How many times can you sharpen a saw blade?

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  • tfischer
    Veteran Member
    • Jul 2003
    • 2343
    • Plymouth (Minneapolis), MN, USA.
    • BT3100

    How many times can you sharpen a saw blade?

    How many times *should* you sharpen a saw blade before it becomes impractical?

    I'm still using the original blade on my BT3*, the Ryobi blade designed (built?) by Freud. It's been a decent blade, but then I don't have anything else to compare it to. My WW hobby has stopped and started multiple times over that period - a few major projects here and there, scattered minor projects, and sometimes even several years off. This blade has been sharpened several times over the years, maybe 3 or 4.

    Last night I was cutting tenons in black ash and noticed the saw was struggling doing the 1 1/4" deep cuts - even smoking a bit (although strangely the wood diidn't look burned once the cut was complete).

    My gut instinct is that it's time for a new blade, but I wouldn't mind sharpening it either. The bummer is that sending it off to be sharpened will take me out of commission for a week (Wednesday to Wednesday) as I don't have a back-up blade. Yet another reason to buy a new one... then in the future I could send that off to be sharpened and fall back on this one temporarily, even if I didn't ever resharpen this one it would at least get me by.

    Thoughts?
  • Knottscott
    Veteran Member
    • Dec 2004
    • 3815
    • Rochester, NY.
    • 2008 Shop Fox W1677

    #2
    It depends on the blade, who sharpens it, and what exactly needs to be done....I'd think typically a blade of that caliber could probably be sharpened 3 to 5 times. It's worth having it sharpened IMHO, but it'd also be worth picking up something like a Freud Diablo or Irwin Marples blade in the $30 range while it's out.
    Happiness is sort of like wetting your pants....everyone can see it, but only you can feel the warmth.

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    • capncarl
      Veteran Member
      • Jan 2007
      • 3564
      • Leesburg Georgia USA
      • SawStop CTS

      #3
      I've resharpened my stack of blades about 6 times. The cheaper blades, the craftsman and dewalt class blades get used more often for rough work and hit more nails, the frueds are used for the good stuff. I can see the carbide getting smaller on the cheaper blades, but there was less there new as well. I expect 4 more sharpenings out of the cheap ones. Accarbide says they get 14-24 re-sharpenings and DeKalbs says 12+.

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      • JimD
        Veteran Member
        • Feb 2003
        • 4187
        • Lexington, SC.

        #4
        I have 6 or more blades for my BT3100. I have a rip, a couple combination, a thin combination and others I don't even remember at this point. For deep rips, especially with the limited power of the BT3100, a rip blade is a good idea. When mine was new and quite sharp, it even worked as a combination blade pretty well. I would definitely get another blade, either a combination of about 40 teeth or a 24 tooth rip. Thin kerf isn't a bad idea but I use full width blades too. Sharpness makes more difference than width IMHO.

        Relative to sharpening it depends on how big the carbide is and how much has to be removed (or is removed) each sharpening. Something like a diablo blade may not be able to be resharpened or maybe once or twice. It's carbide teeth are small. A freud combination should be able to be resharpened at least 3 or 4 times and if you send it in for sharpening before you chip a tooth, maybe 5 or 6. When there isn't any carbide, the blade is done. How long that takes depends on how good care you take of it.

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        • LCHIEN
          Internet Fact Checker
          • Dec 2002
          • 20914
          • Katy, TX, USA.
          • BT3000 vintage 1999

          #5
          When they sharpen a blade then grind across the face of the tooth so as to make a square sharp corner with the side face of the carbide. They do not grind the side of the carbide as this would affect the Kerf.

          How many times you can resharpen depends on the thickness of the carbide, front to back, and how much they grind off each time. If you wear the blade which rounds off the square corners of the carbide then they need to grind more to make it square again. Better, more expensive blades will use thicker carbide and so can be sharpened more times.

          the following picture compares a $100 Forrest WWII blade against a $20 Irwin Marathon. Note the difference in the thickness of the carbide tips.

          Last edited by LCHIEN; 05-03-2014, 08:43 AM.
          Loring in Katy, TX USA
          If your only tool is a hammer, you tend to treat all problems as if they were nails.
          BT3 FAQ - https://www.sawdustzone.org/forum/di...sked-questions

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