Hi All,

I have seen an article in which you can use a Dremel with a stone to
manually sharpen your bandsaw blade. Apparently by running the stone
down the front of each tooth.(While the saw is off i might add)

Has or does anyone use this procedure to sharpen their blades. Can
anyone expand on the correct procedure, as this is all the information i
have.

Thankyou

Richard

In article ,
Richard wrote:

I have seen an article in which you can use a Dremel with a stone to
manually sharpen your bandsaw blade. Apparently by running the stone
down the front of each tooth.(While the saw is off i might add)

Has or does anyone use this procedure to sharpen their blades. Can
anyone expand on the correct procedure, as this is all the information i
have.

Richard - try a google advanced groups search on this very group.

One of the many helpful things from Steven D. Russell down in Texas, the
hardest working man in woodturning...

Post you want appears to be Mar 20, 2002.

--
Cats, coffee, chocolate...vices to live by

Yes, I use it.

You need a coarse blade -- no more than 4 tpi. I use a stone which
Dremel sells for grinding chainsaw blades.

I mark the starting point on a blade with a sharpie or something so I
can see when I'm done -- same as with the chainsaw. I stand to the
right of the saw, hold the Dremel perpendicular to the blade and take a
pass starting at the top of a gullet, down and off the end of the point.
I rest my arm on the table to steady it, work 3 or so teeth working
downward on the blade, push the blade up a bit and do it again.

Yes, I know that you really should set each tooth alternately right and
left by changing the angle but I don't do it. The saw seems to work
well anyway.

Bill


Richard wrote:
Hi All,

I have seen an article in which you can use a Dremel with a stone to
manually sharpen your bandsaw blade. Apparently by running the stone
down the front of each tooth.(While the saw is off i might add)

Has or does anyone use this procedure to sharpen their blades. Can
anyone expand on the correct procedure, as this is all the information i
have.

Thankyou

Richard

Richard
I have to agree with the search for Steven Russell's method of using a cut
off wheel in a Dremel for sharpening a bandsaw blade. Incidentally, I
believe he now uses a diamond wheel in a Dremel but the same method. this is
likely on his CD as well. By the way, start with a good band saw blade in
the first place. I like the ones from www.tufftooth.com

--
God bless and safe turning
Darrell Feltmate
Truro, NS Canada
www.aroundthewoods.com

Richard wrote:
I have seen an article in which you can use a Dremel with a stone to
manually sharpen your bandsaw blade. Apparently by running the stone
down the front of each tooth.(While the saw is off i might add)

I take my blades off the saw and sharpen on the bench grinder. Start and
stop at the weld.

I usually take the opportunity to check the blade over for stress
fractures before wasting time sharpening it.

After sharpening, take care with the first few cuts. The teeth will not
have been cut to the same height, and the set and sharpening angles will
be far from perfect. In extreme cases this can make the blade rather
grabby, so test it out first on nice flat boards and straight cuts.

--
Derek Andrews, woodturner

http://www.seafoamwoodturning.com
http://chipshop.blogspot.com - a blog for my customers
http://www.seafoamwoodturning.com/TheToolrest/ - a blog for woodturners

I would like to thank all that replied, such a great source for people
like me who still have a lot to learn.
I just love your site Darrell, i have spent many hours reading through
your tips & how to do specific things.

Keep it up! Happy New year to you all.

Richard.

On Fri, 13 Jan 2006 03:13:18 +1300, Richard wrote:
I have seen an article in which you can use a Dremel with a stone to
manually sharpen your bandsaw blade. Apparently by running the stone

You can also sharpen band saw blades with files. You'll need a
triangular file and maybe a small round chainsaw file. One of those
smaller files sets may also come in handy. You put the band in a vise
with the teeth up to hold it steady and file each gullet and edge of
the tooth. You don't need to file much and the process is faster than
you'd think.

On Fri, 13 Jan 2006 03:13:18 +1300, Richard wrote:

Hi All,

I have seen an article in which you can use a Dremel with a stone to
manually sharpen your bandsaw blade. Apparently by running the stone
down the front of each tooth.(While the saw is off i might add)

Has or does anyone use this procedure to sharpen their blades. Can
anyone expand on the correct procedure, as this is all the information i
have.

Thankyou

Richard

I like to use my Dremel and the sanding disks if it is just a touch
up. Serious work you need to get in there with a flat file and
possibly a round file that can get into the gullets.

Leif

I have been resharpening bandsaw blades with a dremel for a gazillion
years (seems like it, anyway), long before Steven's article appeared.
I'm sure the method has been discovered independently by a lot of folks.
I use either a rigid sanding disk or a diamond disk in the dremel and just
lightly tap the top of each tooth. By hitting the top rather than the
front face you can position the hand with the dremel in one spot braced on
the table and move the blade to the next tooth with the other hand at the
rate of about one second per tooth. It's very quick and easy. Steven
recommends going over the blade twice, once for the right set teeth and
once for the left set teeth. I have done it that way but my normal
practice is to do all the teeth straight across. That way I can do them
all at once. I haven't noticed any significant difference in the quality
of the cut afterwards. My suspicion is that the teeth are formed before
they are set and that explains the apparent dual sharpening angles, not
that it is a superior cut. I showed the method to Cindy Drozda and she
soon came up with a nifty way to speed things up even more, which is the
way I have been doing it for several years now. Open the cover over the
top wheel and turn it by hand several times at a constant rate in the
reverse direction while holding a diamond hone or the dremel in a fixed
position so it barely skims the tip of each tooth as it speeds past. I
can resharpen a 105" 3 tpi blade in less than a minute (including plugging
in the dremel) with this method and the results are fine for general
woodturner needs. I don't do precision resawing of flat stock or other
demanding applications so I can't speak to that. Maybe some of you guys
who do that kind of thing can get back to me on that.

