Good morning all;
I've been a big fan and repeat resharp customer for a long time. Sadly, it looks like they're shutting down all their facilities (I used Indy). Before I pull the trigger on thousands of dollars worth of tooling (and another thing to have to learn how to do), what other outfits do any of you use for sharpening services? Admittedly, I love sharpening my hand tools, and even my chainsaw chains, but given the infrastructure needed and the time, I really enjoyed the division of labor with sending my blades out and having them come back either sharpened or replaced all together. Thanks in advance.
-Josh
I just got that email from Wood-Mizer too. Time to look for a blade sharpener.
QuoteAfter careful consideration and evaluation, we have made the difficult decision to end our blade sharpening service and close all of our US ReSharp® locations effective December 31, 2023.
Well this is certainly is going to change the rules for a lot of us.
Houston, we have a problem.
Apparently WM and it's corporate outlets will no longer have Resharp services but their ASC dealers like Parsons Woodmizer in Pennsylvania will continue to sharpen blades.
Quote from: Resonator on October 11, 2023, 08:35:47 AM
I just got that email from Wood-Mizer too. Time to look for a blade sharpener.
QuoteAfter careful consideration and evaluation, we have made the difficult decision to end our blade sharpening service and close all of our US ReSharp® locations effective December 31, 2023.
I have not seen that memo in my inbox yet.
Apparently some legume controller (formerly known as a bean counter) got promoted beyond their intelligence level.
GAB
We have sharpener about 23 miles from here. they used to sharpen bands. I have a sharpener and setter, and there is a learning curve. I decided to try the local sharpener. the guy that does the bands in 83 and his wife run reception and sons do the other sharpening. they have quit. I am told by @farmfromkansas (https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php?action=profile;u=36643) about this one, and another here in hutch. we will see but I may have to jump back on the learning curve. I used to ship to TK, but shipping has gotten higher, to the point I am almost with the guys who do not sharpen but just use new blades. I have got some of mu circle blades tuned up. a 32-tooth carbide was 13 bucks. family business and prob. way too cheap.
With high shipping costs, I can see where Resharp is a strained business model. The price of shipping doesn't leave a lot of meat for the price of the service. Add in the current difficulty of finding and retaining employees, and the resulting quality control issues, and I can see why they are getting out of it.
Add in the fact that they are still doing it for the same price they were 20 years ago. The math isn't really there for them to raise the price enough to make it pay.
When everything was figured in the cost of using Resharp, it got too expensive for me.
Figure in the turnaround time on top of the expense and periodic quality issues, sharpening my own made sense.
The equipment paid for itself in less than 18 months. Your mileage may vary.
What all do I need to sharpen my own blades?
My dealer, 2 hours away, used to sharpen blades when I bought the mill five years ago. Called him, waiting on a return call.
hugs, Brandi
I have used Wood-Mizer ReSharp for 21 years, but that just came to a screeching halt.
Each of us will have to make a decision based on our business profile. Mine was also based on my age and projected future sawing. That being said, my resharpening/setting machine choice will probably differ from what it would have been a few years ago.
a grinder and setter? what brand do you all recommend. I have TK. have not made it up the steep learning curve yet. no one seems to want to do it so it must be a PITA. I guess the key is to just "kiss" each side of the tooth. do not get too hung up on making the entire profile new and shiny. just like on a chainsaw chain. Just a few bumps, not a steady grind.
You will need a grinder/sharpener and a tooth setter. A gauge to measure set and a roller (shop built) to de-set teeth on a blade. I also have a gauge to identify different hook angles but in time you can look at them and tell.
A sturdy workbench to mount the machines on and power for them if they are electric.
A couple of stout wall hangers to hang dull and sharp blades.
Other than those major items there's not much more to the necessities.
The necessity for automatic versus manual machines and CBN grinding wheels comes down to choice/preference.
I have the Woodmizer BMS/BMT 250 I bought as a package about 3 years ago.
MM, give Marty Parson's shop a call. They told me they would continue sharpening blades. I have used them for over 10 years.
I will try again. the timing is off. Had you caught me at just the right moment last year, I would have given you mine and paid the shipping to boot :)
Quote from: Bindian on October 11, 2023, 02:07:48 PM
What all do I need to sharpen my own blades?
