Sending in mill blades to Resharp

whitepe · April 29, 2005, 04:17:33 PM

I dropped a couple of boxes of blades off at UPS this morning
to send in to the Woodmizer Resharp service in MO. I own an LT15
and this is the first time that I am using the service. About half
of my blades being sent in have struck metal. Everything
from nails, to staples, to lag bolts, to guy wire cables.
When you saw urban forest, you saw metal. None of the blades have
lost any teeth but obviously the teeth have lost their set.
My question is this. Can the teeth on these blade be re-set
or are the blades fully toast. From what I have read
over the years if they can re-sharpen Arky's blades that
they can re-sharpen anything so my blades won't be a problem

Bibbyman · April 29, 2005, 06:34:33 PM

You may want to talk to Will or better Sidney Jones and get some agreement on what you want them to do with blades they find damaged.

Any time we send blades, we have a number that fall out as "hit metal". The way they find this out is... They run them through the setter and if it's got too many teeth too far out for it to set the teeth, then they reject it.

I understand that they will return the blade, un-sharpened. Or they may go ahead and sharpen it and not set it.

But they are of the opinion that if it can't be set, then it's no good.

Cedarman · April 29, 2005, 06:42:38 PM

It might be a good idea to tag the blades that have hit metal. This gives the resharp guys a heads up on those particular blades. We have a supply of those manila tags with strings for tagging things.

customsawyer · April 29, 2005, 10:31:17 PM

The first two batches of blades I sent to resharpe I just boxed them up and sent them in damaged and all first ones came back not to much problem some of the blades that had been damaged left small lines an the wood when you cut it but since they had sharpend them and set them the best they could they cut like a new blade just with the lines. The second batch didn't come out as good so I had them put me on the auto replace program which means that if they find a blade that has been damaged to bad to set they discard it and send me a new one in its place. (For a small fee of course. :D) But I find this works best for me, I don't have to tag blades or anything like that just box them and ship them.

sandmar · April 30, 2005, 01:59:12 PM

What about rusty blades? I found 2 I had hung on a sapling that are in bad shape. Will WoodMizer resharp these or are they trash? I need to order some more blades also,thanks for the reminder guys !

Sandmar

Engineer · April 30, 2005, 05:44:13 PM

I've sent in some really snaggly rusty blades, pitted and bright orange rust, and they have come back clean and sharp (still pitted, but sharp). The only ones I haven't gotten back have been ones missing teeth, kinked, or not a WM blade.

Jon

whitepe · April 30, 2005, 07:02:41 PM

All.... These are great suggestions. I will start marking blades
that hit metal. I'll get some tags
Of course, it's too late to mark the batch that I already sent in. I have already
let woodmizer know to send back blades that can't be sharpened.
After this first batch, I will get a good idea of what's ruined versus
what can be re-set.
Thanks to everyone that has replied

Tom · April 30, 2005, 07:55:00 PM

Perry,
I sharpen my own blades. I write notes on my blades for my own use. I've found that a note written on the outside of the blade will last, many times, through several sawings. That's were I write "Blade no good".

Notes written on the inside of the blade are scrubbed off by the bandwheels pretty quickly. That's where I write. "set only", "sharpen only", "set and sharpen". You might try it on your blades and see if the results are the same. I use a permanant "majic Marker".

wiam · April 30, 2005, 09:01:09 PM

Has anyone tried an electric engraver to mark on blades?

Will

dail_h · April 30, 2005, 10:23:06 PM

I use fingernail polish,most awful bright color I can find. Sure did cause a discussion the first time my wife came in the filing room and saw it setting on the bench. When she asked why I had it,I told her it appealed to my femmine side. She thought that wae REAL funny.
Works good ,shows up,and lasts a long time. I write notes to myself too.

sandmar · April 30, 2005, 11:54:27 PM

Thanks Engineer.........I will send my lovely rusted blades for a resharp next week......Woodmizer probably loves guys like us ;D

Sandmar

whitepe · May 02, 2005, 09:58:30 PM

Tom,
I'd like to sharpen my own blades but with just the LT15 it's hard to justify
the equipment cost. I'm thinking that once I retire from the "Big Yellow Worm"
I might upgrade to a bigger/better mill and maybe then buy sharpening
equipment. I am pretty much convinced that
I can find plenty of work if I was to buy an LT40. I get plenty of calls
and I don't advertise. Thing is, I don't take my LT15 around I ask for
people to bring the logs to me. There is a guy about 4 miles from
me that has an LT27 but they can't get him to come around.
I guess he must have bought the mill just to mill his own lumber and for
a hobby and isn't interested in doing work for anyone else.
Oh well, it's a free country
Anyway... UPS said Woodmizer resharp in "MO ZURY" will have my blades tomorrow May 3rd.

ARKANSAWYER · May 03, 2005, 09:07:32 AM

Sandmar,
Spray your blades with cheap oven cleaner and let set for 5 mins. Then wipe with a pot scrubber and rise in water. It will shine up. This will also remove pitch and make them sine like new nickles.

I used to have a blade on the wall at Re-sharp that had no teeth just some bumps. ;D Will showed it to Bibbyman one time while we were there visiting.

I send in my "rootball" blades together in a box with a note to do the best they can. That way Sidney knows to just grind and set the best he can and do not worry about quality. Any other blade that hits metal I clean the metal out of the teeth and flatten any that are pulled way out of line. You can eyeball down the blade and see one way out. As long as no more the 3 or 4 teeth are gone it will sharpen and saw good.