-mike paulson, fort collins, co

On Fri, 13 Jan 2006 03:13:18 +1300, Richard wrote:

I have seen an article in which you can use a Dremel with a stone to
manually sharpen your bandsaw blade.

What size of bandsaw ? The Wood-mizer (for which it is worth
resharpening blades) costs three or four times as much to re-sharpen its
blades as it does to buy a new blade for my 14" workshop bandsaw. The
workshop saw also has more teeth and the sharpening work would be fiddly
and thus harder / slower to do.

There's also the problem that a small workshop bandsaw bends its blade
round a sharper radius and runs with a higher tension/area on the blade,
all of which increases fatigue in the band itself, causing the band to
break not too long after the teeth are wearing.

Although I'm sure it's _possible_ to re-sharpen bandsaw blades for small
workshop bandsaws, I really can't see the economics of it working out.

Andy Dingley wrote:
There's also the problem that a small workshop bandsaw bends its blade
round a sharper radius and runs with a higher tension/area on the blade,
all of which increases fatigue in the band itself, causing the band to
break not too long after the teeth are wearing.

Although I'm sure it's _possible_ to re-sharpen bandsaw blades for small
workshop bandsaws, I really can't see the economics of it working out.

I usually get 3 or 4 sharpenings out of a Viking 3TPI blade on a Delta
14" bandsaw.

These blades are designed to run at low tension. I have had much less
trouble with broken blades than before I started using them.

--
Derek Andrews, woodturner

http://www.seafoamwoodturning.com
http://chipshop.blogspot.com - a blog for my customers
http://www.seafoamwoodturning.com/TheToolrest/ - a blog for woodturners

I use this method. As another post mentioned, don't bother with fine
toothed blades. I only sharpen 2 or 3 tooth resaw blades with the
dremel. I use a 3/16"chainsaw cylindrical stone. This will file the
gullets and the face of the tooth at the same time.
Before grinding, clean the saw of any dust, a spark could cause a fire.
Raise the guide post up. The dremel goes straight in and out, holding
it level and square to the blade. Bandsaw blades are filed in the rip
configuration, no need to angle the dremel.
Usually four strokes are needed. In ,out ,in and out again. My saw
blade is 113", takes about 20 minutes to file the blade. You will find
this method will sharpen a blade better than new. Most new bandsaw
blades are stamped out and not ground.My blades last for several
years,they break from metal fatiuge rather than dull blades.
mike

Same here Derek. I have the old Rockwell/Beaver 10" bandsaw. It is about 25
years old. because of the 10" size I assume it has greater metal fatique in
the bands than does a 14" saw. However, I get 3 or 4 sharpenings at least
for a regualr blade and 6 or 7 from a low tension blade. Since it only takes
a few minutes to sharpen, I am more than satisfied. After all, I can sharpen
a 3 point blade in the time it takes to change it.

--
God bless and safe turning
Darrell Feltmate
Truro, NS Canada
www.aroundthewoods.com

Hi,

The Dremel with a thin grinding stone worked very well. I'm sure its even
sharper than when new.
I will try the filing method next time, as i think you have a bit more
control over how much you take off.

Cheers.


wrote in message
ps.com...
I use this method. As another post mentioned, don't bother with fine
toothed blades. I only sharpen 2 or 3 tooth resaw blades with the
dremel. I use a 3/16"chainsaw cylindrical stone. This will file the
gullets and the face of the tooth at the same time.
Before grinding, clean the saw of any dust, a spark could cause a fire.
Raise the guide post up. The dremel goes straight in and out, holding
it level and square to the blade. Bandsaw blades are filed in the rip
configuration, no need to angle the dremel.
Usually four strokes are needed. In ,out ,in and out again. My saw
blade is 113", takes about 20 minutes to file the blade. You will find
this method will sharpen a blade better than new. Most new bandsaw
blades are stamped out and not ground.My blades last for several
years,they break from metal fatiuge rather than dull blades.
mike

Richard:

Generally, you don't need to worry about how much you take off. With a
Dremel and a light touch you shouldn't take off much at all. And, a
blade cannot be reground forever. As mentioned in the thread, the blade
will eventually start cracking, usually in the gullets and you don't
want it to break on the machine if possible. While you are grinding it
is a good time to look for the start of problems.

Bill

Richard wrote:
Hi,

The Dremel with a thin grinding stone worked very well. I'm sure its even
sharper than when new.
I will try the filing method next time, as i think you have a bit more
control over how much you take off.

Cheers.


wrote in message
ps.com...

I use this method. As another post mentioned, don't bother with fine
toothed blades. I only sharpen 2 or 3 tooth resaw blades with the
dremel. I use a 3/16"chainsaw cylindrical stone. This will file the
gullets and the face of the tooth at the same time.
Before grinding, clean the saw of any dust, a spark could cause a fire.
Raise the guide post up. The dremel goes straight in and out, holding
it level and square to the blade. Bandsaw blades are filed in the rip
configuration, no need to angle the dremel.
Usually four strokes are needed. In ,out ,in and out again. My saw
blade is 113", takes about 20 minutes to file the blade. You will find
this method will sharpen a blade better than new. Most new bandsaw
blades are stamped out and not ground.My blades last for several
years,they break from metal fatiuge rather than dull blades.
mike