Band blade drag sharpener

[RetiredTech]

I think somewhere in the 15 to 20 rpm range would be ideal.

Good to know. I have a small pwm I was going to use during the cam programming phase. I wasn't planning to leave it on the completed project though. I bought it a while back for another project that got shoved to the back burner. It may be a little small for this application, I guess I need to look it up.

[RetiredTech]

I have a custom built drag sharpener

  I just checked out the sharpener in your gallery. Nice Build.

[RetiredTech]

I see rain in the forecast so it may sooner than I thought.

I surely hope that your forecast is also my forecast.  I would git nekkid and do a rain dance if I thought that it would help.  

Well, It was raining when I got up this morning. Just a sprinkle now, but we'll take all we can get right now. We're still under a burn ban from the drought. Radar looks like we might have a little more coming. Maybe you could get dressed now. ;D

[maineshops]

Magician... age is just a number. And slow is a speed too.

[YooperFrank]

I built one that is basically a Grindlux copy. I added a variable speed control so I can get it dialed in at slow speed then crank it up to finish the job. I also made my cam to follow the whole profile and not just kiss the back of the tooth like some of the low cost sharpeners tend to do out of the box. I probably spent about $125 on parts.

[RetiredTech]

Cool. Post some pictures when you get time. I'd love to see it.

[RAYAR]

I have a custom built drag sharpener

 I just checked out the sharpener in your gallery. Nice Build.

Thanks
My sharpener came with my custom built mill, I didn't build it. I have modified it some to get it to where I can use it and do a good job on sharpening my blades, which I'm currently using now. They're cutting great.
It also had a tooth setter built on the back of the frame using a pair of vise grips to operate the setter, but that was not usable as you'd be lucky to get any two teeth set equally. I was going to rebuild it or actually build a dual tooth setter, but nothing done there yet.

[RetiredTech]

  I was very impressed with the Vevor Chainsaw sharpener when I first took it out of the box. The frame is all cast metal not plastic like the HF model I use to cleanup my old chains. I almost wanted to keep it for my chainsaws. A little closer examination revealed it's roots and flaws. More on that in a minute.
  The sharpener is made to hang over the bench or whatever it's mounted on. It has two stops on the bottom edge that are supposed to line up with the front edge of the bench. For my application I didn't want it hanging over so I ground them off with the bench grinder. That's the shiny sections you see on each side. Since I wanted it to sit flat on the board I'm going to mount it to I removed the bottom knob, installed a nut and cut the excess threads off.





  I also had to remove the spring that holds the head up in it's normal configuration. The small screw and bracket on the top right corner of the hing was removed also to allow the head to be picked up higher. Removing the spring revealed the first flaw. There's way more slop in the pin area than there should be. This can be fixed by drilling and taping the other side of the inner hinge to match the screw that was removed to allow the head to lift higher. Tighten a longer screw against the shaft on both sides and most of the play will be gone. The shaft will pivot in the outer hinge holes that are a much closer fit. You can see the other problem where the hole comes through under the hinge. The head is supposed to be adjustable for different angles but wouldn't sit flush against the mount and didn't adjust very well at all. I traced the problem to a blob of metal on the castings angle pivot hole. You can see the bright spot at the bottom of the hole where I filed the face flat.
 
 

  The last improvement I made for the casting was to remove the non flat washer they supplied and ground a nice radius on a larger fender washer to slide over the arched adjustment slot and doubled it with a smaller washer. The adjuster works smoothly now.





  This picture shows all the extra chain sharpening pieces removed. The small bolt in the center is used to adjust the drag on the band.





  Last picture. I plan to reuse the chain guides that were on the sharpener. They have a little dimple on each side to help space them apart for the chain. I filed the dimples flat on one of the guided and also removed one of the washers from each bolt. The remaining washer that I did use I filed flat on one side so the band could fit a little lower in the channel. That's it for this go around. I think it's going to work out OK.

[YooperFrank]

I would post a picture but it looks like this forum doesn't like photos from my iPhone.  Good luck with your build. 

[terrifictimbersllc]

Many post from their phones. You upload to your gallery then insert it into your post from there.

[RetiredTech]

I would post a picture but it looks like this forum doesn't like photos from my iPhone.  Good luck with your build.

Welcome to the forum Yopper. I guess I missed that you were new before. Posting Photos on the FF is not very intuitive. After you do it a few times it's not bad at all. Check this post for instructions. Posting Photos's

[YooperFrank]

I followed that process. The problem appears to be the site doesn't like iPhone format. Tells me that it won't upload a file with that extension. I guess you need to re-save/edit photo and save as jpeg. 



 

[RetiredTech]

  It was too nasty to get out today so I worked on the band sharpener a little while. Here are a few pictures to show what I have so far. I don't know why the first photo looks like the advancing arm running at an angle. I must have been standing offset to one side or something. It's actually in line with the band guides. I ran it for a while with no blade in the slot and it tracks perfectly. .













  Not much progress I know. But I'll get it done. Hopefully before I run out of blades.

[Old Greenhorn]

That's one of those projects where you just have to focus on one aspect at a time and get it right, then move on to the next aspect. I think you are doing is just right.
Frankly though. I had a hard time focusing on what you wrote after I saw the lace cloth on your workbench. It occurred to me that I have been woefully inadequate all my life in the adornments I use to enhance the appearance of my shop. I must be a total slob, because your workspace just blows mine away. I guess I have to work on that. I wonder what people have thought when they come in my shop and now I am so ashamed. ;D

[RetiredTech]

  . I guess you know that's not my work shop. Fact is, I don't have a shop right now. I have a small space upstairs amongst all the stored junk where I can work on small projects when the weather is bad. There wasn't enough clear space up there to get an uncluttered photo so I carried it downstairs to the table. It was only there for a few minutes so my wife didn't fuss.
  Back when I had a shop it was usually a mess. But I knew where everything was and it worked well for me. I hope to have that problem again someday. Wow, that was nearly 30 years ago.

[RetiredTech]

 I finally got worked back around to the sharpener project. Looks like it's going to work out alright. I made a lift arm for it with some flat bar stock and skate board bearings. Since the sharpener sets up off the base a bit I just let it pass under the band to gain more leverage to lift the grinder. It worked out fine. I also finished the cam. it's just MDF but it should last a long time. If I ever have to replace it I think I might use a piece of HD Plastic board. 
 I was able to restore most of the teeth to a band that tried to eat my log stop. Almost all the teeth were broken off right below the temper. The other 4-6 teeth were completely gone. I figured there was no hurting that one.   Still need to mount the electrical components make support arms and mount the rubber feet on the bottom of the base. But It does work. I'll get more pictures once I get it reassembled and a little more complete.