Sharprite sharpener

[r.man]

Saw a new listing for Sharprite sharpeners today and thought some of you might find it interesting. I think that for a while they were unavailable. Don't know why.
http://www.sharpritebandsawsharpeners.com/video.html

[Magicman]

"In less time than it takes to change a blade" ??  I don't think so.

[r.man]

I was wondering about that Magicman. If you included retrieving the new blade, changing, stowing the old blade and retensioning how long would it take you to go from dull to cutting again?

[sgschwend]

Well it doesn't take two minutes to install a sharp blade.  That is because if so desired the sawyer can have the next blade ready to install.  On the mill I was using the steps were, throw hydraulic lever, open both guards, pull the saw, put on the saw, close the guards and return the lever.

Any other handling can be done while the saw is making a cut.

[Busy Beaver Lumber]

Despite the claim that it can be done in less time than changing a blade, which I believe has already been proven to be a false statement by forum members in the know, does it actually work and do a decent job at sharpening, or it it pretty much a waste of money?

[Busy Beaver Lumber]

Never mind. No need to answer my last question. They want $1500 for that sharpener. They must be insane. That much money for a hand grinder with a template to guide it? For around $300 bucks it may have been worth looking at, but certainly not at this price of $1500.

You can buy the Cook sharpener for about the same price and have a real piece of equipment that will sharpen your blades for you automatically as opposed to you having to guide it down the whole length of the blade one agonizing tooth at a time

[thealbertaguy]

I think it all depends on how you do your math...
Some do not count their time for sharpening, while some don't count the time of their helper who takes care of the sharp and dull blades while the mill is running. Either way at the end of the day you will saw more bf with the SharpRite sharpener.  The first couple times you use the sharpener like any other piece of equipment it will take a bit more time... once you get used to it many sawyers are sharpening a 14' blade in under 6 minutes.
Other math to concider:
Time to set up each blade on your automatic sharpener?
Number of sharpenings per blade?
Downtime with broken blades?
Shop to have the other sharpener in?
What is having your evenings available for your grand children rather than sharpening the blades for the next day worth to you?

At $50/hr (I think is low) and saving only a half hour a day the $1,500 price tag is paid off in 60 days of sawing.

Yes you could build a cheaper unit if you did not count your time, wrecked blades and so on... and looking around the forum I did not find a single sawyer willing to work for free.

You could build a mill for much less than your woodmizer or norwood cost yet you buy them and that is much different?

I look forward to your responces.... Art

[sdunston]

I see on the title of the vidieo it seems to misrepresent the maker.
Sam

[beenthere]

Welcome to artalbertguy.

You talk like you are the maker.  :

Is that close?

[Magicman]

Mr. Art, what am I to respond to?

[terrifictimbersllc]

Mr. Art, what about setting?

[Busy Beaver Lumber]

beenthere

I would say that you hit the nail right on the head about the possibility that albertaguy may have an affiliation with sharperite. Would be more than a coincidence that the sharprite is made in Qingdao Sharprite Hong Co., Ltd  and sold by an alberta Canada importer and then a user named albertaguy avidly defends it against some mild criticism

I will stick with the American made sawmill and American made sharpeners and keep the folks in the USA employed, rather than bring in yet another Chinese import.

Sam

I thought the same thing. They list the major sawmill maker names in thier advertising so they get picked up by the search engines when people search for those popular sawmill brands.

I am still with Magicman on his comment. There is now way that anyone user, experienced or not is going to sharpen a blade in less time than it takes to change one. Just for the fun of it, it timed how long it took me to change a blade on my Lt-10 today. Including the time to remove the blade from the box and uncoil it, it took me 1 minutes and 32 seconds from start to finish, and bear in mind that I have only changed about a dozen blades in my life and would hardly consider myself an expert at doing it. I Bet the experienced veterans on this forum could cut my time in half and do it blindfolded. If Sharperite thinks they can sharpen the entire blade in less time than even my modest time, then they should come down from Alberta Canada with a whole handfull of hundred dollar bills and we can go double or nothing all day long until their wallet is empty.