I mark my blades on the inside with an engraver just right of the weld. It has an "A" and how many times it's gone to be sharpened. If I need to send a note on a blade I put duck tape on it and write with a marker.
ARKANSAWYER

iain · May 03, 2005, 04:58:48 PM

Magic marker on the outside like tom said lasts for yonks, i sharpen (kiss) twice then box them for woodies (i hate setting with a passion)

iain

whitepe · May 06, 2005, 11:39:46 AM

I talked to Sidney yesterday morning (may 5th) my blades
are on the way back to me. 10 of 15 could be resharpened.
1 of the 5 was rejected due to a kink (occassionally a short small cant
doesn't stay clamped and that gets kinda fun) and the other four were probably rejected due to significant metal damage.

I switched my RESHARP defaults to replace rejected blades
and pitch the bad ones. As for now they sent the old ones back.
After talking to Sidney, I called another woodmizer owner in
the area, and he and I are going to split an order of new blades.
He is going to take 7.5 blades and I am going to take 7.5 blades
out of the 15 new ones. ;D Actually he is going to take 7 and I am
going to take 8. I just wanted to see if you guys were reading :D

OneWithWood · May 06, 2005, 12:26:22 PM

I think you should divy up the hours on that 8th blade. You get the first 400 and he gets what is left. Are you going in together on the resharp also?

GF · May 06, 2005, 12:38:56 PM

Another item that cleans the pitch off real well is Westley's Bleach White, you can find it at Wal-Mart in the out area next to the Armour All. Its used to clean the tires on a car disolving all the film from the road.

sandmar · May 06, 2005, 12:43:39 PM

Thanks Arky and GF for the tips on cleaning blades. Odered some new blades last night and will be sending some back to get sharpened. Will let you know how the BAD BOYS turn out.

Sandmar

whitepe · May 06, 2005, 03:07:39 PM

OWW,
Nah... He has is own Woodmizer sharpening equipment. He just won't
sharpen for me. I'm working on that too. He owes me though.
He got behind on his resharpening and came to me about 3 weeks ago
and bought two new blades from me. I was getting kinda low hence I finally had to get my posterior in gear and get the blades sent in to Resharp. Hopefully both the re-sharpened blades and the new blades will be at home tonight because I want to do some milling this weekend. Finally I get a weekend with no Double header baseball games to attend.
I like your plan on divvying up the 8th blade. ;D
PEW

Bibbyman · May 06, 2005, 05:21:49 PM

Just a thought,

Guys with the LT15s and other mills with small engines, maybe could use some of the light - use one time and then throw away blades? I think they are a couple 2-3 bucks cheaper. Overall they may work out about the same price as buying the heavier ones and then sending them in for re-sharp.

whitepe · May 07, 2005, 03:43:40 AM

Bib,

Who makes the "one time use" blades that you are referring to?
My resharpened blades arrived Friday when I got home. Not bad.
Dropped them at UPS on April 30th, UPS ground got them
to Mt. Vernon, MO by Tuesday May 3rd, Sidney and guys got them
turned around in 1 day and back to me by Friday May 6th.
Excellent Service !!! good job Woodmizer Resharp.
The new blades that I ordered Thursday should probably arrive
today (Sat) or Monday.

whitepe · May 09, 2005, 12:31:31 PM

By the way, what does Woodmizer charge for resharpening blades?

Bibbyman · May 09, 2005, 06:25:56 PM

Quote from: whitepe on May 07, 2005, 03:43:40 AM
Bib,

Who makes the "one time use" blades that you are referring to?
My resharpened blades arrived Friday when I got home. Not bad.
Dropped them at UPS on April 30th, UPS ground got them
to Mt. Vernon, MO by Tuesday May 3rd, Sidney and guys got them
turned around in 1 day and back to me by Friday May 6th.
Excellent Service !!! good job Woodmizer Resharp.
The new blades that I ordered Thursday should probably arrive
today (Sat) or Monday.

Wood-Mizer! From what I remember, they are made for re-saws. And I think they're called Silver-Tip.

Here is a link..

http://www.woodmizer.com/en/blades/silvertip/index.aspx

Charge? I don't remember 'zactly. You sould have a recept in the box. The postage is what hurts. That's why any time we go to a show where WM is or to an open house, we send blades ahead to be sharpened and then take down whatever we've got dull to leave. Cuts the shipping costs in half.!!

whitepe · May 10, 2005, 11:10:17 AM

$6.50 per blade. Got an invoice in the snail mail yesterday. Resharpened blades came UPS friday.
I guess that's why it is called snail mail :D
It cost me $31.60 to send the 15 blades to Mt. Vernon and $23 to have them
shipped back. I guess they were lighter after being sharpened so they didn't
weigh as much. ;D

Bibbyman · May 10, 2005, 11:36:24 AM

Quote from: whitepe on May 10, 2005, 11:10:17 AM
$6.50 per blade. Got an invoice in the snail mail yesterday. Resharpened blades came UPS friday.
I guess that's why it is called snail mail :D
It cost me $31.60 to send the 15 blades to Mt. Vernon and $23 to have them
shipped back. I guess they were lighter after being sharpened so they didn't
weigh as much. ;D

We have to send them FedEx down, then they send them by UPS back to us. Who brought your's back?

I'd rather use UPS both ways! :(