Decent circular saw blade sharpener recommendation?

[earl84]

I have several Diablo circular saw, miter saw, and table saw blades that need sharpening. I found a guy to sharpen them a year ago, but he moved. Found another place, but I could buy my own sharpener for what that’s going to cost, maybe.

Anyway, does anyone have a recommendation for a sharpener in the sub-$200 range? I have seen decent reviews of HF sharpener, but I typically don’t buy HF stuff for anything requiring precision and repeatability. For this, I’d much rather buy once/cry once.

 

[Busted_Knuckles]

New and under $200, Ive only ever noticed 2 different machines, both from China, sold under various names. The hazard fraught model is half the price of the other. I have the HF, you get what you pay for.. I know nothing of the other, looks like it might be a better bet even at twice the $ +-

 

[dnschmidt]

Why bother. Unless you live in the middle of nowhere find someone with the right equipment and send your blades to them. I use Scott's Sharpening Service here in Phoenix as he does great work but prior to that I sent my blades into Forrest Manufacturing who is the company that made them. Some of these Diablo blades are a dime a dozen compared to Forrest, Ridge Carbide or FSTool. For 7 1/2" blades just cruise into the Home Depot and buy in bulk.

 

[engineer2]

I was thinking about buying the $55 HF sharpener, but I have a good supply of new blades. I will wait until most of them are dull. Then I'll sharpen them L-S-R like Forrest blades instead of the more common L-R angles.

 

[earl84]

Why bother. Unless you live in the middle of nowhere find someone with the right equipment and send your blades to them. I use Scott's Sharpening Service here in Phoenix as he does great work but prior to that I sent my blades into Forrest Manufacturing who is the company that made them. Some of these Diablo blades are a dime a dozen compared to Forrest, Ridge Carbide or FSTool. For 7 1/2" blades just cruise into the Home Depot and buy in bulk.

Because I want to. Why do we bother with a lot of stupid sh** we do?I have the time, and the desire, so… If YOU don’t want to, then don’t. If I want to, I come here and ask for constructive input.

I know they’re not Forrest blades, but I’ve had good life out of them and they’ve made some very nice cuts on my projects and projects I do for others. I’m not in a top of the line furniture shop, and it would make me happy to sharpen my own blades.
Anyone have a real recommendation?

 

[RTM]

Vintage Foley 16 in my shop, but I'm still rehabbing it, mostly to do handsaws, not circular. There were newer versions out there, but they include a bit of a learning curve. Don't recall the numbers.

 

[Xcursion88]

Sharpening steel blades isn't a problem but carbide tipped will be a *******.
I don't care what some claim that "their machine will"
Carbide is extremely hard and while it "might work" for you my gut says you'll be time and aggravation pissed off and inconsistent results could ultimately make you abort your goal.

All that said if a sharpener will work and work a long time it won't be cheap.

Good luck

 

[d.mcfarland]

^^^ This. I've heard if it's carbide don't even think about using anything from Harbor Freight to achieve desirable results.

 

[ATC]

Go to the 9:02 mark of this video. I stumbled across it a couple days ago and your post made me think of it...

 

[wood02]

I purchased this

Mophorn Circular Saw Blade Sharpener​

from Amazon several years ago. Sharpened all my carbide blades.

 

[Busted_Knuckles]

I purchased this

Mophorn Circular Saw Blade Sharpener​

from Amazon several years ago. Sharpened all my carbide blades.

That is the other " model " that Ive seen sold under countless china names,.. in hind sight, I wish I had bought that model, instead of the HF model. Even though its several times more $

Does that thing really 60 pounds ?

 

[seber]

Go to the 10:32 mark of this video. I stumbled across it a couple days ago and your post made me think of it...

That would be a good trick since the video is only 9:40 long.

I sharpen my blades myself on the table saw. Make a sliding plate with a dowel to hold the blade and a runner in the miter slot. Put an abrasive blade from a cutoff saw in the table saw and run the carbide tips against it. Depending on the location of the dowel, you can even change the relief angle to suit the power of your saw. This method duplicates what happens in professional machines except it is more flexible. You only need to sharpen the tips as much as needed instead of sharpening all tips to match the most worn one.

