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Sharpening Hole saws

A

AJ.

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I couldn't find a thread on this topic, so now we have one :D

I know there are fancy jigs you can buy for sharpening hole saws, but for something I do once in a blue moon its just not worth the hassle or expense.

So here is my simple cheap version of a hole saw sharpening jig.

Get yourself a bolt that has the same thread as the handle in your Angle grinder, 12 x 1.5mm in my case, and a couple of nuts.

put the bolt through one of the slots in your drill press and add a lock nut, as in the picture below. The lock nut doesn't need to be a long one like I used, thats just what I had handy.


http://postimage.org/

Add another lock nut to lock against the grinder, position it so the angles look correct and tighten everything up.

Then run the hole saw down and set the depth stop on your drill press to the desired position.


http://postimage.org/

Then sharpen away! As a safety measure I unplugged the drill press and plugged the grinder in there, this avoided me occidentally turning the drill press on out of force of habit.


http://postimage.org/

Then back to drilling.


http://postimage.org/

I used a 2.5mm cut of disc for the sharpening, but it would be even better if I profiled a grinding disc to the tooth shape.......... maybe I will do that next time.

Cheers Andrew
 
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Rrumbler

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Interesting. Good bit of innovation.

I have always done all of my saws by hand with files and stones; hole saws are only different in that they go in a circle instead of straight.
 
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A

AJ.

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Rrumbler said:
Interesting. Good bit of innovation.

I have always done all of my saws by hand with files and stones; hole saws are only different in that they go in a circle instead of straight.
Click to expand...

Thanks.

Yeah no doubt you could use a file, always more than one way to skin a cat.

Cheers Andrew
 
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LXCam

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That's a great idea. Guess I'll stop tossing'em in the trash from now on since filing was something that didn't interest me in the least.
 
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cheechi

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I've only ever needed to sharpen one hole saw. A dremel and some patience was all I needed. Your method is 'better' in that it's easily repeatable but I think mine was 'better' at the time in that I didn't have the other items on hand and got a functioning saw at the end.

Good thread.
 
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Robbie UK

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I'm importing the idea for the use of Her Britannic Majesty's subjects.

Thank you.
 
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dutchgray

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I know I won't be sharpening any, can't see how it could be economic to do, I know hole saws are relatively expensive but the cost of a new one wouldn't buy much time to spend sharpening. Might be different if I used them on metal regularly though.
 
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AJ.

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dutchgray said:
I know I won't be sharpening any, can't see how it could be economic to do, I know hole saws are relatively expensive but the cost of a new one wouldn't buy much time to spend sharpening. Might be different if I used them on metal regularly though.
Click to expand...

The hole saw I sharpened above would cost $30 to buy new. Including setting up the camera for the pictures and putting the bolt and nuts away afterwards, it was 15 minutes at the most for the whole job.

I am happy to work all day, any day for $120 an hour.

Cheers Andrew
 
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Doug Arthurs

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Hmm what kind of life do you get on the resharp? That looks like a decent bi-metal blade. If it is the body of the saw is spring steel and only a tiny bit of the tip is m42 steel. This is basically a bi-metal bandsaw blade in a tight circle. When the blade is dull you have worn through the bi-metal part and are pretty well out of hardened tooth. This is why metal cutting bandsaws are not sharpened they are thrown away.
 
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ScottsGT

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I just sharpened a 2.5" Milwaukee by throwing it in the trash and spending $13 on a new one. Around here at work, our time is money. Spending hours to build a jig and sharpen a bit would cost us about $150 in labor charges. We use them to cut through "wood" that is a high resin MDF. Dull blade stinks the place up bad!! Considering these are $5000 lecterns, and we drill about 25 holes a year, $13 a year on a new hole saw isn't too bad.
But for the garage guy that has time, very ingenious method!
 
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AJ.

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Doug Arthurs said:
Hmm what kind of life do you get on the resharp?
Click to expand...

I couldn't really say. As I said at the start I do this once in a blue moon. In this case I needed to drill 4 holes in 4mm steel, and it lasted perfectly fine for that. Chances are that hole saw will go back in the drawer and I won't use it for another year or more, so the resharpen will likely last for years :D


Cheers Andrew
 
A

ADSR

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Had to dig this back up. Going to try it out next week. Thanks again for posting it, AJ.
 
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