No resharp here

[ladylake]

 I just sharpened 6 blades 12' 6" , set 2 blades and sharpened a chainsaw in 40 minutes, that would have cost me around $60. Not bad wages.   Steve

[Chuck White]

I invested in a sharpener and setter last year and from the time I got it (June) until
I quit sawing for the season (Nov), I sharpened 95 blades.
Obviously the same ones in rotation.
I figured it out that when I reach 350 blades, my sharpener and setter will be amortized out,
and will owe me nothing.  I was comparing to resharp.
Now, on the other hand, there are sawyers out there who just plain DON'T have time to
sharpen & set, so resharp is their best option.

[Magicman]

Now, on the other hand, there are sawyers out there who just plain DON'T have time to
sharpen & set, so resharp is their best option.

And then there are sawyers such as I, that HAVE time, but just don't WANT to spend it sharpening blades.  You just gotta enjoy not HAVING to do something sometimes.....even if you ENJOY sharpening......

[Kansas]

We scaled back our work force last year through attrition, as business slowed down.  Now business has picked way up. I hired a retired machinist a few weeks ago to strictly sharpen blades. He spends about 10 or so hours a week. He has picked it up quickly, also doing some chainsaw chains.  Only thing I can't figure out is why it took me so long to do this. We can concentrate on sawing and production. Still able to keep payroll down.

[Bibbyman]

I just sharpened 6 blades 12' 6" , set 2 blades and sharpened a chainsaw in 40 minutes, that would have cost me around $60. Not bad wages.   Steve

Your blades probably equal the performance of new or ReSharp blades but back when I was doing my own using the old model Wood-Mizer drag grinder and single tooth setter, mine didn’t.  ReSharp wasn’t available when we bought our first mill.  But when they sent us a free coupon to try ReSharp, that was it.  I seen the light!

If a blade you’ve sharpened does not substantially equal what you can get from an outside resharp service; then have you save time or money?  Say you’re blade saws 10% slower.  Say it gets dull a couple of hundred feet quicker?  Say you average throwing away one good board to wavy cut?  Have you saved time or money?

I know,  I know, we’ve just sunk big bucks into a new WM CBN grinder and dual-tooth setter.  And the first blades look like they’re going to perform well.  But if I can’t get the quality I was accustom to from the ReSharp blades,  I’ll have to reconsider again.  I’m not going to spend hours grinding and setting blades only to lose time and quality at the mill.

[Kansas]

Don't forget one of the most important aspects of  sharpening your own blades. When you use a resharp service, you tend to push the blade for a longer period of time. If you sharpen your own, as long as you get in the habit, you will pull the blades faster, prolonging the life of the blade. Its hard to get sawyers in the habit of pulling a blade that is cutting good. But if you pull every few hours, they last a lot longer.

[Bibbyman]

I hired a retired machinist a few weeks ago to strictly sharpen blades. He spends about 10 or so hours a week. He has picked it up quickly, also doing some chainsaw chains. 

Maybe you don't want to elaborate but have you calculated the cost of your in-house guy compared to the Re-Sharp service?


JEFF!  You stinker!  You got a gnat running around on my screen!

[red oaks lumber]

a few years back i called a company about their sharpener  and setter. talking with the old guy about things he asked me what buisness i was in, i laughed and said sarcasticly, sawing!what do you think? ok then he said and there is companys that dont saw but, sharpen and set blades.
 the moral to his and my story is do what you do best and let other people do what they do best. i saw wood , i dont or wont sharpen blades.

[ladylake]

Just got done with 2300 bf in 7-1/2  hours using 4 of the blades I sharpened this morning not one wavy board sawing red oak popular and 4 small red cedar. My sharpened blades cut as good or better than new.   Steve

[Tom]

I'm from another "do-what-you-do-best" school.   I found that I was pretty good at sharpening bands.  I also enjoyed, and got paid for, sawing wood.  I realized, soon on, that I would have no idea what the cutting configuration was with my band, and would not be very good at diagnosing problems, if I didn't know how to sharpen my own bands.  While it's not my favorite thing to do, I also found that it was not all that much of an imposition either.   I've enjoyed knowing that I won't run out of bands.  As long as I can find an old one laying around, I'll saw wood.

I've used bands that were sharpened by people who don't saw and have gotten some pretty radical results.  I even knew a fellow that did that, just sharpened.  He was bragging to me how he throws away bands, from pallet companies, that he has already sharpened twice, because he can tell that they have lost their temper.   I asked him if I could have them.    He didn't want to do that, but he sure had thousands stacked in his backyard.