 

[dnschmidt]

OK, first of all forget about using abrasive cut off blades as good carbide is harder than aluminum oxide. Here's a YouTube video of a jig that probably will work and uses a diamond blade on a grinder.

 

[Mr. Wonderful]

I don't want to offend anyone with this question. Why sharpen them? Do you go through them that it is cost prohibitive to buy a new one when it gets dull? I don't use them much so I am a little out of touch with the price. Do you get a better result sharpening them yourself?

 

[tarbellb]

I get my more expensive blades sharpened locally, cost anywhere from $10-25ea depending on # teeth.

Why, well my cold cut, dry cut, and table saw blades can be $100+ each new vs $20 to sharpen


I wouldnt even consider it on a $20 Diablo blade unless I had a sweet sharpening setup at the shop

 

[tarbellb]

My guy also replaces chipped and missing carbide teeth @ $3 each, starts to add up. But im not in the business of brazing and sharpening so it still makes sense.

Note: a blade can be warped or beyond repair, most dry cut blades suffer this fate

 

[engineer2]

Why sharpen them?

New carbide circular saw blades typically range from $10 to $300+. Cheap ones are throwaway, but as the price goes up, resharpening makes sense. I probably own 20 circular saw blades ranging from new to junkers with missing teeth. We used to have a retired guy in town that offered sharpening, brazing new teeth, and straightening, but he unfortunately passed away. Now my closest sharpening service is 20 miles away. Makes it tempting to buy a sharpener.

 

[seber]

OK, first of all forget about using abrasive cut off blades as good carbide is harder than aluminum oxide.

That may be, but it works all the same. And has worked reliably for years. Edit, I should add that the green wheel on carbide grinders is in fact silicon carbide. The same material used in cutoff blades.

 

[zendriver]

To sharpen carbide, a diamond wheel is needed, which is included with the HF model.

It's not rocket science.

 

[Al Borland]

My guys have an ability, more of a talent really, that enables them to remove every carbide, from every blade, on a jobsite simultaneously.
Then, while I go to Home Despot for new blades, they transform the blade retaining bolt's hex head into a conical shape.
Once the saw is ready, with a new blade and bolt, they saw thru the cord.
There ain't no fixin' stupid...

 

[ATC]

That would be a good trick since the video is only 9:40 long.

That's weird. Video was 11:** long when I made my reply. I distinctly remember as I went back, watched it, and found the time slot (10:32) so I could post it in this thread.

So it appears the clip is at the 9:02 mark now (hmmm...exactly 1:30 clipped out of the video. Oddly specific )

 

[wood02]

That is the other " model " that Ive seen sold under countless china names,.. in hind sight, I wish I had bought that model, instead of the HF model. Even though its several times more $

Does that thing really 60 pounds ?

Yes...it is heavy. I origninally purchased the HF sharpener...I am very glad to have returned and purchased the sharpener from Amazon. I would have to check my records "in the garage" to know exactly what I paid for it. I believe it was about $150.00. Mine did not have the drip tank. I figured if I needed it I could add.

 

[Toolfool]

Diablo blades are not worth sharpening. They are the cheap Freud line.

 

[Eli D]

I bought all foley belsaw equipment used a few years back. I have a 1055 and a pair of 310. Like everyone said the cheap 7 1/4 blades aren’t worth sharpening to move how cheap you can buy new. Definitely worth what I paid for everything it was less than $1000 with several machines and parts machines.

 

[dr_clyde]

My local lumberyard offers sharpening, I know they send it out. The welding supply house does as well. It's only a few bucks. I wouldn't consider doing it myself. Not even close to worth it. But I will pay $5 to sharpen a $20 blade a few times.

The more teeth, the more I'm willing to pay to sharpen it. Just a regular framing blade? Probably not worth it. But the ones for aluminum or plastic are really quite expensive and worth sharpening.

 

[earl84]

Think I'll go with the Morphon blade sharpener. I'll sharpen my cheap Diablo blades a few times and see how it goes. I know they're not Freud or Forrest blades, but they have done some really nice cuts for me. Maybe if I get into more serious fine work, I'll upgrade, but for now, I'm happy sharpening these and saving some dough. I have more time than money, and I like doing this **** for some reason.