My dealer, 2 hours away, used to sharpen blades when I bought the mill five years ago. Called him, waiting on a return call.
hugs, Brandi
This is the outfit out of Kirby? I was about to call them myself. I remember they sharpened but weren't affiliated with the ReSharp network.
Pepe Silvia,
Rocking D Sawmill. Jay Durham owner. They are a Woodmizer dealer that also sharpens blades. I talked to them an hour ago and they don't have any agreement with UPS. Not sure about Fed Ex. Hopefully the owner's daughter will get a UPS agreement soon. They are working on that. They just found out yesterday about Resharp going bust.
Blades are not cheap to ship without the agreement. Don't ask me how I know this.
They are in just south of Kirbyville. rockingdsawmill@sbcglobal.net is the address they gave me.
hugs, Brandi
I just bought a box of new blades from an outfit in Indiana called Days band blades. Decent prices for the blades and they have a sharpening service. Just sent off my old blades so I will see how well they do. Prices are competitive.
We have an authorized Wood-Mizer dealership here in Mississippi that resharpens but due to shipping I can not use them. With the shipping, sharpening, and tax, I can buy new blades cheaper. ::) I even considered disposing after one use, but that just somehow seems wrong.
I am reducing my sawing by refusing and passing off some jobs which has reduced my blade usage to about 150 this year and hopefully less than that next year.
Anyway, my resharpening choice is a done deal.
So Lyn, what is your decision?
Quote from: Magicman on October 11, 2023, 06:53:32 PM
I am reducing my sawing by refusing and passing off some jobs which has reduced my blade usage to about 150 this year and hopefully less than next year.
If my math is vaguely correct, isn't that 100 Mbdft?
I didn't get any resharp shipping labels in my last boxs of resharps or new blades. The decision may have been in making for some time. They mailed me some on request.
Is it time to buy sharpening and setting equipment? For me, no. For the cost of equipment and no more than I mill, I will just buy new blades.
I suspect a sharpening businesses will pop up.
Sharpening for ones self and for others are two very different things. I found out real quick that I didn't want to sharpen for others. I only sharpen my own and keep it simple. I only use one profile and run in batches of 20-30 bands.
Adjust the sharpener once and go to town on them. Dull all, adjust and repeat.
I'm not surprised they are giving up on it.
A guy could make money at it sharpening for locals that could drop their blades off. That eliminates shipping, which is the real killer. Leaves a little more meat on the bone. Even if you were approaching $15 a blade for the service, that's now less than half of what my blades are costing me delivered.
For those of you on the fence about what to do yourselves, I'd suggest just getting a sharpener. You can sharpen your blades 3 times before they really need set. Running the .050 and .055 blades, they usually break on the 3rd sharpening saving me the hassle of having to set them😁
I know a lot of guys are thorough and want to set their blades every sharpening, but I've found it to just not be necessary. If I hit something that actually messes up the set in the teeth, that blade is toast anyways🤷
Yes Ted and too much for this ole man to do anymore. I sawed over half of that on the Sand Box job alone last year. I am hoping to settle in @ no more than 50-60 blades per year. I am at 93 so far this year.
Tom, I ordered the BMST50 which is a fully manual combination CBN sharpener/dual tooth setter.
EDIT: I Cancelled the Sharpener order and will use ReSharp PA.
Rest assured that I will not be interested in sharpening for others. :)
The 93 blades that I had resharpened this year does not include 11 nail strike blades that I used but did not send to ReSharp. I charge the customer $45 and discard them because after resharpening they may leave tooth marks which is unacceptable for me.
I sawed 3246bf this week using 4 blades and I could easily resharpen them today. My jobs usually require 2-3 blades and I very seldom saw more than one job per week. This will give me ample time to stay current with my blades, even with the manual sharpener/setter even if I still use 100+ blades per year.
As of now I intend to increase my sawing rate at least $25 per Mbf to offset the resharpener cost.
My "resharpening station" will be in a shop corner where the intake of my squirrel cage shop exhaust fan is so I believe that the "oil mist" situation will be OK.
The short answer is "Yes, time to buy."
Better get them on order now before they have a two year lead time.
