touching up knives in the chipper

[imagineero]

maybe re-sharpening in the machine is an australian thing. how often are you guys flipping/changing out?

 

[DR. P. Proteus]

Some say this some say that. Old head takedown companies can be known to touch up their knives every morning.

I think the back-bevel part is really just for de-burring when you have ground the face.

 

[CalTreeEquip]

No, the back bevel thing is in all the Bandit manuals and its a matter of turning a knife edge into more of a chisel edge.
Touching up the blades every morning isn't a bad idea. We touch up our saws first thing why not pump some grease in the bearings and give a couple of swipes with the AccuSharp.
Your machines and blades will last longer and you'll catch problems before they turn into catastrophes.
It's strange how so few companies do this.

 

[capetrees]

We change out the bolts on every 3 blade changes.
Jeff

I change bolts every time I flip the blade. Bolt failure is hairy and not worth saving $2 per bolt. I think I'm changing mine out tommorow. 15 hrs of chipping on them.

Thats another question. Even if you touch up the edges every so often, which I don't, when do you change your edge? Is it based on time regardless of what you chip or is it based on what you chip, hardwood vs. softer wood or is it all visual?

 

[MasterBlaster]

The Bandit Knifesaver Tool is designed to be used on blades that are already relatively sharp to begin with - hence they are supposed to be used every day. Using them on dull blades is a waste of time and will ruin the tool.

 

[tree MDS]

You can get just the (scissors) sharpener part of the knifesaver for like $7 (last time I bought one). They can take a lot of abuse in a pinch (dull, pitted blades can be brought back without ruining the "tool"). