Shop Work: How to sharpen your bandsaw blade

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The dullest blade in the world gets sharpened for the first time. I talk about different techniques of sharpening and try my hand at it.

[@jerrystark3587]

I have sharpened bandsaw blades a number of times. There are different useful approaches, such as the one you took in this video. What I have arrived at is the most simple and easy method for me for sharpening the hook-toothed bandsaw blades I use in my shop. My method is simple. I broke off the tang of a chainsaw file, chucked the file into a cordless drill, and used it to sharpen the bandsaw blade while it was mounted in the bandsaw. First, I made a Sharpie mark on the blade tooth where I began the process to help me keep track of where I had already sharpened the teeth and and then I sharpened the entire blade. . The round shape of the file is perfect for sharpening the inner end of the cutting hooks -- the part that actually does the cutting. The rotating drill is far easier to use than using the file alone because the blade does not deflect as much as it does with the cross pressure of hand filing. I also think this results in a more consistent edge on each tooth. As you would with any sharpening method, try to sharpen each tooth with the same amount of filing "strokes" and with the same pressure. When you are done, your blade will be nicely sharp. . This method takes a while (as they all do), but it is the easiest approach I have found for sharpening the 1/2" and 3/4" wide , 105" long hook-toothed blades I use for resawing, ripping, etc. Is it worthwhile to resharpen bandsaw blades that are typically not that expensive to begin with? That's an individual call. It works for me. I have resharpened individual blades several times with this method quite successfully. The time I spent sharpening was time I did not have to spend running to the wood worker's store (25 miles away) or waiting 2-3 days (or more) for mail delivery. . Whatever works. Thanks for the video!

[@FishersShop]

Nice tip! That's a great idea

[@The_man_himself_67]

Greetings from 2022. Managed to instantly blunt my blade on a rogue nail. Went from cutting like a hot knife through butter to useless in a moment. Didn't appreciate how sensitive bandsaw blades are. Will give this a try, thanks.

[@thomasporter3316]

Drew, Thanks for great content and humor! Your by far my favorite woodworking you tuber! I love those Bens pretzels too!

[@ancienttom97]

First thing you need to do before trying your cut is setting your upper and lower guides and make sure that the blade is properly tensioned. If everything was set properly, that blade wouldn't push backward a quarter of an inch like it did.

[@Wood-In-My-Eye]

That makes a lot of sense. I use timber wolf blades. And the order to tighten it is 7 steps. Which is great knowledge. Running a proper tension is so important more than the sharpness. Which I personally never knew.

[@mikeyandalyssab4782]

Thanks for the direct and informative video!!! And the pretzel totally caught me off guard and made me laugh. Can’t wait to try this and stop burning my wood with my stupid dull blade!

[@Dave51262]

Great demo and the results really show how well it worked. Thanks!

[@FishersShop]

Thanks Dave. It's definitely not for everyone, but yeah... it worked.

[@pnwguy221]

Thank you sir. Getting ready to sharpen my 105” 3 tpi blade for the first time. Yes, it looks like it takes awhile but that’s all part of doing things the good old fashioned way that I like doing. Good job on the video and thank you.

[@FishersShop]

Have fun!

[@woodsniffer]

Oh this is a good Bandsaw/dremel/blade video. BDB NICE PRETZEL..glad you shared with your shop dog. Ive been fishing for a blade sharpening video for awhile now. thanks for posting Fish.

[@FishersShop]

You bet!

[@rickmccaskill7888]

You are the first person I have seen that has the same bandsaw as I have. Great video, will try it myself.

[@ellisc.foleyjr9778]

Well done, informative, good input and thoughts. one can not help but come away with some new ideas thanks for sharing

[@FishersShop]

Thanks for watching!

[@paulkelm6550]

I enjoyed your video. I appreciate your honesty and your willingness to experiment after research. I'm not sure what sharpening the back of each tooth would do, but I think you were able to sharpen the cutting edge with what you did - and that made a big difference. Thank you for sharing!

[@FishersShop]

Thanks for watching!

[@lincolnhavens9832]

This was an excellent tutorial!! Thank you

[@FishersShop]

Glad it was helpful!

