A table saw is possibly the most expensive and bulky items when it comes to woodworking machinery, and once the table saw blades spoils, they are costly to replace. While there are times where you will need to replace the blades, you can make good use of the blades by sharpening them and making them look as good as new. Dull saw blades do not only ruin your work but can also be very dangerous as it can chop the wood while causing it to splinter and fly towards you or others. The article will show you how to sharpen a table saw blade in a few simple steps.
Read on for more!
How To Sharpen A Table Saw Blade
Step 1- Safety first
Before you start sharpening the saw blade, safety is the priority. The blade is dangerous if you fail to handle it with care. To avoid injuries, make sure you invest in strong gloves and a good pair of goggles to protect your eyes from the sparkles. Also, invest in good earphones to protect your ears from the noise that will come from the machine.
Also, make sure that the table saw is unplugged from the wall socket before you start sharpening. Some people go an extra mile to invest in respirators when sharpening their saw blades.
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Once you take safety into considerations, you will successfully sharpen your saw blade without harming any part of your body.
Step 2- Set up the blade for sharpening
Once your safety measures are in place, get a set-up. Replace the table saw blade with a diamond blade, and take care while doing so to avoid harming your hands. Take the blade that needs sharpening and places it next to the diamond blade.
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You need to sharpen the inside of the tooth and touch it up briefly against the diamond blade and so make sure that the diamond blade is in place.
Step 3- Sharpening the table saw blade
Now, it’s time to sharpen the saw blade. Turn on the table saw turning the first tooth up against your diamond blade. Touch the tooth briefly against the diamond blade and then pull back putting the next tooth next for sharpening. Continue doing this until you cover all the teeth.
The process is a difficult one, and so you do not need a hurry. If you do not want to use a diamond blade to sharpen, you can alternatively use a sharpening file and start sharpening sections of the saw. Do this with the use of full back and forth strokes across the blade section. Rotate your blade and continue sharpening until you feel that the blade is sharp enough.
Bottom-line
Even though sharpening a saw blade is not an easy task, once you master the skills, your future projects will run smoothly. It is an art that is fun and easy after doing it severally. Just make sure you sharpen your blades well to get them working correctly and safely.
Step 4- Lubrication and attachment
Now that your blades are very sharp, that does not mean that they will never go dull again. To keep them sharp and away from rust, you need to lubricate them. Since you just sharpened your blades, you do not have to use much oil.
All you need is to squeeze a tiny amount of lubricating oil on the entire blade including the edges that you sharpen. After that, take a newspaper roll and use it to rub the oil into the blade. Spread the oil as much as possible and don’t worry if you remove some of the oil in the process. Once you finish, replace the blade.
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Lubrication is essential as it will help the blade to keep up the sharpness for a longer time. Even if you use the saw blade for hours every day, once they are well lubricated, you can make various cut safely and comfortably.
Step 5- Test run
Once you finish sharpening and lubricating the saw blade, it is about time you test run to see if the blade is sharp enough. If the blade fails to work at its best, you may need to repeat the procedure. If it works perfectly well, then get down working and having fun.
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It is good to keep in mind that the above steps may not work on all types of blades that you shop for. In case your table saw is older and has curves instead of straight edges that are common with modern equivalents, you may not use this method to sharpen the blade. But if it is straight, this method will work.
There you have it. Why go about buying new table saw blades each time yours becomes dull? Save money by choosing to sharpen your blades using the above steps, and you will not even notice whether the blade is old or new since it will work just fine. Make good use of the above steps on how to sharpen a table saw blade and have fun!
