Can you hand sharpen bandsaw blades?

[Rob]

I appreciate this isn't strictly Tormek related but the knowledge re all things sharpening in this forum is invaluable

I find when I'm cutting turning blanks its not long before the bandsaw blades go off the boil and at about £15 a pop, id rather sort them at home than keep shelling out the wedge

[grepper]

Too bad they have so many teeth:

http://www.woodturningvideosplus.com/resharpen-bandsaw-blades.html

[Ken S]

Older texts (before hardened teeth) routinely show bandsaw sharpening procedures.  Hardened teeth might necessitate a change to a harder tool. 

This seems like a task to  be begun when not in a hurry or distracted (and with a 3 tpi blade!).  With a 3tpi blade, even if you only start with sharpening 24 teeth and taking a break, you are 10% of the way done........

Ken

[Herman Trivilino]

Unless you're retired, or have a lot of free time, it just wouldn't be worth your while to sharpen band saw blades by hand.

Now, if you're like me you might take that as a challenge.  And it would be a good learning experience, too.  But I think one of the the things you'll learn is that it takes too much time.

[Mike Fairleigh]

If you're going through them that fast, you might consider investing in a carbide tipped blade.

[ionut]

Hi Rob,

I make and sharpen my bandsaw blades all the time. The last blade  I've put together was a couple of years ago and since then I re-sharpened it 4 times and after each sharpening the blade is cutting better than when new and I simply didn't have to change it yet. I use a dremel like in that article sent by Grepper but I use a diamond burr for chainsaw sharpening. That allows me to touch up the gullet side of the teeth as well not just the back which maintains the shape of the teeth. My blade is 100" and sharpening takes at the most 10 min.
It seems though that your blades don't last very long for you, maybe it is a good idea to make sure the blade is set up properly and tacks well, also make sure you are not to heavy on feeding, once they get too hot they quickly lose their efficiency as the temper of the teeth is gone. If you smell slightly burned wood while cutting, your feeding is too heavy for the thickness of the wood you are cutting.
Of course you will not be able to re-sharpen the blade indefinitely, the teeth will become smaller and their shape will change beyond the point where they will be able to do proper cutting work, that would be the time to change the blade.

Ionut

[Rob]

Great responses. Many thanks chaps

[Herman Trivilino]

I make and sharpen my bandsaw blades all the time.

I'm in awe!