[@wilfdell1153]

If you're using the diamond stone to level the tips of the teeth you should do that 'before' you sharpen the backs of the teeth with the dremel. Otherwise you are just taking off the edge you've just sharpened. Presumably the front of the teeth is sloping forwards enough that you still get a reasonably sharp edge with the tips of the teeth flattened, but it's definitely increasing the angle on that edge beyond what it's meant to be. If your teeth are worn unevenly I think it makes sense to use a stone like that to take a bit off the tips first and level them all out; if you then sharpen each tooth with the dremel afterwards just until you take off the flats on the tips you'll have a nice clean sharp edge on them!

[@xtraMTpockets]

I will be trying this myself, thank you.

[@FishersShop]

It's not perfect, but it definitely works! Glad you liked it, thanks!

[@apmgold]

Hey man, nice simple way to get some more life out of your bandsaw blade. I liked the style and presentation of the video. Well done, keep up the great work.

[@FishersShop]

Thanks, apm!

[@hectorgerco2963]

Hi Im Héctor from Argentina , very far away from you , but very close with this video , thank you, here the bandsaw baldes are very expensive and may be will last longer. Gracias

[@FishersShop]

Nice! Hopefully the video could help

[@robertschaeffer5861]

really something seeing young woodworkers coming of age... still got all my fingers,old vet...

[@dennisfahlstrom7422]

Good video and some nice results. I can see how that can work out well for you. I’ve got a 21” band saw I bought 15 years ago since I do a lot of resawing and the blades are 165” long so even a coarse 3TPI blade would take an hour or 2 to sharpen. A 1” wide blade is what I use most although I have a 3/8” blade for tighter corner work. It only gets used a little. Tried sharpening the 1” HSS blade once and got decent results with a file and Dremel but with a new replacement HSS being about $26 I went the easy route after that. I did that about 3 times a year until 8 years ago when I bit the bullet and went with a carbide blade on the recommendation of a sales guy at Grizzly. Best move I have made with that tool - I’m still using that pricey $118 blade but it still cuts like new with no burning. I resaw a lot of oak and hickory so they are very durable. Hope this adds some food for thought on the subject and other options. Thanks again for your well done videos.

[@FishersShop]

To be honest, this was more of an experiment to see if I even could. I understand the value of a new blade and quite honestly would rather pay for a brand new perfectly sharpened blade than mess around with attempting to sharpen a dull one slightly better. There's just nothing like a perfectly sharp blade.

[@jerrodbates8480]

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[@atlantajunglepythons1744]

@@FishersShop The quality of some new blades might be questionable, but probably not expensive carbide ones. Most new steel blades could profit from a tuneup

[@atlantajunglepythons1744]

"...and if you didn't, I don't care. Thank you for not subscription-begging! BTW, subscribed! One thing you've surely heard or figgered out by now is to use a blade-vise. It can be as simple as a groove in a block of hardwood, like the holding block you use...maybe s bit longer groove.

[@FishersShop]

Welcome aboard. Yeah, that would have helped

[@timort2260]

That's interesting. I never sharpen beyond the underside the actual cutting bit. My understanding is that the top flat should not need touched up that edge should stay constant angle the manufacturer set. But even just doing the bottom cutting edge she runs like new but over time they get dull faster. I guess metal fatigue but not sure honestly. But that trick with the diamond stone is pretty slick. I'm gonna try that but honestly I makes more sense to do before i would think. Also i hand file so I'm much more consistent due to that. No way to use a dremel and know each tooth is being evenly matched. Great video

[@TheSkiggly]

I bet you're glad to get rid of that Craftsman band saw. The reason I say this, is because I also have one and can't wait to replace it. Since it was free, I'll use it until then - but it's such a headache. I'll go out on a limb and guess the motor pulley kept coming lose and eventually worn itself unsymmetrical. The vibration is horrendous and the dust collection is virtually non-existent. I too have looked at the Rikon and after your review, that's probably the brand I'll go with when replacement time arrives. Love the videos and much like many others - the humor. Above all I enjoy the simplistic approach you take when building things - be it jigs or projects. Here's wishing you many years of success and keeping your fingers attached.

