[Jesse]

Is there anyway to sharpen a router bit or a circular saw blade at home. I am sure we all use them from time to time but I have read of some products online that claim they can sharpen these effectively and they are inexpensive. They are basically just flat diamond files to cut through the carbide tip on them. They pretty much say too just take a couple of strokes and keep the orginal angle the same. I am somewhat skeptical. Do you mind sharing with me your thoughts and opinions on this? Perhaps some professional advice on what you do for these tools? thanks alot

[Plain_Ol_Ed]

Sounds like it would work to me ... main thing is to stay patient. Have sharpened non-carbide blades and bits with a file for years, so see no reason why the carbide tipped blades couldn't be sharpened with a diamond file. Just be aware, it will take some patience.

[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

I posted earlier about living where there were no saw sharpeners and having to sharpen my own including my chainsaw and yes, you can sharpen your circular saw blades, mine (most of them) are not carbide and when I lived there, I bought the others, if you use a good file, and besure to watch the angles you can sharpen them...as for carbide, I would think the small round diamond sharpener Al always refers people to at walmart would work on the router bits, and the gullet of the saw blades, on the face of the saw blade maybe one of the flat diamond sharpeners?

[AlArchie]

Good call, Dave! I have touched up carbide (and hss) router bits with the diamond hones. Use the flat stone acros the face of the cutter and the round (1/2 round) diamond stick on the inside radius, making sure you maintane the relief angle on the original cutter.
Al

[decoycarve]

I sharpen all the carbide router bits I use in my duplicator. I need to sharpen the bits on about every third run. AlArchie's technique is the same way I do it. The diamond hones will have a tendency to clog up from the pitch and rosins that stick to the blades. I use one of the little stones that you use to clean your detailing stones to clean the pitch off the hone.

Ok Who sharpens thier Bandsaw Blades (Just Kidding)
Goody

[KettleKarver]

Hey Decoycarve:
Try using oven cleaner to remove the pitch from your saw blades before sharpening. That might help keep your hones from clogging.
Jim

[decoycarve]

I do pull the cutters off the machine and soak them in kerosene and have used ovencleaner in the past (found out oven cleaner is a caustic when my fingers started burning). Most of the time I sharpen on the fly between each loading of the roughout machine. Thanks for the reply!
Goody

[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

I got a kit of things one is Top Saver, does a great job on making your saw tables slick and clean, there is also a blade pitch remover and a kind of tune up spray to keep it clean longer....great stuff, The kit I believe is called "Top Saver" and it all comes from a company called Empire Mfg....I saw someone advertizing this on a wood site, but can't remember where? Oh, there is a router bit solution too...anyway.....

[Jesse]

Ya, I got a pitch remover to take of the pitch and have used that before. I have heard of using oven cleaner before to clean them or just plain old solvent but haven't gotten around to try it out yet. I bought a can of dri-cote to help keep the pitch off so you don't have to clean them as often and also to help keep the blades sharp. I don't know how well it works but the claims are like this.............Dricote lubricantDRICOTE® helps achieve cleaner, truer cuts from any blade or bits. It forms a clear, tough, micro-thin coating that greatly reduces friction and extends overall blade life. DriCote prevents resin and pitch build-up to save time and money on blade cleanings and resharpening, while increasing overall yield.

Use DriCote on saw blades, drills and router bits for cleaner, straighter cuts. It forms a tough coating on metal surfaces to reduce cutting friction and resin buildup.

Benefits:

• <LI class=main>Prevents resin and pitch buildup <LI class=main>More than doubles time between re-sharpening
• Contains no silicone

I haven't used it yet for long enough to see how well the claims hold up but I am sure you've probably heard of this stuff before.

Alright know back to my question. I made that drawing below to try and help explain things. Yes I do tend to overdo things at times. Each letter represents a side of the carbide tip on the cutting device. I read in a place that you should only sharpen A in both the router bit and the saw blade when it comes to carbide. If I sharpen B or C I am working on a very small edge and I might mess up the angle or take to much of and the router bit won't be perfectly round anymore resulting in one flute doing more work than another. Perhaps its just fine though.

I am not to sure what you mean by sharpening with a round file. Are you saying to use this file with a router bit such as a round over bit or a profiling bit that isn't straight. Of course this would mean that I would be sharpening B and if the bit has a bottom edge then C as well on the router bit.

As for the carbide tipped saw blade they said to not touch B, C, or D for pretty much the same reasons. The blade won't be perfectly round, the angles might get messed up, and unlike steel blades the sides of the saw blade C and D do alot of cutting as well. They said with steel blades it is much more alright because of the more lack of precision in them. As again I don't know how much truth is in this. Please share your thoughts on this because I wouldn't have posted it here if I didn't value you opinion alot. Thanks http://www.woodcarvingillustrated.co...tachmentid=979

[Ashbys]

Jesse,

The picture never showed for me, but I can tell you we do sharpen carbide cutters, ie mill cutters , carbide inserts. I can make a suggestion, you might want to check out a machinst handbook. If your looking at correct backrake, proper angles, and insert sharping. The biggest problem associated with sharping inserts, especially on a saw blade would be getting all of them the same height, length and angles Since they are designed to all take equal pressure high and low can cause out of balanced blades , and one point gouging and the next not touching. Result lots of chatter and tearing instead of cutting. A 2 bladed cutter is not as prone to this as they are designed to take a heaiver cut. So the effect is less noticable unless your using hand tools. On a saw blade each cutter is designed to take only a small cut so the backrake is normally slight. The second problem with carbide is , they break, in chips. So to get a correct sharpened cutter all points need to be taken to the lowest point.

When we sharpen our carbide, Diamond wheel,( surface grinder) on a precision set up.