Re-sharpen or buy new

[RichD1]

I have a couple of circular saw blades both of which are Freud, which I think could do with re-sharpening. I think I got a price a while back and I thought it was about 25p a tip. So one is 40T and the other 60T, so £10 and £15 respectively. Do you consider re-sharpening is worthwhile when new prices are about £35 for the 40T and £50 for the 60T

I've not used the blades for a while so is there an easy way to assess the sharpness without putting them in a machine?

Richard

 

[RichardG]

They come back as good as new so it’s certainly the route I go down. However, I do have two blades so I can keep cutting whilst the other one is being sharpened.

 

[Sandyn]

Knowing how long Freud blades can last, if sharpening gave the same life again, then I would do it.
I think you can tell how sharp a blade is by feel. I drag my thumb along the tips and can feel how sharp they are. I also check with a magnifying glass for damage.

 

[kevinlightfoot]

Yes definitely get them sharpened,good quality blades have quite a few sharpening before they need replacing.

 

[eribaMotters]

As above. A good saw doctor will make your blunt saw like new. If teeth are chipped beyond a resharpen they will braise new in and grind to the same profile. I seem to recall we could get 8 to 10 sharpens out of a good blade such as your Freud.

Colin

 

[D_W]

I have a couple of circular saw blades both of which are Freud, which I think could do with re-sharpening. I think I got a price a while back and I thought it was about 25p a tip. So one is 40T and the other 60T, so £10 and £15 respectively. Do you consider re-sharpening is worthwhile when new prices are about £35 for the 40T and £50 for the 60T

I've not used the blades for a while so is there an easy way to assess the sharpness without putting them in a machine?

Richard

resharpen. Good saw shops will match or better the original grind.

There are China made devices for sale here with diamond discs now that will do a decent job of touch ups for about $50 (as in, that's the total cost). They're a bit crude but work as long as the person running them doesn't manage to burn a tooth or grind horribly unevenly.

The arbor on my old TS (delta hybrid saw) was so bad that even if you ground a blade a bit wonky but it had fresh corners, you wouldn't be able to tell it was wonky. Dullness occurs not due to lack of CNC grind at 1000 grit, it occurs because edges are rounded or missing.

 

[Inspector]

As long as the saw sharpening shop is a good one you should get several sharpenings. If not they can shorten the life a lot. I recently tried a different shop to see how they were. I won’t go back. It was a 40 tooth ATB combination blade with a 15 degree bevel. It came back with 19 degree bevels, with the carbide ground down and into the steel blade teeth. They took 3mm to 4mm or more off the diameter. This is the second sharpening and when it dulls, which will be quicker because of the sharper tooth angle being more fragile, it is a throw away for me. Mainly because I have a SawStop and the brake to blade gap doesn’t have anymore adjustment. I suggest you take one blade to see how they do.
Pete

 

[JoeSheffer]

I got some blades sharpened recently and was shocked at how much it cost. Probably 2/3 of the cost of new, but i am in that funny London place.

I'd be surprised if the prices you were quoted is still valid.

 

[deema]

I wouldn’t think the saw prices arn’t too far wrong, certainly worth having a good quality blade resharpened. I would highly recommend this chap.
https://priestnersaws.co.uk/He has a few full CNC dedicated circular saw sharpening machines that produce highly accurate sharpened blades. Totally different to a lot of saw doctors who use hand set tooth sharpening systems.

 

[johnnyb]

ill try them they sound great and fairly close. I currently use sawmatic in Telford. mainly because they have a van pickup in Stoke one day a week. they were far superior to the local sharpener tbh. I've had mixed results from saw doctors tbh. some were nearly as good as new. note nearly as I always feel new is the best. I guess they grind them finely and at the correct angles with a tensioned plate. I've had some blades that would cut trapezoids!