[@algorel4763]

That was a good video!

[@woodworksbygrampies1284]

Hola! 🖐 Awesome video! I don't yet have a bandsaw but I hope to have one soon. The drama built up to the point where I was literally sitting on the edge of my seat to find out if this works or not!!! I'm glad you're back to cutting rather than burning 🔥 through wood, hahaha! 😆🤣😂 Take care and have a good one, Adios! 👊

[@FishersShop]

Haha, thanks!

[@uncletoy774]

hey Fish its Troy again the box joint jig is working awesomely so thanks for that. just a little fyi for u about the dremel bits if I don't have the size or shape for the needed situation I take the little sharpening stone and just grind it down to the shape required. great vid man keep up the good work

[@FishersShop]

Good tip! Thanks

[@justind9858]

Great vid. Thanks bro

[@FishersShop]

You bet

[@thomastieffenbacherdocsava1549]

Thanks for showing your process. Have a 3/4 3 tpi blade which started burning the wood. will be using your process.

[@FishersShop]

Good luck!

[@DaveDickens]

Great video, thank you.

[@FishersShop]

Glad you liked it!

[@Steve_with_coffee]

Have you every thought about using the grinding stones used on a chainsaw grinding tool like the Oregon or Granberg? I know Logosol makes an expensive unit to grind bandsaw blades automatically and it grinds the face of the tooth and gullet so set isn't affected, but again it's a pricey thing if you don't make a living with a mill. I have some stones for sharpening chains but I haven't tried them on a bandsaw blade yet, might need to.

[@martyse21]

good job

[@paul-ld9vh]

Now I want it hot pretzel. Good video BTW!

[@mattfreeman8123]

Thank you for this

[@FishersShop]

My pleasure!

[@chuckbailey6835]

I've never sharpened a real small bandsaw blade but i have sharpened my sawmill blades 12ft loops any where from 1" to 1 1/2" wide 1.3- 1 tpi by hand on a bench grinder on a pedestal with a half inch wide grinding wheel profiled round on one side and a custom-made platten to rest the blade on. I hit the whole Blade with it kind of like you're talking about with the Dremel goes pretty quick once you get in a rhythm

[@FishersShop]

Thanks Chuck. This was the one and only time I've done it. It was neat to see that I could do it but I'd rather pay to get a new one that's perfect and save my back from aching.

[@dpmeyer4867]

thanks

[@greghollinger9370]

Hey, thanks for the vid. Wish you would have given it a test cut before you did the final tip sharpening. I just resharped a couple sawmill blades by just grinding down the back side of the tip a bit on the grinding wheel. Don't know if it worked yet but thanks from South Carolina.

[@nmssis]

how did that go?

[@MrWigg1es09]

You may be left handed, but you're always right

[@johnkennedyswenja]

Time consuming, but cheaper than buying new. Remember we appreciate your quality uploads, so no need for negative remarks at video end.

[@FishersShop]

Yeah, that video was done ages ago when I was still intimidated by criticism.

[@rivernet62]

Well I was never told we got hot pretzel breaks. But back on topic, I find it works great to just leave the blade on the saw and touch the back of each hook with a flat wheel. You can clamp a block or use a fence to help steady your hand.

[@FishersShop]

Yeah, not a bad idea. I could probably make a jig to hold the rotary tool for me as well.

[@colinfarrier3668]

Hi Mr Fisher, Please tell me why the blade on your saw moves forward and back in line with the blade edge? Does the thrust bearing take any slack? Colin in Northern Ireland

[@FishersShop]

Well for one, I had the blade guide set way too high so the blade didn't have the support it needed. I only did that to get a better shot with the camera. But secondly, my upper and lower thrust bearings probably weren't set as far forward as they should be. There should only be like 1/32"-1/16" between the thrustbearings and the back of the blade. Well spotted, colin.

[@richardgalli7262]

Synthetic or natural stones with dissolve quickly. Use diamond cylindrical bits they come in several different sizes.

[@mikeallan9574]

This was a good demo. Thanks. Now, after having been through it and listened to all the comments, what do you think is the single key face/surface to sharpen?

