# Sharpening Carbide Blades and Bits



## jdipper1 (Jul 18, 2007)

Thinking about opening a sharpening shop from home. I live in Bolivar. Any thoughts? Is it hard to find a decent sharpening shop now? Do you ever have your stuff sharpened?

GOD Bless,
John


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## jdipper1 (Jul 18, 2007)

come on guys, give me some opinions.

GOD Bless,
John


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## the hook (Aug 8, 2011)

Well....I am a framer and for the cost of frame blades(carbide tip) it is "probably" not worth sharpening??...Way back in the 70s/80s there was a guy that came around (west side, Nottingham/Fry Rd) that had misc tools and sharpened blades...He took them one week and brought them back the next...He always came up and asked, "Anything ya'll need in the way of tools and supplies today?"....Remember it like yesterday...had a decent price too...as far as driving to do it???...not I...


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## Mustad7731 (May 23, 2004)

I know that carbide saw blades can be reshapened...I think that probably the 
Ultra High Quality/High Dollar blades [$100+] are worth the price of resharping...
If you can do it for less that 1/2 the price of a replacement.

I'm sorry, I don't think that there is enough of a market to make it worth your while.

Unless your getting all equipment for free, or you're giving your time away...

I hope I'm wrong and you make a million $$$....

Mustad7731
Jack


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## Slip (Jul 25, 2006)

I send my blades to Forrest sharpening service. Little more expensive, but high dollar blades need extra care. I used to have someone do them, but they never could sharpen to the quality as Forrest sharpening could do and even for non Forrest blades. They slice like butter afterwards. I quit using the smaller shops because they sharpened too much of the carbide and never quite cut as well as Forrest could do and the expensive blades are too expensive to not give it the best of cuts.


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## bill (May 21, 2004)

One of the first things I learned in all this was to make my tools scary sharp. I use HHS


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## Tortuga (May 21, 2004)

Most of us that cut on the lathe have some sort of sharpening system ourselves... In the old days I remember guys that traveled around and sharpened everything..knives, scissors, lawnmower blades...etc...

good luck if you give it a shot


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## Hooked (Oct 15, 2004)

There's a small sharpening shop not far from me whom I use infrequently to sharpen my chain saw blades. Does a nice job. However, I've seen his machines and even though they appear to be high-end, they are older used machines so I just don't want to trust my Forrest, etc. blades with him. For my expensive carbide saw blades I do the same as Slip and send to Forrest. I've read too many stories on other forums regarding results from using local shops. In my opinion, the small guy just doesn't have the volume to justify purchasing high-end equipment for the task.
I suppose it depends on where you are located and the market for such a service locally. For instance, you can drop your blades at Circle Saw and they send them out for sharpening. I've not used their service as it's not convenient.

Good luck if you decide to go for it.


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## jdipper1 (Jul 18, 2007)

Thanks guys, I am still mulling it over.

GOD Bless,
John


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## Slip (Jul 25, 2006)

Oh, and as for as most everything else including carbide router bits, shaper bits, drill bits, I sharpen my own using my Jooltool and absolutely love that thing. I can sharpen most everything with it and removes the very minimal amount of blade while sharpening. Most everything I own is razor sharp.


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## A Salt Weapon (Jan 23, 2006)

I'm a wood flooring installer, so, I use a lot of blades. I was having them sharpened for years (because I'm cheap). It runs me about .40 per tooth (carbide), so for 60 tooth, it's $24. If you watch Lowes, they'll put a 2 pack on sale for $30 or so. I have a truck full of dull blades that I can't throw away (again, because I'm cheap). 
In a pinch, it may be worth it, but at times you can save more by buying new.


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