Is this right..... Blade sharpening

[Rickcnc]

I have had my blades sharpened twice now and the shop has taken off close to .190 of a inch in the two sharpenings. .. Is this right..
Watching videos and reading on this board, I understood you should be taking off much less.. I don't believe I'm abusing my blades when cutting, I typically swap them out every two to three hours .. they still cut fine prior to removal.  when the blades were new they were 1.250 inches high.. now the are coming in at 1.060 high.

The shop I have been using is really busy. (Been offering sharpening services for more than 20 years)

[terrifictimbersllc]

0.19 inch is Way too much for 2 sharpenings of a non damaged blade.  I'd say .01-.02 per sharpening.

[ladylake]

  Mine take 10 sharpening to get down to 1 1/8". about 12 thousands per sharpening.   Steve

[Ox]

Way, way too much being taken off per sharpening.  Sounds like they set their machine to take care of every situation in one swipe (damaged blades).  They're costing you money at this point, unfortunately.

[Magicman]

No matter how long they have been in business, you need another sharpening service or maybe consider investing in a sharpener and setter.

[Chop Shop]

Hopefully they are not swapping you blades?

[barbender]

Not to mention, that heavy of a grind is likely getting the blade hot and could cause gullet cracks. At least, from what I've read by Tim Cook would suggest that.

[barbender]

     Please excuse the mess, my sharpening area is barely better than a chicken coop, but this is what I set up after not being able to find a reliable local sharpening service (I didn't want to have to send them out). Cook's sharpener and a Suffolk Machine dual tooth setter I found on Ebay. I think I have around $2300 invested between the two. 

[woodyone.john]

Rick ,what you report is why I sharpen and set my own.I did use a professional outfit to do my blades once and what they did was grind down the top of the tooth at the right angle but by 1/8 '' leaving the gullet and face untouched.Their explanation was that they couldn't match the profile,and they still wanted to be paid.Now I do my own and with changing out blades after about 2 hours,[or sooner as required] a blade will usually stand 10 sharpens with 2-3 settings in its life. Now whilst it takes me time to prat with setting and sharpening I dont have to pay for freight to and fro nor sharpening charges and have and am still learning what it takes to have reliable sharp blades. If you do much sawing at all your sharpening person/people need to be your best friends or learn how to do your own. Theres a lot of info on here about both sharpening and setting,but you will need to do a bit of searching.cheers john

[dean herring]

If they are taking .19 off your blades that means they are grinding just over 3/16". I think .019 is what you are getting.

[terrifictimbersllc]

I was thinking that too. .019 for 2 sharpenings could fully restore a moderately dull but not damaged band

[Ox]

The math he had in his first post says he lost .190 in two sharpenings, though.  ???

[Rickcnc]

That's correct it was .190, not .019.... I'm currently looking searching for a sharpener and setter.. . From what I'm reading, Cooks looks like a winner, however the current exchange rage and shipping cost have me looking for something here in Canada.

[Peter Drouin]

What ever you get get one with a CBN wheel in oil sharpener.

[Rickcnc]

                                                                   *********Update*************
I picked up a Cooks Cats Claw single tooth setter and sharpener from Kijiji a couple of weeks ago and am proceeding to set and sharpen my own Blades..

New question,

When sharpening 1 1/4" blades, at what height would you consider the blade to be end of life. (ie.. hardness ground away in the tip). I have a few that are approaching 1", and am wondering if they are worth the time...

[Kbeitz]

I think everyone is different, but I run my blade until they brake.

[Magicman]

Do they break when they brake?   :D

[Kbeitz]

Oops... Spelling never was my strong side and I don't think it ever
will be... Sorry...

[Magicman]

Nothing wrong with your spelling, but I did think that the usage was comical, plus I am a bad man.   ;D

[Cedarman]

For me sharpening and setting blades is one of the most boring things I do.  We have a 2 headed WM resaw, a Baker 2 head band scragg and an LT30.  So I have a lot of blades.  I found that getting books on CD and listening to them while setting and sharpening makes life so much better.  Especially when I get to a good part of the book and want to get back to listening to it.  I want to work on blades so I can hear my book.  I also listen when I take my daily walk.
I use the CBN with oil and an old time WM setter. 

[4x4American]

Keep those blades and practice on them.  There's a long learning curve to sharpening, but once you figure it out, you're better off.

[Kbeitz]

I take one blade out of the box and use it until it can't be used any
more before I go to the next new blade. If it gets dull in the middle
of a job I stop and sharpen it.

[bandmiller2]

I usually have two bands in service at a time depending how busy I am at the mill. About the time a band gets dull I want to head home for lunch. I put the sharpened band on and take the dull one home to sharpen. When I sharpen I take the bare minimum off, first two or three times I don't even clean the bottom of the gullet. After many many  sharpenings when the 1 1/2" bands are ground down to 1 1/4" they start to dive, when that starts they dive in the dumpster. Even being a cheap yankee I can't complain about the service I get out of a band. Frank C.

[Chuck White]

I keep 6 blades in rotation!

I agree with bandmiller2, I take as little as possible off of the blades, but just make sure that the tips of the teeth are properly sharpened.

Usually when my blades reach the end of their lives, they are either cracked or broken!

I sometimes get as many as 18-20 sharpenings before they crack or break!

[Ox]

I use until they break or they're so short the gullets/teeth start hammering on the guides.

[Bluejay27]

Running 0.055" blades on an LT70, I get 2-3 sharpenings before they break, so I can grind heavy, but even that is about 0.020". Any more and the 1/4hp grinder stalls out (WM BMS250). On our LT40s, I take about .010-.015" and have basically been sharpening them until I could buy new blades.

The 1-1/4 blades dropped to near an inch, but got replaced with 1-1/2 last year, so I had just stored away a few dozen old blades. Lucky for me, an LT15 down the road needed some sharp blades in a hurry and was more than happy to pay $5/blade.

And as far as matching profiles goes, with cbn I don't hesitate to change it as needed. In particular, switching from 10 to 9 is a good way to salvage blades with damaged teeth.

[gww]

I have only went through about 19 blades.  I sharpen on the mill (mostly with a dremal).  I have broke about nine blades.  I have had blades that I got off some how and could not get to cut and some of them do not seem like that should be so.  I just ordered another 20 blades.  That may last me a life time.  I just can not justify buying a sharpener but am keeping my eye open looking at how the guys like Kbiets and others build things to sharpen with.

I looked at the resharp sevices but when I added shipping it just wasn't worth it.  There are times I would have to change the blade after one log if I did not grind on them and keep them going.

Some of the resharp services reject blades if you have changed the profile.

$2000 for a sharpener is just so much money for a pure hobbiest. 

That leave coming up with home made solutions.

I will say that I just wonder how much the extra gas cost when really using blade to failure like I do.  When you double plus the cut time for an already pretty slow cutting mill.  I bet it add up quite a bit.  It almost makes you glad when the blade breaks.

My blade usually break right after my last grinding job and when they are cutting pretty good again.

I don't know if this post is really on topic or not but some were saying how long they used a blade and so I thought I would too.
Cheers
gww
PS also if you don't make a comment it doesn't come up when you hit the replies to your post buttom which I do when I am in a hurry.

[petefrom bearswamp]

I keep 2 boxes of 15 in rotation using resharp, with automatic replacement for damaged blades.
When one box gets dull I drive to WM only an hr away and pick up the previously sharpened one.
This only happens about once every 3 weeks or so as i am a low production guy and the trip makes a nice break in routine.