Thread: Sharpening a TS55 blade

I haven't had to sharpen any of the blades for my TS55 yet, but I would imagine the reduction in kerf width would be miniscule and not enough to affect the action of splinter guard.

Edit: they don't re-grind the sides of the teeth, just the face and top.

Thanks. As it looks like the carbide tip angles in towards the back I thought it may change the kerf. But it will probably be miniscule.
Regards
Les

I'm the saw doctor at our local men's shed and I resharpen circular saw blades many times without the clearance with the splitter/riving knife for that particular blade becoming an issue. You would have to re-grind the teeth back a long way for that to become an issue. Very little carbide has to be removed to have it cutting like new again.

Having said that, it also depends on where you are going to get them resharpened. Some places are heavy handed, particularly if you have a few low/broken teeth and you don't tell them that you don't need all of the teeth cutting again.

There may also be an incentive with some places to shorten the life of your blade so that they can sell you a new one, but that could just be me being cynical again!

Thanks Neil. I intend using Carbide Tools in Perth. I know they have a very expensive machine that sharpens blades. They always sharpen my jointer and thicknesser blades.
I will try them. If it goes belly up then I will purchase a new one as this one is 13 years old. I do keep it clean so I think that helps in the long run.
Regards
Les

Originally Posted by NeilS

I'm the saw doctor at our local men's shed and I resharpen circular saw blades many times without the clearance with the splitter/riving knife for that particular blade becoming an issue. You would have to re-grind the teeth back a long way for that to become an issue. Very little carbide has to be removed to have it cutting like new again.

Having said that, it also depends on where you are going to get them resharpened. Some places are heavy handed, particularly if you have a few low/broken teeth and you don't tell them that you don't need all of the teeth cutting again.

There may also be an incentive with some places to shorten the life of your blade so that they can sell you a new one, but that could just be me being cynical again!

Neil

Yes, it depends on who is sharpening. Commercial sharpeners will remove a lot of material, but as you said you really only have to "freshen" the face of the tooth. If there is tooth damage I would take no more off that than the other teeth and eventually after a number of sharpenings everything will come together again. Rip teeth are easier than crosscut teeth as the later is angled as well.

Of course, you need a diamond grinder for the tungsten carbide. I use a cup disc on a drill coupled to a support stand. It is pretty basic.

Regards
Paul

Originally Posted by Bushmiller

Yes, it depends on who is sharpening. Commercial sharpeners will remove a lot of material, but as you said you really only have to "freshen" the face of the tooth. If there is tooth damage I would take no more off that than the other teeth and eventually after a number of sharpenings everything will come together again. Rip teeth are easier than crosscut teeth as the later is angled as well.

Of course, you need a diamond grinder for the tungsten carbide. I use a cup disc on a drill coupled to a support stand. It is pretty basic.

Agreed there, Paul.

I've found that some form of indexing so that any of the teeth that are re-ground are all at the same height/profile again is the key to getting the blade back to performing at its best. You can get away with a bit of variation with the first one or two regrinds without accurate indexing, but the variations start to compound after that and the work will be done by just the proudest teeth, which will then lose their edge sooner with diminishing returns on effort.

Because I'm having to regrind about a dozen times a year across the blades off four circular saws at the Shed it was worth us getting a dedicated CS blade sharpener. We went with the Forest West model at the time. There are a number of similar ones now offered with different branding. The 370w motor was the deciding factor for us.

370W Circular Saw Blade Sharpener | Forestwest Sharpener

Of course, unless you were doing a lot of blade regrinding that cost couldn't be readily justified for most individuals. If you had a few nearby mates that had a similar need it might work as a joint buy. At the cost per blade of getting them resharpened commercially a unit could pay for itself in time. One of the savings for us has been avoiding the travel time to deliver and collect blades from the nearest reputable sharpening shop.

The indexing mechanism on all offerings is less than desirable and I'm still working on further improving the pawl mechanism on our unit. There was a thread on the forum about these that covers some of this and identifies another offering...

circular saw blade sharpener Timbecon vs Forestwest

We did try one of the following style and found it to be so flimsy and inaccurate that it was next to useless.

595948 | Saw Blade Sharpener 4" to 16" with Adjustable Rake | Toolex