Recommendation on tooth setter

[bic]

Lost my blade guy, moved. I'm in a rural area and closest guy that sharpens is 30 miles away. Running a WM lt28 (13yrs) somewhat frustrated I didn't pull the trigger on a sharpener when I bought the mill. Anyways I've decided on the sharpener, but not so much on the setter. I'm retired and have time in the evening to work on blades, so I don't "need" a automatic unit. I do odd jobs for friends, but mostly work for myself. Looking for recommendations on a setter.
Thanks ahead

[DanielW]

I see you're in Ontario. Check out Heath Tooling in Peterborough. They make simple and durable sharpeners and setters - have been doing so for ages. My Uncle bought one of their sharpeners about 5-6 years ago. Not sure what their prices are like now, but at the time it was a good price for a good/surdy unit.

Link to their Facebook page:

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[SawyerTed]

My limited experience with manual setters is it takes a lot of cranking.  That's especially true for single tooth setters.  I'm thinking a two tooth setter would be worth the money.  

Some guys enjoy sharpening and setting.  While some, like me, look at it like washing dishes.  It's a necessary chore if you want to get to the main course.  

[slider]

I started with a suffolk setter in ny then bought a cooks both are dual tooth setters .I bought the cooks because it has the dial indicators and the other on you have to check with a hand checker . I went back to the suffolks because it is more accurate 

[Gere Flewelling]

I am also retired and have been trying to establish a sharpening service for people in my area.  In 2017 I went with the Cook's sharpener and the Dual Tooth Setter.  I only used it on my own bands until this year when I decided to hire out my services.  The Dual Tooth Setter was a little challenging to learn how to use.  I was all over the place at first.  It is not a "set it and forget it" kind of machine.  Once I figured out that I need to back off settings and re-adjust to fit each blade, I can quickly adjust and fine tune and remain consistent in setting a band.  Probably not as precise as a single tooth setter but produces consistently accurate teeth and doesn't require inverting the band.  The dual gauges are a must in my opinion.  The Cook' Dual Tooth Setter is well worth the investment. It can also adjust from 3/4 tooth spacing up to 1" spacing to cover most band styles.  Make sure to build a bench that will allow you to stand up comfortably during the setting process as you need to be able to keep your focus on the gauges and not get distracted.  The operation of the setter is very easy on elbow joints which I understand is an issue with other setters.  Good luck with your decision.

[Vest]

I started with the woodland mills single tooth  setter but in my opinion it sucks.. it sets pretty well but it is slow and worst of all if you got a lot of bands it hard on the hand... i build a dual setter basede on the suffolk dual setter and it is a joy to run compared to the other one.. 

[MattM]

If your in Ont. Something to keep in mind if you do decide to get a dual tooth setter (you definitely should btw) is that you'll have to order the Cooks out of the states and pay CAD taxes on it. 

If I had my time back I would've gotten a Woodmizer dual tooth setter instead of the Cooks. It seems a bit better engineered vs the Cooks being big and bulky. I went with the cooks because it was cheaper, but by the time I got it to Canada I had paid as much or more than what the manual WM dual setter would have cost.

I also found the cooks setter very finiky when I first got it and it was very hard to get a consistent set. I had to do lots of tinkering, filing and other little modifications to get it to work consistantly.

[Stephen1]

I'm not sure which sharpener but make sure it is the CBN grinding wheel that is used. WM makes a great combo sharpener and setter for the hobbiest. 

[Gere Flewelling]

Funny! I guess the Ford vs Chevy vs Dodge thing also applies to not only saw mills, but sharpening equipment  as well. :D

[MattM]

I second the CBN sharper. I previously had a drag sharpener and it did a decent job but with a CBN the blade is perfect everytime face, gullet and back. 
But some downsides are they do cost a lot of money and you have to buy a CBN wheel for every type of blade you sharpen. I definitely don't regret getting my BMS250 sharpener though, it was well worth the money and paid for itself the first 80 sharpens  8)

[bic]

More very good points, I had decided on the WM BMS250, but thanks for reminding me about the CBN wheel. Also a good point on the duty + Our taxes on top of shipping.
I'm still a Chevy guy 🤣

[MattM]

Just thought you should know you can get CBN wheels from Baltic Abrasive on amazon. Even though they've gone up in price they're still quite a bit cheaper than getting them from WM. I got a 7/39 one a few weeks ago and it was $247cad shipped plus duty. WM's is $283cad before tax 

[Stephen1]

Matt , you think WM is expensive? I went to Norwood to get a CBN wheel for their saberooth blades as I get a lot of people bringing me Norwood blades to sharpen. They wanted north of $500 for their CBN wheel. I bought one from Baltic for $225 . 
The best thing about the CBN wheel is that you get well over 200 sharpenings per stone. 
With The old drag sharpener I was lucky to get 50 sharpening per stone and they cost me $75 per stone.

[barbender]

I have a Suffolk's dual tooth that I like just fine. It is slightly finicky to adjust to different set amounts (you have to balance it out side to side) but once you have it dialed it is very consistent. 

[MattM]

@jimbarry are you saying you sell them? If so that's great to know for the future. I tried buying them straight through Baltic Abrasive about a year ago but the shipping was killer. At the time they were 169.99+19 for shipping from them on amazon. This last one was 220 shipped but they sent it FedEx so I got hit with 6$ in duties and $20 in "handling fees".... Plus another $14 in gas to get it because the buggers dropped it off at Canada Post instead of bringing it to my house...   :'(

[bic]

Matt. I'm knew to the sharpening, you mentioned the CNB wheel you ordered was 7/39 could you clarify that for me, as well as a drag sharpener, thanks

[rusticretreater]

The 7/39 describes the profile of the cbn wheel.  It will be 7 degrees off vertical for the hook of the tooth, and a curve through the gullet reaching 39 degrees.  This type of cbn wheel grinds tooth and gullet at the same time. Here is another post with a diagram of the angles.  

https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php?topic=106790.0

The drag sharpener has a grinding wheel like a chainsaw sharpener.  The sharpening disc comes down and cuts the tooth profile.  The pushing mechanism then moves the blade forward under the stone. The sharpening disc drags across the gullet completing the grind.  There are also cbn wheels of this type.

You can see this happen just after 30 seconds in this video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqhzPe-31VQ

[MattM]

You will need a wheel for whatever type blade your using. If your only using woodmizer 10⁰ blades then you buy a CBN wheel with the woodmizer 10⁰ profile. So the 7/39 one that I was talking about is for the woodmizer Turbo 739 blades. 

You can use a WM 10⁰ CBN on a different manufacturers 10⁰ blade and do light grinds to reprofile it (I do this all the time) but it does add extra wear and tear to the wheel if sharpening for yourself it's best to just get wheels that match what blades you use. 

Hope this helps 

[bic]

Thank you Matt for that excellent and informative response. 👍

[Gary Davis]

Hudson makes a primitive hand setter slow very inexpensive but seems to work.