How Do You Know if the Blade Is Dull

When Does Your Carbide-Tipped Sawblade Need Sharpening?

Woodworkers of all types and levels of feel regularly hand in a sawblade and ask if it needs sharpening. "If it is dull, it needs sharpening" seems the obvious answer. All the same, determining "dull" is not so easy. At that place are numerous variables which can change and crusade sawing problems - and not all of them are in the blade itself. Furthermore, the terms "ho-hum" and "sharp" are relative, and sort of like "beauty". They are, to an extent, "in the center of the beholder".

The quality of a cut edge that is acceptable to one woodworker may well be below the standards of another. A blade which is also irksome for cease cuts on fussy materials may still exist fine for other, less critical, applications. Thus, when asked the question "is information technology wearisome", we must in plough inquire "are you lot satisfied with the operation of the blade on the machine yous use and materials yous cut?" or "what has changed that makes you question whether the blade is still sharp?" With precision sharpening of carbide sawblades averaging effectually $20 per blade, information technology is best to be sure the bract really needs sharpening before sending it in.

The usual symptoms of a slow blade include:

- increased resistance to feed
- called-for
- increased noise
- chips or splinters
- increased motor load

Nonetheless these symptoms can also indicate broken or missing carbide tips, a dingy bract, a warped or bent blade, or alignment problems. Assuming that the saw and fence are properly adjusted, one can focus on the bract and rule out some possible problems. The following are steps that tin can be taken without measuring instruments or other special equipment.

i. If there is buildup on the sides of the saw tips, Clean THE Bract
Note whether the buildup is on ane or poth sides of the blade. Buildup on the rip fence side may indicate a fence that is "crowding" the blade and needs to be adjusted so that it is parallel to or slightly heeling away from the blade. Remove the bract and employ oven cleaner, or other blade cleaning production, to deliquesce the build-upwards of wood resin. If the build-upwards is mainly composed of mucilage, use solvent. Rinse and DRY the bract.

2. VISUAL Check FOR LATERAL RUNOUT (WOBBLE)
With the blade secured on the saw arbor, sight along the blade (then that you see but the thickness of the kerf) and jog the motor. Look closely for wobble as the blade slows down. If you cannot readily see a wobble, so the blade probably has less than about.005-.007" of runout (on a ten" blade), and the blade is straight enough for adept cuts. If you tin see a wobble with the naked eye, then there is probably more than .007" of runout, and information technology should be checked by your saw shop. This is plenty wobble to cause cutting bug on some materials. If in that location'south much over .010" runout on a 10" blade, it becomes impossible to get actually smooth cuts on any materials.

3. LOOK FOR CHIPPED, Broken, or MISSING TEETH
Start at 1 point on the blade, and examine each tip., focusing on the top edges and points where the cutting actually occurs. One broken or missing tip may take piffling upshot on rip cuts, but tin can ruin the quality of crosscuts, peculiarly on veneered plywoods. Plastic laminates volition chip badly if at that place are Whatever damaged tips. Cutting solid plastics or non-ferrous metals can become unsafe if there are missing tips. Small-scale chips will grind out in sharpening. When necessary, your saw shop can braze on new tips and grind them exactly to lucifer the others.

iv. Wait FOR THE WEAR LINE
Dulled carbide edges are not obvious to the naked eye, and non easy to feel with finger tips. You need to look very closely at the tops of clean carbide tips in very bright light (such as direct sunlight). The "wear line" where the carbide has begun rounding-off will show up as a fine bright line along the tiptop edges of the tips, or as shiny spots near the points formed at the height of the bevels (see the photo above). This line is usually non much wider than a hair. If you tin see the wear line, the blade needs sharpening. Running it farther volition cause accelerated clothing, necessitating a heavier grind when the blade is re-sharpened.

5. TEST THE Blade
If you blade is clean, and has no apparent tip impairment and no visible wear, make some test cuts. Annotation how it feels and sounds, and bank check the results. In many cases, only cleaning it makes a tremendous difference. If the results are marginal, and you're still not sure if the blade needs sharpening, try putting on a similar blade that is new or freshly sharpened, and make some test cuts with information technology. If nothing else is changed and the results are improved, that pretty well settles it - the kickoff blade is dull.

6. BRING It IN
If you suspect your blade is dull but can't verify it yourself, bring or send it to united states for inspection. We will evaluate the condition of the bract and make a recommendation. We want our customers to get the maximum full service life from the blades we sell and service. If a sawblade does not appear to demand sharpening, we volition tell yous and so. We usually have a skillful thought of the retail toll of about sawblades, and and then nosotros also try to avoid perforning service that results in an expense to the customer that approaches or exceeds the replcement cost of the blade.

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Source: https://www.carbide.com/sawshop/when-to-sharpen.cfm

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