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Well here is the result .
Paul (Shipwright ) thought it would be a good thing to build a sharpening jig for a variable pitch bandsaw blade that he uses, well here is the result .
After reading his comment the wheels started turning ,I had to come up with a different indexing device to locate each tooth individually relative to the grind stone .Then the Idea of doing the sharpening of the blade on the saw got my attention because of Loren's comment .
Well here is what I came up with.
A simple sliding table on which a rotary tool is mounted clamped to the saw table and located by a hardwood strip in the mitre slot for easy set up .
Each tooth can be indexed individually by the locating spring as it engages in the gullet below the thooth to be ground .
The grinding wheel cutting depth is controlled by a bolt which stops the slide at the proper position .
The next tooth to be ground is simply moved into position by pulling the blade upward and the spring stop will snap into the gullet locating the next tooth .
To ensure minimal movement of the blade I have cut the blade into the base a short distance and provided a back rest via a screw .
I will leave it at that with the explanation and let the pictures do the talking ,any questions will be answered .
I hope this will solve Paul's requirements and I met his challenge .
The big advantage I see in this jig is that I don't have to remove the blade from the saw and sharpen it while under tension .
Always unplug the saw from power when sharpening or doing maintenance !!!!!

Gallery

Comments

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I like "thinking out of the box" as the saying goes, I'm particularly pleased with the screw stops for precision.

You keep makin' em, I'll keep watching.

Sooner or later I'll get an idea from your work!

Thanks for posting.

later,
 

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479 Posts
This is a great little jig. Nice simple design too.
 

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Nice going Kiefer! Simple, adjustable, Low cost and easy to understand and the blade stays put! I'm assuming the blade cut satisfactorily…
 

· In Loving Memory
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A very well thought out sharpening jig Kiefer. You are a creative problem solver! One question. I know that some BS blades have hardened teeth. Can these be sharpened too, or will the heat ruin the temper?
 

· In Loving Memory
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Awesome!!!!! just awesome!!!!
 

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It's getting better and better. Good Idea. I'm going to have to think about this one.
 

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wow great thinking and nice jig, this will come handy one da. Favorited
 

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Now you're talking!! That is the way to go and the bandsaw is half the fixture!!!!!!!!!!!!! You can dress the side of the wheel at a slimmer angle to give more hook to the teeth, too!!!!!!!!!!! With the side square and sitting at that angle, it is almost a negative rake.

......................Jim
 

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Looks to me like you've not only risen to the challenge and met it, but you 've raised the bar! Congratulations and thanks for sharing.
 

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I really hate to rain on the parade here but I'm afraid you misunderstood "variable pitch".
Your jig will adjust to sharpen blades with different pitches but woodslicers have variable pitch within the tooth pattern on each blade. It makes them a particularly difficult blade to sharpen automatically but it is one of their best features as it prevents harmonic vibration from developing.
This kind of jig is what I have used in the past (not exactly, but close enough) but it requires a careful manual alignment for each tooth and that's time consuming when a new blade is only $35 plus or minus.

Maybe a double ended spring stop that can rotate 180 degrees to change pitches???
I haven't checked but I think they only have two.

Maybe I'll go up to the shop and work on this one myself….
 

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Wow!!! I just love this idea - This is going to happen soon in my shop. Thank goodness I have simple regular blades that will get new edges likity split.
 

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very interesting and practical tool for sharpening saws …
 

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Love this post, one way or other I'm really going to learn how to sharpen my blades to produce to best results, for rough cutting my turning blanks I only use a 3 skip tooth, keep it cumin you guys. :)
Pete
 

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Neat one. You should write to Matthias Wandel so he can add your jig to his bandsaw sharpening page (http://woodgears.ca/bandsaw/sharpening.html). He has build lots of nice stuff and your idea really remembered me of his work. Anyway, good work.
 

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Well looks like I did not solve Paul's blade sharpening issue and will have to do some more work on this jig .
Maybe Paul can come up with something that will work for the wood slicer and I have been searching the net to see if I can find a good pic of how the blade is ground ,may have to order a blade and see.
Tony
The blade is OK and better then off the bench grinder .
Mike
I don't think that is an issue using the right stone .
Jim
I may have to make the tool swing side to side for that but all I am looking for is to touch up the tooth from the top .
Paul
Sorry I did not get this quite right and I will try to figure out what I misunderstood ,may have to get a blade like yours and work it out .
As to the spring stop modification how about one that can move side to side ,sounds like it needs different elevations to align the tooth relative to the stone .
Pete
Yes we all will learn from this but that is the good thing about this site ,you get a lot of input .
 

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I like your idea might try it on my blades.
 

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You can see the variable pitch in the photos I emailed to you if you look closely especially the last photo.
 

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Paul and Kiefer:
Very nice welll thought out jig. Looks like a solid performer.
For the varied pitch, I would think, sharpen all the like teeth, make the adjustment and get the others.
 

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Hey Paul any chanch you can post those blde photos here? Or email them to me? I like the concept of this jig and really want to understand the challenge. See what I can come up with and still keep it simple.
Thanks, Jim
 

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It is subtle but you can see them. There are something like three at 1/4" and then a couple at 3/8".

 

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