There are business nearby that offer sharpening services, and I've used several of them. They all are terrible on bandsaws, although good on circular saw blades, table saws, etc.
Most are in the 10 cents per tooth range.
I use Menominee Saw to sharpen my bandsaw blades. They service the US and Canada.
For those of you, not interested in sharpening blades, why not use them once, then put the used blades up for sale at a reduced price?
That way, you wouldn't have to mess with them, just keep them looking good and they will sell!
I shouldn't really comment, as I still use my circular mills for most of my milling - the bandsaw only comes out when there are some really nice hardwood logs I want to maximize recovery from. But I think you'll find there are still lots of small sharpening businesses who can sharpen/set for pretty good prices. Our guy charges $18 CAD per blade, which I don't think is too bad. If I were using the bandmill for a lot of work every day I'd deficiently invest in my own equipment, but for 5 or 10 logs a week it's just not worth investing in, nor having the footprint of the sharpener/setter take up floor space in my shop.
I'm not sure it's right to make recommendations on this site, but if you're looking for a simple, no-nonsense sharpener/setter, I've used a friend's CBN sharpener and setter made by Viel in Quebec on my Ripper 37, 7 degree blades. They're simple, rugged, and work well, and the sharpener uses a Made-in-USA Baldor motor instead of the offshore motors everyone else seems to use. Maybe not the fastest sharpeners/setters in the world, but very well made.
My Uncle has a sharpener/setter made by a small local company - Heath Tooling in Peterborough. Also simple, rugged, and no-nonsense. The Heath sharpener uses standard grinder wheels however, and you can't adjust hook angle, and I'm not sure that it actually does the gullet - it might just touch the tooth (I could be misremembering through). But both the Viel and Heath ones are a lot less $$ than some of the bigger names. I looked at the one from Woodland Mills one time and it seemed pretty chintzy compared to the Viel/Heath, and was about the same money.
Quote from: Chuck White on October 12, 2023, 08:31:09 AMwhy not use them once, then put the used blades up for sale at a reduced price?
I seriously considered just using and discarding the blades. $30 per Mbf in resharpening cost vs $45 for new blades is mighty tempting especially if you bumped your sawing rate up $25 per Mbf.
Actually with my sawing business profile and age, this would have probably been my best option, but.....
Been watching my son Warren's operation (much larger than mine) esp in the blade department. He does not resharp at all but uses WM carbide blades. Runs them till they break or start to wave. Gets around 10,000 -12000 bdft per blade. They cost trice as much as double hards but after doing the math, the carbides are near the double hards in blade cost per board foot. The downside is if you are constantly hitting tramp metal. Hurts. I'm gonna try warrens method with the box of carbides I have.
I bought a Viel two years ago? and agree, very well built. I've done about 35 sharpenings with it so far. Have a homemade desetter and setter. With the exception of two blades that appeared to have missed the grinding pass, ::) working great for me.
Quote from: Percy on October 12, 2023, 09:39:51 AM
Been watching my son Warren's operation (much larger than mine) esp in the blade department. He does not resharp at all but uses WM carbide blades. Runs them till they break or start to wave. Gets around 10,000 -12000 bdft per blade. They cost trice as much as double hards but after doing the math, the carbides are near the double hards in blade cost per board foot. The downside is if you are constantly hitting tramp metal. Hurts. I'm gonna try warrens method with the box of carbides I have.
I like having some carbide bands on hand (Wood-mizer) they cut the hard to saw logs really nice.
I got 5 sharpening out of one before it broke.
I saw alot of tree service logs so I can't switch over 100%
I hear from a good source that a better carbide tip is in development at Woodmizer.
Carbide does chip so blade handling must have care.
Rocking D Sawmill in Kirbyville, Texas will still be sharpening blades. My LT40 wide blades are $9 each to sharpen. Email address..................... tx@woodmizer.com
phone # (409) 423-2319
hugs, Brandi
Does anyone have experience with the various WM setters? I'm thinking the manual options would be sufficient (maybe the BMT150) paired with a BMS250 & just set the blades every other sharpen, or every third maybe. Any opinions appreciated.
Just my 2 cents, id never buy another tooth setter without dial gauge/gauges.
We opted for the manual WM BMT-200. It is the same as the 250 but costs less and your arm is the motor. I timed the last blade I set the other day, after setting 18-20, and it took 1 minute and 17 seconds from the time the blade was put into the setter until it was taken out. The crank turns relatively easy, and I was not in a race, just a good steady pace. It has dial indicators and a gauge to check the set. The few we have used since we bought the new equipment saw as good or better than new blades. If I were sharpening for a living, I'd have a motor on the setter.
YellowHammer and Nathan (Outofthewoods) have some videos that are very much worth watching if you are considering the WM 250 sharpener and 200/250 setter.
Thanks for the input. What specifically is the issue if the setter does not have gauges? Will the teeth be imperfectly set and scratch up the lumber? Does it cause blades to wander?
The gauges let you keep an eye on your tooth set in real time. My sharpener doesn't have any. It would make setup a little easier, but I don't miss them otherwise. I get my setter adjusted, and then just set the blades. I'll check every 4th one or so to make sure everything is good, otherwise I don't worry about it. My reset blades leave a great sawn finish, so I'm happy🤷
How do you resharpen the razor tip blades from woodmizer?
I use a diamond wheel and have had great results
Quote from: Bruno of NH on October 22, 2023, 06:16:31 AM
I use a diamond wheel and have had great results
The CBN wheel or just a regular shaped diamond wheel?
I have the woodland mills blade sharpener but cannot seem to find a diamond coated wheel for it.
I see Woodland now has a Pro model sharpener with cbn. Does anyone here have that unit?
Quote from: Mesquite cutter on October 22, 2023, 07:43:27 PM
Quote from: Bruno of NH on October 22, 2023, 06:16:31 AM
I use a diamond wheel and have had great results
The CBN wheel or just a regular shaped diamond wheel?
Not like the CBN wheel. Same diameter and shape but has only a 1/4" approx of diamond on flat face that touches only the face of the tooth.
CBN for steel, and diamond for carbide.
Quote from: terrifictimbersllc on October 22, 2023, 11:46:28 PM
Quote from: Mesquite cutter on October 22, 2023, 07:43:27 PM
Quote from: Bruno of NH on October 22, 2023, 06:16:31 AM
I use a diamond wheel and have had great results
The CBN wheel or just a regular shaped diamond wheel?
Not like the CBN wheel. Same diameter and shape but has only a 1/4" approx of diamond on flat face that touches only the face of the tooth.
Yes that's what I use
Is there any advantage with the 230v model wm250 sharpener over the 110v?
Both are already on the wall in the shop.
Thanks
By far the best bang for the buck is the BMS250 sharpener and setter with CBN grinding wheel and gauges to set with.
Once set up and running they are simple to operate. Simple enough that I have taught my 2 students that work for me on Saturdays how to sharpen and set blades.
Ted, if you find some teeth out of set, I run those on a trash log and then if it survives I sharpen again, does not take long before the bad set has been sharpened out. The other choices is a set of pliers to take the set out.
I sharpen blades for others. I have 2 CBN wheels, WM 7/39T and the WM 10. I sharpen all blades that come my way with those 2 wheels. I learned that from the FF
the higher voltage pulls less amps through the wire and I believe the windings in the motor. cooler and maybe the motor last longer. I do not think there is energy savings. Watts = volts x amps. for the same watts, increased (2x) volts means less amps (half) and less heat in the wire.
the 110 V can be moved anywhere, but not 220. so, wanting it easy to use elsewhere, with a common household plug, would be the only advantage of the 110.
Thanks Doc
Quote from: Stephen1 on October 27, 2023, 02:18:18 PMI sharpen blades for others. I have 2 CBN wheels, WM 7/39T and the WM 10. I sharpen all blades that come my way with those 2 wheels.
What other profiles of blades do you sharpen with the 7/39 wheel? I was comparing the profiles of the 7/39 to the 7/34 the other day and wondering if it would cause too much wear on the 7/39 to sharpen some of those blades.
There is a lot of metal present on the back of a 7/34 that is not there in a 7/39.5 Probably several medium/light grinds to change it. I wouldnt try it with one. If youre careful it might be worth it in terms of recovering cost of 7/34 blades vs. wear on the 7/39.5 cbn wheel.