[bandmiller2]

I have always done everything I can to support my existance,I may not be the best but good enough.It was a natural to build my own mill and sharpen the bands as well.The less I have to depend on outhers the better.Resharp is a good , I've used their service, for some its the way to go.I've got a Cooks cats claw that will get the teeth as sharp as any.I don't need a large band inventory and if I want to try 7 degree teeth its a simple ajustment.Frank C.

[sdunston]

Just got the new issue of "SAWMIL and WOODLOT" and there is a good story in there about sharping,setting and rolling.
Sam

[Kansas]

I hired a retired machinist a few weeks ago to strictly sharpen blades. He spends about 10 or so hours a week. He has picked it up quickly, also doing some chainsaw chains. 

Maybe you don't want to elaborate but have you calculated the cost of your in-house guy compared to the Re-Sharp service?

Bibby, figuring quite liberally, lets say 130 dollars a week for all costs associated with hiring him, plus tossing in a grinding wheel. I can't tell you exactly how many blades are sharpened every week. But that is sharpening the bands for 2 mills, plus once in awhile sharpening a few for the resaw. The one blades are 21'2" long and 2 inches wide. The other ones are for the LT70. We go through quite a few blades in a week because we cut a lot of cottonwood and bur oak. Both seem a lot harder on blades than something like red oak or walnut. I don't know if its mineral in the cottonwood, or sand. And bur oak is just flat hard. I would guess each mill gets a blade changed out about 4-6 times a day when we are running hard.  Figuring once in awhile one or both mills are down for repairs, or something else is going on, an absolutely low end figure would be about 30 blades a week. I think 4-5 dollars a blade would easily cover it. I probably ought to track that better. I'm not sure what shipping and sharpening on the resharp service would cost for those kinds of blades.

[Cedarman]

We have a lot bands.   Resharp has a deal if you send in 100 blades , then shipping is free one way.  Also offering 15% discount.  Also have coupon for resharp on 10 blades.  Should make it about $6.00 per blade.   A bunch are 205" multihead blades which takes about 15 minutes to clean, set and sharpen each.  Since I just "love" to sharpen and set  blades   I am going to let WM do the chore.  When we have extra time we do sharpen our own.  I am like Bibbyman, I remember the old hand operated grinding wheel where you could only sharpen the face of the tooth and the little single tooth setter.  I died and went to heaven when I got the dial setter and automatic sharpener.  I can only imagine Bibbymans joy at operating the CBN.

[backwoods sawyer]

I look at sharpening in house as controlling the cost, same as oiling the mill each morning, and doing the maintenance, whether it is hydraulic, electrical or fabrication. I could hire out all of these steps but the profit goes away real quick that way. The larger the operation the more you can hire out. I only have to support one family if I do as much as I can myself.

[Bibbyman]

I'm no expert but I asked Mary (who is) and she agreed that when you send blades out to resharp, it's easy to take that expense off your taxes.   When you do it yourself, you can't deduct that expense.  So, does that mean you're paying taxes on the money you saved by doing it yourself? 

[Cedarman]

If you make a profit, you pay taxes on it as earned income.  Lets say you pay $100 bucks for resharp.  That $100 is spent and you don't pay taxes on it.  Lets say your tax rate is 25% on the last dollars you make.  So, after taxes you have $75 bucks in your pocket.  If you pay the $100 to resharp, it actually only took $75 out of your pocket and $25 out of uncle sam's pocket.  If resharp costs $8.00 per blade, it actually only takes $6.00 out of your pocket.   By sharpening your own blades you are only saving $6.00 per blade not $8.00
Sending in 100 blades , getting 10 done for free and their 15% discount, my out of pocket cost per blade is less than $4.50  this go round.

[ladylake]

I'll be the last one to spend money to save money on taxes.   Steve

[Magicman]

The more money you make or save....the better off you are financially.....period.

Not making money to keep from paying taxes is wrong thinking.

When I pay ReSharp to sharpen blades, it buys me time.....not saves me money.   At this stage in my life.....time is more valuable than money.

[T Red]

 At this stage in my life.....time is more valuable than money.

It's taken me a long time to learn that lesson.  For some reason I think I have to do everything pertaining to a project I'm working on.  When in reality hiring someone to do the things I'm not proficient at would be the wise thing to do.

Tim