[@FishersShop]

The gullet and underside of the tooth aren't important. Just touching the top of each tooth gets the job done. Thanks!

[@dougdalgetty7521]

I could imagine this method being used to sharpen handsaws.

[@ronniepertuit986]

The big unknown of mine was what angle to hold the file with sharpening the teeth. Because the entire portion of the filing was speeded up, I couldn't see the angle.

[@garymucher9590]

When you touch up the back of each tooth, you are putting a new cutting surface on the front. There is no reason to try and file the front after you do the back side. Just a little info to make the sharpening a lot easier.

[@FishersShop]

good point. Should shorten the overall time it takes as well. Thanks, Gary!

[@marvinmacon9673]

Gary Mucher p

[@davebashford3753]

Also, doesn't the last step just take off the tip that you spent so much time sharpening? It's either doing something positive to the tip of each tooth in which case why bother with the other steps? Or it's doing something negative and shouldn't be done.

[@williamhoward8319]

share the pretzel i love them you need a carbide burr the carvinc class used ruby too

[@alfredneumann4692]

In German the name is Brezel! :-)

[@walte99]

How long did the process take? And, what length is your blade?

[@FishersShop]

The TPI as well as the length really defines how long it's going to take you. I don't have that bandsaw anymore but I think it was a 70.5". Once you get the hang of it, you can really go pretty fast. Overall, probably about 15-20 minutes total.

[@designsbyphilip510]

That saw uses a 80" blade. I can sharpen mine in about 15 minutes with a dremel on a 3 tpi blade. I wouldnt try this on a high tpi blade, not enough room to get into the teeth.

[@Metalbass10000]

I see others have already pointed out the improvements you can make do your set up on your bandsaw, so I’ll spare you the redundancy. I will, however, commend you on being one of the few sharpening videos with that last step , Taking a minute to even out the height of the blade teeth makes more of a difference to the performance, and even more to the tool life, than people realize.

[@leonardpearlman4017]

?? Haven't done this very much, but when sharpening a regular saw, people "joint" or "mill" the tops of the teeth first! Then they all have little flats on top, and in the sharpening process that flat goes away and becomes a small cutting chisel. You can see this happening, in my case with a strong light and magnifier glasses. Enjoyed watching this, it's definitely not complicated! If you can resharpen a good blade, even if it takes 30 min for the whole process it's a pretty good profit compared to buying a commercial blade! And fairly competitive with making up one yourself. I'm going to try it. As far as grinding under the tooth, there are tiny diamond grinding pins which are as cheap as those diamond grinding disks, and probably made by the same people.

[@frehleycomet]

Outside of the sharpening topic, do you know how I can fix blade wobble on the band saw.

[@FishersShop]

Couple things to try. First off, if you're using a V-belt instead of a Link-belt, you could change that out. V-belt tend to adopt an oval shape after long periods of non-use and then create a vibration when you try to use them again. Secondly, check the wheels and see if they have any heavy spots. Any heavy spots in the wheels can cause massive vibration once the saw is at full speed. Basically, just remove the blade and spin them freely. If they're not balanced, the heavy spots should end up at the bottom of the wheel. If your wheel has weight adjustments, you can counter this imbalance easily. If not, then you might be forced to remove material in order to get them balanced.

[@frehleycomet]

awesome I will check those ideas, thank you so much

[@hotrodhog2170]

Another thing to check for is if you have any debris on the wheels. Any sawdust compacted on the wheels will make vibration in the blade.

[@amirhouseingholinia2023]

Hi, my harbor freight 9" band saw with sharp blade is drifting to one side, any idea on how I can fix this problem. Thanks

[@FishersShop]

Could be how you have the guide bearings adjusted. Not sure of that model but most bandsaws have 2 guide bearings on top and 2 on bottom along with a thrust bearing behind the blade. Make sure the bearings are almost touching the blade (less than 1mm space). When you're cutting, make sure the top guide post is as low as possible so the blade has as much support as possible. If it's still drifting, it could be that there's not enough blade tension. Aside from that, the blade could just be dull and need sharpening. Good luck!

