bandsaw blades

[viking-sword]

Though I've done a search, I could find little on the subject about whether or not anyone tries to resharpen there used bandsaw blades. Over the years, as bandsaw blades go dull, I simply hung them on the wall and aquired new, fresh blades. I have a sixteen inch woodworking bandsaw from grizzly that I've had for nearly ten years, and I use bi-metal blades primarily so that I could cut nonferrous metals for guards and they range from 1/4 to 3/4 inch in width, but I can't see just throwing them away. New blades are not that expensive, but I just can't see not trying to make these used blades servicable again. I've attempted to resharpen one a couple times using a dremal tool with a chainsaw sharpening attachment, but they never seem to work that much better. Anyone out there have any experience with this? Wes

[brucegodlesky]

I resharpen the blade sfor my meat cutting bandsaw. About 6 tpi. I use a triangle file , chucking the blade in a vise. then moving on to the next section. Works for me.

[Avadon]

In my experience it is never worth it to try to resharpen them. Just use them with apropriate lubricant or wax to keep good life and when they are done they are done. Bandsaw blades are not that expensive. I have a 14" (800#) Metal Cutting Bandsaw from MSC and the blades are anywhere from 25$ to 100$ depending on TPI and material. Each blade will last a anywhere from 6 months to a year(s) depending on how much you use them.

Better to take the spent bandsaw blades and forge a knife out of them. ;-)

In fact I even looked up bandsaw blades on ebay and they go for sooo cheap that it's hardly worth selling good condition blades on there, let alone 2nd hand stuff. I bet you will probably pay as much to resharpen most bandsaw blades as you would for a brand new blade.

*Perhaps the only exception would be specialty blades.

[viking-sword]

After sitting through a couple sessions of trying to sharpen all those teeth I am of a mind to think that's right! It's a pain! and since I now have a portable metal cutting bandsaw, I'll just stick to using my bi-metal blades on the wood bandsaw and using them for wood only. Wes

[Avadon]

Yah in my experience the bi-metal blades where wood is specified as one of the things you can cut should almost solely be used for cutting wood, maybe some plastics. They are just not hard enough to do metal and then go back and give you that same crispness through wood. Now you can use a metal cutting blade to cut some wood in a pinch but the cut is usually fairly poor and then you get sawdust into your machine which is always fun to suck out when it mixes with the cutting lubricant present lol

Here is a decent little bit on blades and trouble shooting http://www.sussexsawandtool.com/info.html

Edited January 20, 2009 by Avadon