sharpening bandsaw blades

Frank Fusco

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A friend from another forum sent me this article. I noticed that the author, Steve Russell, had protected it with copyright. I wrote him for permission to reproduce the article. He responded with a very nice, long, e-mail that covered a range of topics. But, he said that to avoid inadvertent changes he preferred that I only give a link to the article and he did give permission for that. So, for band saw blade resharpening, go to:
http://www.woodturningvideosplus.com:80/resharpen-bandsaw-blades.html

I recommend visiting the rest of his site. Knowledgeable guy and has an information packed web site.
 
Hey Frank, that's a good article. I'm going to try it, I go through band saw blades like crazy. He didn't specify if he used carbon or bi-metal blades, do you think it would work on either?
 
Hey Frank, that's a good article. I'm going to try it, I go through band saw blades like crazy. He didn't specify if he used carbon or bi-metal blades, do you think it would work on either?

Sorry, I can't share any experience with that. But, I would say that choosing between trashing a blade and spending money on a replacement....what have you got to lose by trying???
 
Using my technique on bi-metal bands...

Hey Frank, that's a good article. I'm going to try it, I go through band saw blades like crazy. He didn't specify if he used carbon or bi-metal blades, do you think it would work on either?

Hello Barry,

Yes, my protocol will work on carbon steel and bi-metal bands. :) It will also work on carbide bands, but you have to use diamond disks in lieu of the abrasive cut-off disks. Since I first published my re-sharpening protocol several years ago, I've received literally hundreds and hundreds of emails from turners, woodworkers and others all over the world that are using and enjoying the protocol.

I save around $3,000.00 per year on bands in my studio by re-sharpening them myself. That's not too bad for a country boy. :D The re-sharpened bands are not as good as brand new bands fresh from the factory, but when you're doing gross resaw work on green wood and going through bark, they work just fine and save you lots of time and money.

If you're doing critical resaw work, making onion skin thin veneer and the like, you really have no choice but to use a new band, or spend about the same amount on a professionally re-sharpened band. However, for 95% of my bandsaw work, my re-sharpened bands work very well indeed. Give it a try and see for yourself. Good luck to you and best wishes in all of your woodworking/woodturning endeavors!
 
Hey Steve, that is a great write up, thanks for that! :thumb:

My bandsaw has carbide tips on every second tooth, I have a small diamond hone, I use this to just touch up the back of each tooth once and a while, works great!

Cheers!
 
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