[@hotrodhog2170]

It is more likely where you have the blade running on the upper wheel. The back of the gullet should be at the center of the wheel.

[@cabman86]

This is when you send it out to be sharpened or buy a new one. Put the old one in the garden to keep critters out.

[@robertschaeffer5861]

How did you work with such a dull blade before the demo video....

[@FishersShop]

Very poorly.

[@davidmcdaniel9921]

Nice demonstration you just saved me $35

[@FishersShop]

Thanks! Glad I could help.

[@eitantal726]

How does that compare to a new, sharp, blade?

[@FishersShop]

It's not as good. It just prolongs the use of the blade for a bit

[@eitantal726]

@@FishersShop Yikes. Might want to mention that in the video

[@squarelevelplumb]

the blade is awfully wobbly. Tighten it up a tad, and move your stop forward. It deflects too far back when the wood is pushed into it.

[@FishersShop]

Yeah, I filmed this ages ago. At least it feels like that. Since then I have learned a lot about tuning up band saws and how to properly set them. I've also invested in a much-needed upgrade for my bandsaw and this one that you saw is ancient history. Thanks, John.

[@aktrapper6126]

Chainsaw file for the gullet ?

[@FishersShop]

The cutting doesn't happen in there so it's not necessary to sharpen it.

[@creeator]

I wonder if it would work if you just put the blade in reverse and just touch a diamond burr while it's running 🤔

[@creeator]

It works ! I just tried it 😃

[@kevinrecoskie519]

You should clean the gullet to get rid of stress cracks,

[@chasjacks9378]

Why don't you connect the hand file to your drill and use it that way???

[@jlyle51]

What about setting the teeth ?

[@FishersShop]

Not worth it. Just buy a new blade at that point.

[@AJB2K3]

One thing I still don't understand. Why sharpen the back of the tooth and not the cutting edge?

[@FishersShop]

You're actually flattening the back of the tooth which, in turn, puts a cutting edge on the tip.

[@ja5467]

There’s a woman on KZbin with a much easier way to sharpen the band saw blade using a round file the same size as the gullet on the blade and using her technique you don’t have to remove the blade from the saw. JUST MAKE SURE THE SAW IS TURNED OFF AND UNPLUGGED!

[@KreatorOfDeath1985]

I only made one cut with my brand new blade and its burning my wood now evertime i i try to make a cut. The one cut was only about 8 inches into a piece of wood

[@fromanabe8639]

How about mounting the blade backwards.....turning on the saw....then hold an ordinary knife-sharpening stone against one side of the blade then the other, putting more pressure where the blade tips are. ??? This would do all the tips at one time rather than grind each tooth separately.

[@chuckbailey6835]

well if its only wood you stop to salvage my wife would say thats not that bad but if your like me some would say that I'm border line hoarder

[@jimbo2629]

Looks very time consuming. If you are going to use a diamond stone after all that work, why not just use the diamond stone and forget the Dremel and filing. I’ll try that next time my blade gets blunt. If it’s only the point that gets blunt it should work.

[@FishersShop]

Probably took me like 5min to setup, 10min to go around the blade, and 5min to teardown. So if you compare that with how long it takes to go and buy a new one (unless you're just ordering it from online), then it might actually be time AND money saved. And I'm not really convinced that the diamond stone did anything. It left a groove in my stone too which is a bummer. So I won't be using that stone in the future at all.

[@reidjohnson6803]

Even with a new blade, it will still tend to wander until you adjust the guide rollers on your saw. I am a fanatic when it comes to proper tool maintenance and setup. Whether its the proper gap between shear blades, or just the proper rpm for a cutting tool, machine condition and setup are the key to good results. At least lower the upper blade guide block so the guide rollers can better accomplish their purpose. I'm not trying to pick your video apart, but it will do you well to know that as soon as I saw you make the sample cut with an improperly adjusted machine, I lost interest in what you were about to teach. The 12 minute duration was already a turn off, but I really want to learn about in house maintenance of blades and the such. I apologize for being crass., but please take this as constructive criticism, and move forward with your DYI videos. There are already enough bad ones out there for yours to shine with just a bit of polishing.

[@jimbauer6822]

No idea what your doing