# new to sharpening and setting band saw blades



## brturgeon20 (Nov 26, 2012)

hello everyone I am new to sharpening blades. I got a cooks cat claw sharpener and dual tooth setter. I am have a hard time getting the setter to set with any accuracy seems like I cant get the teeth consistent. i Set everything up the way is suppose to be and just cant get it right. while cutting, my blades always want to ride up in the cut, or they will cut great for the first few cuts then they will dive or rise. What I am I doing wrong? I am running WM double hard blades. The guy that used to sharpen blades for me always did a good job and they always came back cutting real good. i know it takes some experience, but at this point I am getting pretty frustrated.


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## hamish (Nov 27, 2012)

How many times have the bands already been sharpened? Too many sharpenings and/or too deep of a grind (overheating) can cause the band to lose it temper in the teeth. Basically its nice and sharp and set, but dulls rapidly and loses its set quickly.

When setting 0.002-0.003 variation between teeth is acceptable for the dyi'er, not ideal, but acceptable. Do you find you have greater set on one side of the band?

Do you sharpen then set or vise versa?


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## Sawyer Rob (Nov 27, 2012)

My guess is, the "set" isn't the problem...

I'd kinda like to know the answers to the above questions too.

SR


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## Dave Boyt (Nov 30, 2012)

The fellow who sharpens my blades also checks them for cupping and rolls them flat, if necessary. Might try putting a straight edge crosswise to the blade and check them for flatness. If all the geometry checks out, then overheating while sharpening could, as Hamish says, be an issue.


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## brturgeon20 (Dec 3, 2012)

*just getting back*

I am not sure how many times these blades have been sharpened probably lots.I do get the same results with new blades also. I have a hard time trusting the gauges on the setter because of the readings it will give me. I run the blade through, and I am doing everything the same every tooth and I can get readings .10 off, but by using the naked eye, the set looks real good. I set the blades first then I will sharpen them. I have also checked the set after I've sharpened and removed the bur prior to checking. I have never rolled the blades ,but also never had any problems before I tried sharpening them myself. Maybe I am grinding to heavy. I wouldn't think so. I try to be real gentle.


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## brturgeon20 (Dec 3, 2012)

and to Dave Boyt, love the sawmill and woodlot management mag Ive been I subscriber for a few years now. Great info. I have a stack of all the old issues they are great for reference material. keep up the good work


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## Dave Boyt (Dec 3, 2012)

brturgeon20 said:


> and to Dave Boyt, love the sawmill and woodlot management mag Ive been I subscriber for a few years now. Great info. I have a stack of all the old issues they are great for reference material. keep up the good work



Thanks for the kind words. Hard to believe that I wrote my first article for them more than ten years ago! We're working on the Shoot-out issue, now. They're a great bunch of folks to work with.


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## gene1605 (Dec 3, 2012)

*dirty logs*

First make sure that the blade is alined true to the bed at each band guide, then make sure that the logs are clean, If you cant completly clean the logs use a lot of set maybe double just to square the log, then change blades. You can set a old used up blade with short pipe and a small hammer and sharpen it with a small hand held grinder It will make a ugly cut but it works on dirty logs, just keep the bandspeed up and cut slow. Here in Alaska out in the bush, sometime we have to make do
Gene


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## hamish (Dec 3, 2012)

If you are having the same results with a new band, it has nothing to do with your sharpening or setting. What brand and model of mill do you have?

I would first start looking for worn or failed parts (mainly guide rollers, belts, tensioner -all mill specific) then go from there.

What species are you cutting?

Just finished reading the oct/nov issue of Sawmill and Woodlot!


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## Dave Boyt (Dec 4, 2012)

A couple more thoughts. Putting on a fresh band saw blade may not solve the problem, even if the mill is in perfect condition. The band welder, tooth cutter, or setter could be out of adjustment and several hundred blades built before the problem is caught. If you have blades all from the same batch, they can all have the same problem. It would be interesting to take a few blades back to the sharpening service, then see if they do any better.


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