Sharpening bandsaw blades on my radial arm saw

[VictorH]

Hey Jake  - are you pulling your RAS head across the blade or pushing the planer blade in a jig?  Also what kind of stone are you using?  The pink suggests a chainsaw stone I've seen.
Thanks
Victor

[hackberry jake]

I was pulling the head across the blade and it is a pink chainsaw sharpener stone. I just had to use a 5/8 to 3/4 adapter bushing to mount it on the arbor.

[Kcwoodbutcher]

I have made a few different wheels for different profiles/hook angles. I also have one for 3/4 pitch blades. It take about an hour to dress the wheel so don't get carried away with a bunch of profiles. I use a cam lock on the guide to stiffen the blade when the wheel hits it. If I don't I get a ragged cut. One last thing, at 200+ teeth per blade your arm can be a little sore from pulling the saw head through the blade. Every time I sharpen a blade I think of automating the whole process but there's never the time.

[papow22]

I would like to see Kcwoodbutcher setup,this seem to be a interesting topic on this idea. ;) specially the cam wheel setup.I know pictures speak millions.To me to see that in photos is better than  :P reading all day.

[nrp0450]

Kcwoodbutcher, I would like to see your camlock too. Do you have to engage it and disengage it for every tooth?

Nathan

[Kcwoodbutcher]

I'll get a picture tonight. Yes you do have to engage it every tooth but it is little effort and you kinda develop a rhythm.

[36 coupe]

I remember my wood bench top burning from the spark stream from a grinding wheel.Red glow about 1 inch in diameter.Too much sawdust around my saw to try that.I would try grinding the top and face of the tooth leaving the gullet alone.I have used a Belsaw  Sharpall since 1970.Sharpened a lot of saws for customers.A fellow who top ground new band saw blades found he was taking off .004/.005.Bandsaw blades will break long before the gullets have to be deeper.

[Peter Drouin]

Bandsaw blades will break long before the gullets have to be deeper.

The gullet is what takes the sawdust out of the cut. You have to keep the tooth the same height for it to work right. That means the gullet has to grind down with the tooth.  Doing that will grind away the cracks  in the gullet and the blades will last longer.

[leroy in kansas]

That is really slick. You have raised the price of radial arm saws to double. (I gave mine away also.)

[36 coupe]

Bandsaw blades will break long before the gullets have to be deeper.

The gullet is what takes the sawdust out of the cut. You have to keep the tooth the same height for it to work right. That means the gullet has to grind down with the tooth.  Doing that will grind away the cracks  in the gullet and the blades will last longer.Have to disagree..005 is not much lost.I understand the gullets function but have sharpened many 30 inch cordwood saws that cut well with shorter teeth.Photos Ive seen show deep scratches left by grinding wheels that I think start cracks.There is no way you can sharpen and keep a new saw profile.I have had a new blade break after little use.Setting hardened teeth will always be a problem.

[Peter Drouin]

Bandsaw blades will break long before the gullets have to be deeper.

Have to disagree..005 is not much lost.I understand the gullets function but have sharpened many 30 inch cordwood saws that cut well with shorter teeth.Photos Ive seen show deep scratches left by grinding wheels that I think start cracks.There is no way you can sharpen and keep a new saw profile.I have had a new blade break after little use.Setting hardened teeth will always be a problem.

I can keep a tooth profile and setting hardened teeth is easy. You can do it your way. I was just trying to help and share what I have learned In the last 27 years of sharping saw blades.

[36 coupe]

I started sharpening cordwood saw blades in the mid 50s.I still have the cordwood saw my dad bought from Sears Roebuck.I have about 60 years in sharpening tools.I am trying to get people to sharpen the face and tip only.I started to build a bandsaw sharpener but cataracts shut down my sharpening last year.Bandsaw blades should be set first and then sharpened.Simonds ran a ad in American Lumber & Pallet that shows what happens when the teeth are set after sharpening.Had the last eye surgery this morning.Ill finish my grinder and test my idea.

[36 coupe]

They also sharpen planer blades


 

Looks like the grind is too heavy, too much sparking.

[hackberry jake]

It was too heavy. If you grind too heavy the blade will bow from the heat and will have a less than straight edge. First try at it though. Next time I dull them out I will definately use a lighter grind.

[Darrel]

Well, that settles it.
There really isn't anything that can't be done with a radial arm saw.  :D
Pretty cool.

You've got that right.  If I could only have one tool in my shop, it would be my radial arm saw.  This looks really good, I think I may give this a try.

I have found when doing precision work on my radial arm saw, that if I go a little too low with the hight adjustment then come up, I have better luck.  Also from where I sit on this side of my iPad, it looks like you may have been grinding a little heavy.  And now that you know that your idea works, you might want to consider making your clamping device out of steel. 

This looks like a money saver to me!

[Kcwoodbutcher]

Finally getting around to posting pics of the cam lock.



 




 

The construction is simple. The movable block has an oversized hole which the bolt goes through, it is not tight . The block is held captive between the two pieces of 7/8" bar stock. The cam is simply a piece of bar stock with the hole drilled off center with a handle welded on. You can put a lot of pressure on the blade with little effort. Using this setup I've eve taken a fine tooth blade for my vertical bandsaw and converted it to a coarse tooth blade (don't recommend this,way too much trouble).

[36 coupe]

It was too heavy. If you grind too heavy the blade will bow from the heat and will have a less than straight edge. First try at it though. Next time I dull them out I will definately use a lighter grind.

My planer knife grinder has a pressure screw every 2.5 inches.That keeps the knife straight while grinding.Takes longer to light grind but results are better.

[36 coupe]

I had read about sharpening bandsaws on a radial arm saw on here so I decided to give it a try. I ordered a grinding stone wide enough to get the whole profile in one pass. An extra 4x6 with a groove cut in it holds the band. And I put together an indexer with random parts I found in the shop.
Here's a pic just before I started shaping the stone:


And here's the stone pretty close to ready:


And here's a video putting a blade in it and sharpening a few teeth.
http://youtu.be/p8NYwyp6k0k

It seems to work well and only takes a few minutes to do one blade. I haven't decided if I'm going to put some kind of shield between me and the stone or just always stand to the side when I start it.

I have found many grinding wheels that are out of balance.Not out of round but out of balance.Wheels like this will have a lot of vibration at 3450 rpm.I use a mower knife balancer  to check all wheels .

[WillWarner]

where did you get your tools for shaping the grinding stone and how long does it take to form the stone profile?

[Kcwoodbutcher]

You use a diamond dressing tool. It's just a small diamond brazed on the end of a metal rod. I got mine at ENCO. They are not very expensive.

[red]

Has there been any new ideas ?

[Kbeitz]

First I've seen this and I like it.
I do all my sharpening on bandsaw blads with my dremel.

[OffGrid973]

Didn't see any replies to the "...stand in the middle..." so just wanted to say Bad Idea.

I gave away my radial when it caught a piece and took off (old school model) and after that I grabbed a new sliding chop saw instead (which has limits).

Be safe, but great build, very impressive.

[luap]

Before digital readout technology any time you were using a milling machine or lathe and you wanted to move the table or carriage a precise amount a magnetic base with a dial indicator was setup and used. You could do the same with your radial saw sharpener to control your depth setting.

[bwstout]

I use a radial arm saw, I bought one of the CBN wheels from the sponsor here on FF that match my blades and added a mist cooler on and I just match the wheel to the blade and use the depth of the saw and eye when it makes a few sparks start and adjust as I go. Sometime I make two rounds at the same depth so for no glitches band cut as good as new.