Sharpening band blades!

[Randy]

I have a sharpner that came from woodmizer(got used) and I use woodmizer blades. If I put on a new grinding wheel and get it "shaped"--about how many blades should I be able to sharpening before I have to "dress and reshape" the wheel? Thanks Randy

[Bro. Noble]

I only shape the stone when I first put it on the grinder,  but dress it before sharpening each blade.  I just touch it lightly on the three different faces to keep the correct shape and to clean any metal out of the stone.

[Randy]

I had heard that some people dress after each blade, but I had been dressing only after sharpening several blades, but I got in some new blades yesterday(see I have never seen NEW blades since I bought the mill) and I think from the looks of the new ones compared to the old, I needed to dress the wheel more often. Randy

[Percy]

Heya Randy.
You are figuring it out just like I did several years ago ;D.  By the time I got to a new box of blades, my teeth on the old ones were like  about the size of hack saw teeth :D. I recognize how the stone should looknow and dress accordingly. Basicly touch it up every pass( I do two passes on each blade in an attempt to have every tooth the exact same height doing its fair share of the work). Still learning.
Good luck

[Randy]

Hello Percy!
Yes I was about to make a "Mess" of my old blade's. I thought I was sharpening them ok, But, I sure would be ashame for you pro's to see my old blade's. I just hadn't ever seen a new blade, so I didn't know. I went out to the sharpening shack today with a new blade in hand(for a guide), after ALOT of shapening :D-trying ETC----- I came out of there sharpening like the factory 8) :D. I layed the resharpened blade on top of the new blade--------------perfect-----------now some of you Pro's can bust my bubble and tell me the factory sharpening ain't no good----- :-[, then I will just try to buy one of your Perfect Blade's and copy it :D. Randy

[Jason_WI]

This is why I use WM Re-Sharp..... No extra time to mess with blades and they come back perfect.

Jason

[Tom]

The best way to determine if new or resharpened blades are correctly sharpened is to know how to sharpen .   It's difficult to judge when the criteria is that "they worked'.

You should only have to shape the stone to fit the tooth configuration.  Like Noble says, it may be only once.  A touch-up may be in order on occasion to assure the Gullet transition area remains correct and doesn't become to steep or too flat.   A touch on the right side will keep the tooth height proper too.

Touching the stone lightly with the shaper stone should be done before starting every blade and may have to be done in the midst of sharpening a blade.   One clue to look for is black streaks left on the ground surface of the gullet or back of the tooth.  This is an indication that the grinding stone is becoming clogged and burning the metal.   A touch with the shaper stone will expose fresh grit and make the grinding stone cut again.

[jrokusek]

As long as we're talking sharpening blades, what do you think of this homebrew sharpener with a metal cutoff wheel:  http://www.geocities.com/krupptus/others/blade/index.html

Good, bad, ugly??