Sharpening circular saw blades

[Jimk]

Depends how much your time's worth I suppose....

[R D S]

Any point? (Pun unintended)

I changed the blade on my battery powered circular saw the other day and WOW, what a difference. It's always been a bit naff vs a mains one but it's obvious the blade was blunt (or crap, it's the one that came with it)

So im mindful now to change the blade more often but some aren't cheap, so I have questions....

Like anything else, is there much reason to expect an expensive blade would be any better?

Is it better to buy cheap mulipacks and replace often or expensive ones and have them sharpened?

Any input etc...

[polygonum_on_google]

I bought a new one some months ago - primarily for finer teeth. It really wasn't very expensive and was super-sharp.

I have my doubts anyone would be able to offer a sharpening service, including P&P both ways, that was significantly less expensive. (Something under twenty quid.) Can't put my finger on the company right now but a British company that does many different blades for numerous devices. I am sur ethey have been mentioned here over the years.

(I sold my old blades - from a saw I no longer have - on ebay. That paid a fair part of the cost and they were just used Lidl blades.)

[John Rumm]

A decent thin kerf blade can make a world of difference on a cordless saw.

Generally yes - although that is not always true. A better blade may have a better quality carbide in the first place, and will likely have more of it, allowing for more resharpenings.

For things like small blades on a handheld saw, then it might be cheaper to just replace them. If its a decent £90 blade on a table saw however, sharpening makes sense!

(Decent sharpening places can also do more than sharpen - they can also braze on replace carbide tips, and re set teeth as well)

[Tricky Dicky]

Following a recondition on here, I think it was you John, I got a couple of blades from Saxton blades and they have been brilliant.

Richard

[Tricky Dicky]

Bloody spell checker it should have been - Recommendation.

Richard

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Was the original a plain steel blade or a tipped one? In my experience the tipped ones, although more expensive to buy, soon pay for themselves by lasting a very long time indeed if not abused.

[tabbypurr]

I always sharpen TCT blades. Trivial & quick to do, costs peanuts. I use metal backed diamond grit sanding discs in a dremel. Why throw your money away?

NT

[nothanks]

I guess holding the angles will be slightly awkward, but I hadn't realised that diamond grinding discs (as opposed to cutting discs) were available and one would be useful to clean-up a lightly worn blade. A google search hasn't been successful so could you post a link to the ones you use?

[newshound]

Be warned that some of the cheap diamond disks for Dremel sold on eBay are rubbish! So I'd be interested in recommendations too. Dremel grindstones don't last long either (although I use the two types of abrasive slitting disk a lot with few problems)

[John Rumm]

I have used them for multimaster blades, but not tried their circular saw blades. (the MM ones are good).

I have used this lot for circular saw / table saw blades:

and they are good (and good value). They even do genuine 5/8th! bore blades that fit my saw rather than the slightly less well fitting 16mm that most places do.

[polygonum_on_google]

Checked a little while ago - yes, mine is Saxton. Cuts a very, very smooth cut and, for a high number of teeth, fast. £18.99 (inclusive VAT and P&P) for 255mm, 80 tooth. Went direct rather than through Amazon (or was it ebay?).

[fred]

Many years ago when i had a circular saw attachment for my (steel bodied) Black and Decker drill the blade was non tipped and I regularly sharpened it with a flat file. There was no set to the teeth so it just meant keeping the file perpendicular to the body of the blade

[The Natural Philosopher]

I sharpen my chainsaw every few hours of cutting. Takes about ten minutes. If my time were any more valuable Id simply change the chain - except that takes almost as long as sharpening.

[tabbypurr]

I've not found it awkward.

Last blade I did I thought was beyond use, but turned out to work well enough. It was in a state. One tip I've learnt is to pry any junk off the TCTs with a screwdriver before sharpening.

It takes 1-2 minutes to pry and 1-2 minute to sharpen, so much quicker than getting & fitting a replacement blade.

5X 22mm Mini Discs Practical diamond cut Revolving + 1 Mandrel L2C3 ( 282655369944 ) from 2013bestbuybest on ebay. There's a lot of junk on sale in the category of diamond coated dremel accessories, but these have worked fine.

NT

[F Murtz]

If it is battery powered, make sure that replacement blades have the same number of teeth and the same width, both are critical (they typically have less teeth and are thinner than power saws)

[nothanks]

Thanks!

[nothanks]

... but that supplier doesn't list them any more

[Davidm]

Nothing listed (via search) for 282655369944 or 2013bestbuybest but loads from China and Hong Kong for 5X 22mm Mini Discs Practical diamond cut Revolving + 1 Mandrel L2C3. How do you pick the good from the junk?

[tabbypurr]

I've no idea - I think they were one where I took pot luck as they became available for silly money. If I had to get more I'd probably look for some that look identical, likely then to be from the same source.

NT