 

[D_W]

As long as the saw sharpening shop is a good one you should get several sharpenings. If not they can shorten the life a lot. I recently tried a different shop to see how they were. I won’t go back. It was a 40 tooth ATB combination blade with a 15 degree bevel. It came back with 19 degree bevels, with the carbide ground down and into the steel blade teeth. They took 3mm to 4mm or more off the diameter. This is the second sharpening and when it dulls, which will be quicker because of the sharper tooth angle being more fragile, it is a throw away for me. Mainly because I have a SawStop and the brake to blade gap doesn’t have anymore adjustment. I suggest you take one blade to see how they do.
Pete

It'd be interesting to hear what you find, actually. In the world of knives where wear is due to abrasion (I would assume that is the case here rather than breaking in normal use), thinning the bevel on a knife leads to loss of the initial edge, but longer time before the knife meets the criteria as not cutting to a certain level.

 

[LeeElms]

My local one-man-band saw doctor charges £6 for a 24 tooth blade and £7.50 for a 48 tooth one. The blades are certainly sharp, and the teeth appear to be in good condition.

 

[RichD1]

Just got an up to date price from a CNC equipped tool sharpener Allied Tooling at 35p per tooth.

https://www.alliedtooling.com/woodworking-department/
Thanks for the advice guys, looks like I'll get them re-sharpened.

Richard

 

[johnnyb]

I recently brought a lovely 250 rip blade brand new irwin 24 tooth for £15 plus 3 delivery. I brought freud twin packs of 250 ( z24 and z48) for £40 few months back. I reckon I could use them till there Bluntisham then sell them on the bay and buy new again!( keep the original packaging)

 

[Inspector]

It'd be interesting to hear what you find, actually. In the world of knives where wear is due to abrasion (I would assume that is the case here rather than breaking in normal use), thinning the bevel on a knife leads to loss of the initial edge, but longer time before the knife meets the criteria as not cutting to a certain level.

Carbide can't be sharpened to the same angles as HHS or carbon steel blades. They are basically a sintered material and crumble away if too sharp. They will hold the edge they are designed for but making them more pointy makes them more susceptible to breaking down. The blade should be good for 4 to 6 sharpenings but this one is done in 2. Replacing the blade will be $180. They never mentioned changing the tooth geometry nor were they given permission to do so. They offered to refund the $13 odd dollars but it will cost me more to drive back to get it. I actually would have saved a touch had I gone to the other sharpening company that didn't screw it up on the first sharpening but I wanted to try out this company. They were careless hacks and I won't be going back.

I'm definitely not pleased
Pete

 

[D_W]

yes, I get what you're saying. It's uber in hardness (strength), 1/uber in toughness, thus bits on a tip will break off and round eventually pretty quickly.

I'm curious to see how this comes out practically, though. If the break down is just the very tip, it may not affect things that much. If the breaking goes deeper at first, then obviously this won't work so well.

How this figures in for knives is at some point, the angle gets narrow enough that you're giving up this initial edge on purpose so that the damaged edge that's left behind is more or less blunt, but the edge and bevel behind it are thin enough to still cut effectively.

Compare this to a bevel with higher angle and higher strenght. Failure may be little, but width of the bevel creates initial bluntness that's below the threshold but with much less wear is above it.

Just curious.

( not knowing anything else, I'd prefer the shop not freewheel it. Rodeos are for cowboys. Sawblades, not so much!!).

 

[baldkev]

I'll probably get ripped for this, but...... i have a couple of the trend credit card sharpeners, I often mark the first tooth with a sharpie so i know when ive got back round to the start and sharpen my blades by hand. ( i dont have heavy damage to worry about, just dullness )

Im positive a pro grind would be better, but for 5 minutes and a bit of care matching the tooth angles they come up great. For context, im a site carpenter mostly and i dont cut any crap wood on my machines, so no nails etc to worry about.

 

[gregmcateer]

Only joking. I've done the same with a dremel on my bandsaw blade - but I'm only prepping turning blanks, so rough and approx works. If I ever get skillful, (no rush!), I will not risk that on eg veneers.

 

[TominDales]

I have found cleaning and gently honing each tooth with hand held diamond sharpeners (credit card sized) seems to put the edge back. I follow the existing rake and angle and only send off when it gets out of shape.

 

[Amateur]

One problem I found was that if edges are ground timber wouldn't pass through the riving knife as the slot cut was always narrower than the thickness of the knife especially in these thin saw blades.