven cleaner would work in my application due to the cost and the number of blades that I use.

Bibby I was thinking about putting the pump in the bottom of a 5 gal bucket. Just have the oil drain back into the bucket through a cloth diaper or some cheese cloth. Then when the cloth gets full all you would have to do is through it away. I have tried the magnets and such but it is still messy. 

[WH_Conley]

How about putting the pump about half way in the bucket? There will always be some fines get through, that would give them a place to settle to without getting picked up by the pump.

[JFarmer]

I bought a cooks sharpener about 4 years ago and it has for sure paid for itself. I have saved a bundle of money over the resharp because I dont have to pay the resharp service plus fuel of taking them there and going back after them.

[Lee L]

I just got a Cooks sharpener and duel setter and built a roller.  After years of making do with makeshift setups being able to sharpen to any specs I need is wonderful.  I have to now agree that resharp(done the right way) is better than new.