[Jeff]

Be nice gentlemen.

[WH_Conley]

After watching the videos I must say that is a different concept, at least. I was trying to imagine what kind of position would be required to sharpen a blade on my LT40, with the debarker in the way. The brake would have to be backed off or someone would have to hold it partly in gear.

As far a changing blades. I signal my helper to drop tension, grab a blade, walk to the front of the sawhead, take guard off and uncoil blade. After loosening tension the helper will take off his guard. Take blade off my side, feed sharp blade on, align blade up on wheel, he pulls by hand. I coil blade while he re tensions, engage motor, walk around to check tracking and reinstall covers.

If there is a log on the mill and, for example we are taking another cut on the same face, from the last cut with a dull blade to the first cut with a sharp blade, is less than two minutes.

My sharpener is set up in my basement, where the wood stove is. After sawing all day that is my favorite place to be, with a cup of coffee. In the summer time it is the coolest part of the house. The only time that is a pain is if I let too many dull blades pile up. This might not be the best system for everyone, but, it works for me.

I was intrigued by the setter, I hate setting blades. I usually sub that job out to my daughter. ;D

[eireog68]

I agree $1500.00 way too much for what you get so i am going to make one
not sure if it will be my original design or just copy there one which will be easy to copy.
if i do my own i will post results.i will just have to find the right 12v dc motor.

[thealbertaguy]

Answers...

You talk like you are the maker.
I handle Distribution and they are built in Canada not China.

Mr. Art, what about setting?
The setter comes with the sharpener and it is also done right on the mill.

...then a user named albertaguy avidly defends it against some mild criticism.
I was just pointed out some interesting facts that many of our users have experienced... not too sure about how avid I was being... We do stand by our product!

...I thought the same thing. They list the major sawmill maker names in thier advertising so they get picked up by the search engines when people search for those popular sawmill brands. --- its called marketing, yup your right.

Just for the fun of it, it timed how long it took me to change a blade on my Lt-10 today. Including the time to remove the blade from the box and uncoil it, it took me 1 minutes and 32 seconds from start to finish --- I am also a fisherman...

Yes WH_Conley --- it is not for every mill... you need to be able to free wheel the blade and you need to be able to stand at the blade

Cheers,
Art

I will post no adds nor links and I will welcome all questions... if it's not for you that's great, just keep on sawing... I'm just looking to help those who are looking for a similar solution...

[terrifictimbersllc]

For safety, the saw head ought to be chained up if one is going to spend any time under it.

[bandmiller2]

There are many ways to sharpen a band and many grades of sharp.For a wile I used a bench grinder with a gullet shaped wheel, it did the task but not nearly as well as my Cooks automatic.A good plan for casual millers is to touch up a band once or mayby twice then send to resharp to be trued up and set.Frank C.

[scrout]

I like the "on the mill" style of this sharpener.
Most of the lower cost sharpeners only touch the tooth face, so I was toying with trying to make a version out of parts from a HF chainsaw sharpener.
This could extend my sawing time for cheap until I finally send them all out, but I am strictly a hobby guy, mostly manual mill.  If I was trying to make any real money at all, it pays to go pro.

[just_sawing]

My Sharpener cost twice what that one cost but for many of my customers it wouldn't be a bad idea for a one time sharpen then remove and have me sharpen and set.
If you touched up your blades before they got dull you would lengthen our blade longevity.
I run a LT70 and don't own a Sharprite or even know anyone that does. Before any blade breaks it fatigues and if you were able to lightly touch up the gullets during the day you will pay for the cost. (I agree that for what you get it is High)
Consider this if when you have a break you touch up lightly. This would take the typical tie day from 15-25 ties per blade to 20-30 ties.
Like all things there are pluses and minuses but it would be interesting to have Sharprite have some of the members try out there stuff. It might change some minds.

[ely]

IF i was in a remote location without access to my sharpener and setter i would definatly own one of the sharprites.... that being said.... i have sharpened bands behind many people who thought they could sharpen bands with first one thing then another.
it didnt take long to figure it out. i had to alot of times remove more material than i should have to in order to restore sharpness.

its the same principle on sharpening a knife ,... i can sharpen a knife where it is sharp as all get out. but my sharp is different from the next guys sharp... and if he sharpens after me he will have to change all the bevel and grind back to his way before he achieves sharpness. this is the action that uses up your knife/bands and your grinder rocks.

[redbeard]

Would you leave your blade under full tension or would you back the tension off ? Wonder if it would make a difference. Thinking saftey i would take the tension off the blade probably a no brainer question but thought i would throw it out there! :-\

[tommone]

Sharprite sharpener looks a good idea but price is way off  the mark considering price of Cooks and other sharpeners . .Anyone considering making one themselves should have a quick look at patent law before they start although I think it may be ok to make a copy but not sell it on.

[bandmiller2]

Tommone,your right, I believe you can make anything for yourself so long as you don't sell and profit from someone elses patent.Frank C.

[moonshiner]

Its kinda like headsaw teeth.When I had time to grind them I would.But I could change them out in less than half the time when I was pressed for time.And in a production plant They were alwayse in a rush.Change now grind later.

[Jeff]

I could file a 56" 50 tooth headsaw as quick as I could properly change the teeth, and I could grind them with a jockey grinder in right around a minute.

[jpgreen]

Have to say that would be great in the field if you didn't have a dedicated resharp system.

Potential issues may be where he was hitting the tooth face, and you could hear a few skips. Looks like it may accidently buggar a tooth face, if you're not careful. I'm usually to tired to concentrate on holding something like that when sawing. Much easier to change out a blade and go.

The real problem I see from a manufacturer's view point (which I am) is if you have to charge that much to offer the sharpener it's going to have marketability problems right out the gate. That's one of the key issues that kill a product.  I only know so well...  : ... :D

[barbender]

Is it legal to use other manufacturers logos like they do on that video? I thought most logos are copyrighted. I like the concept of that sharpener, but I think it is way too much money.

[jpgreen]

Is it legal to use other manufacturers logos like they do on that video? I thought most logos are copyrighted. I like the concept of that sharpener, but I think it is way too much money.

Trademark infringement.  They are skating on thin ice I would think. It's kinda using those other companies as an endorsement, instead of just showing different styles of mills, or any of the mills- just not naming them.

Say they were using my companies name, and I liked his business and product and benefited from it, I would not mind, but if they had a shady product and reputation, or directly competed with me, well I would not want my name near it.

They are directly using competitors trademark/tradestyles in the video to sell sharpeners which they all offer, so I think it would definitely be frowned on across the board.

I wouldn't be happy.

[Jeff]

If they had the Forestry Forum logo on there without my knowledge or consent, I'd be all over them.

[Busy Beaver Lumber]

I'll take a cooks or wood mizer sharpener over the sharprite any day of the week.

It least they don't have to use someone elses well known names in their videos to sell their products.

yes, I have pictures of a woodmizer LT-10 on my website, but it is the one I bought and own. I also have a picture of the Twister Industries firewood bundler, but again I own one and if you called Chuck at Twister Industries, he would be happy to tell you that he is glad I have a picture of his bundler on my website, especially since I have sold several of them for him without so much as taking a cent of commission because I beleive in his product and the support he provides his customers and the quality of his product.

[Jeff]

It is not the picture of the product in question but the use of the logo.

[Fred]

Don't Baker have a sharpener  that hangs on the blade that is power fed?
                                                                                                  Fred

[sparks]

The Wood-Mizer sawmill videos and our name have to go. You can not use them in your advertising. Our name need to come off the title of the video as well. Please remove them immediately.