Blade sharpeners.

Grower · August 02, 2011, 04:56:58 AM

Hello, we are looking at investing in a blade sharpener 'package' but we are unsure of which is the best one to buy in that we are comparing the Cooks Amish sharpener with their automatic cat claw sharpener but don't really know alot about them. Its alot of money to pay but I can see that after 50-60 sharpening's that the investment would pay itself off. Any comments or advice much appreciated. And we assume the dual tooth setter would be a sound investment as against their standard cat claw setter. Thanky you. :P

ladylake · August 02, 2011, 06:19:13 AM

I'm running a Wright sharpener from TK which does a real good job, around $1800. The Cooks sharpener looks to be well made also and from reports works good. Steve

bandmiller2 · August 02, 2011, 06:52:41 AM

Grower,I've had a Cooks cats claw sharpener for years and in fact its paid for itself already.Their built for the long haul and will be quite easy to repair if you ever manage to wear one out.Many will recomend the new mizer with the shaped carbide grits wheel, I've never owned one ,Their quite specialized if you sharpen the same thing,angle,tooth shape est. their hard to beat.The cats claw is very adaptable especially if your going to turn a buck sharpening for outhers.I asked about the Amish model because its cheaper, Tim Cook said your better off with the electric model if you have power.The worst part about sharpening is setting a good setter is very important. Frank C.

kelLOGg · August 02, 2011, 06:54:04 AM

I use the Cooks Cat Claw electric version and have been very pleased with it.

Bibbyman · August 02, 2011, 07:32:43 AM

March of last year I asked about the same question. But I was looking into the Wood-Mizer CBN sharpener and setter. We got one (CBN sharpener and setter) a couple of months later so we've been using it about a year.

The topic generated 18 pages of posts. A lot about all kinds and brands of sharpeners. You may find some info there.

Here is the link.

https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php/topic,42691.0.html

robnrob2 · August 02, 2011, 07:35:27 AM

Well I have the cooks dual tooth setter and it is very heavy duty, Its about all I can do to get it off the floor where its stored to the bench, it is built for the long haul like bandmiller2 says,, I Have personally been to Cooks by Dothan, and have seen them demo the sharpener, tho I unfortunately own a Hudson,, but after seeing there cooks sharpener work I was able to do some mods to my Hudson to satisfy my purchase, with it.
If I had it to do over, well I would go for the heaviest machine I could afford. I paid several years ago about $1250 for my Hudson, with its sewing machine motor, it is finicky,, I believe that the Amish cooks machine is well worth the investment for $ 200 more then my Hudson,, I dont see Hudson over there on the side as a supporter, so I guess I wont get shot down on this opinion.

Chuck White · August 02, 2011, 08:40:23 AM

I have the Cook's Cat Claw sharpener, bought it in '09.

It was quite "pricey", but I liked the way it was built and I ordered it!

I worked on the amortisation [sp] on the unit and it worked out to where it would be paid for when I sharpened my 350th blade. Those figures, compared to resharp.

I only have about 40 blades to go and that will be the break-even point!

I really like the way it sharpens the bands and compared to some others, it has enough weight to completely clean out the gullet.

ladylake · August 02, 2011, 01:30:50 PM

Good going Chuck, not bad for 2 years. Mine is on the 9th year now and has paid for its self several times. One other thing is with your own sharpener you pull the blade at the first sign of getting dull or sooner sometimes. Steve

Grower · August 02, 2011, 05:51:02 PM

Oh wow! Lots of good feedback on this one. There is one small thing though, the Cooks one (and probably everyone elses made in the US is 120 volt, we are 240 volt so I would have to make further enquiries. I am also hoping ti find out as early as this week about the TimberKing ones, their agent over the ditch in Aussie is sending me a CD, the kiwi dollar is reasonably favourable again the green back right now too I just ordered a starter motor for the Case 870 in the shed its coming from Georgia, there are no spare ones anywhere down here and she hasn't been running for the last 3 years because of it, cant wait to get her started again! All in all I think the investment could well be worth it at the end of the day on the sharpening side of things as well.

Grower · August 02, 2011, 05:56:48 PM

I get charged $25 everytime to sharpen each blade plus freight to and from Auckland, got to be a long term cheaper way, hes a good fella who does it too. We are using Dakin Flathers blades and are very pleased with them.

Bibbyman · August 02, 2011, 06:01:53 PM

The Wood-Mizer CBN sharpener uses 12v DC motors and has a AC/DC converter.

I don't know but as Wood-Mizer is an international company, they may have a version that will run on 240 volts.

Slabs · August 02, 2011, 07:50:10 PM

If you're gonna buy the Amish version you can get a local motor for the rig. I don't remember what the motor Hp is on the cat-claw but many fractional-horsepower motors are 120/240 operation out of the box.

e-mail Cooks and see what they say.

Chuck White · August 02, 2011, 08:24:17 PM

Quote from: ladylake on August 02, 2011, 01:30:50 PM
One other thing is with your own sharpener you pull the blade at the first sign of getting dull or sooner sometimes. Steve

Quote from: Slabs on August 02, 2011, 07:50:10 PM
I don't remember what the motor Hp is on the cat-claw but many fractional motors are 120/240 operation out of the box.
e-mail Cooks and see what they say.

Steve is "spot-on", as soon as that blade gets to where it needs more push, pull it and sharpen it!
This is much easier to do when you sharpen your own.
I've seen sawyers push blades more, trying to get a few more logs done with it, then they run the risk of bad (wavy) lumber or a broken band!

Slabs makes a good point also!
The motor on the Cats Claw is ½ horse power and can easily be switched from 120 to 240volt.

Good luck on your choice Grower.

Grower · August 03, 2011, 01:58:29 AM

What about the TimberKing sharpeners and setters, how would they rate compared with Cooks ones? The only thing I have on those at this stage are some online photos. Ta.

Old Hilly · August 03, 2011, 04:03:16 AM

Grower, you can buy "step-down transformers" that will drop the OZ/NZ 240V power down to the US 110V. Check people like "Jaycar Electronics" and "Dick Smith". Dick used to have them a couple of years ago and Jaycar still have them listed in their catalogue. :P
Dennis.

amberwood · August 03, 2011, 05:07:34 AM

Grower. the Woodmizer sharpeners are ex factory for AU/NZ power. They fit a 240-12V transformer rather than the 110-12V for the US market. The larger industrial WM sharpeners for AUS are built in the Polish factory so are 220-240V from scratch.

DTR

ladylake · August 03, 2011, 06:40:27 AM

Quote from: Grower on August 03, 2011, 01:58:29 AM
What about the TimberKing sharpeners and setters, how would they rate compared with Cooks ones? The only thing I have on those at this stage are some online photos. Ta.

The Cooks will have more power, if I try to hog off to much it will work the motor down on my TK sharpener but one shouldn't try to hog off too much anyway. Both are built good, sounds like the Cooks would be easyier to get 240 volts. Steve

tommone · August 03, 2011, 04:36:25 PM

Anyone know if the Cooks sharpeners have a coolant facility as standard or even as an extra. Website doesn't show any coolant pump. Can't see much point in the sharpeners which only do the face .Goes against all the rules of sharpening unless you only use a few blades a year .TM.

Banjo picker · August 03, 2011, 05:40:34 PM

Cooks don't use liquid....Tim

PineNut · August 03, 2011, 07:07:22 PM

I have a Cooks and believe it is the best for the money. As for 240-volt operation, the grinder motor can easily be set up for 240-volt operation. The drive motor and controls are 120 volt only. It has a 3-amp fuse so any step down transformer that will supply 120 volts at 3 amps should take care of that. You could possible find a 240 volt controller for the drive motor but I believe the transformer would probably be cheaper and every bit as satisfactory.

Cooks is a dry grinder only and I don't see how you could easily set it up for wet grinding.

Grower · August 03, 2011, 08:18:12 PM

Yea I see that step down transformers are indeed available locally at Dick Smiths dse.co.nz The question now begs how much freight to NZ, they are pretty darned heavy things.

Chuck White · August 03, 2011, 08:29:15 PM

I don't know what the freight would be to NZ, but the weight is said to be 150 pounds!

Crate size is approximately 18 in. deep, 28 in. wide and 30 in. high!

Grower · August 04, 2011, 01:46:12 AM

Its costing me $US197 to ship my new starter for the Case 870, its coming from North Carolina and weighs 24lb, if that's anything to go by then on a pro rata basis it would cost $US1231 to ship a 150lb Cooks sharpener to the same address

I might have to start looking at rat tail files instead :D I rang Cooks today but it was after hours with the different time zones, try again tomorrow.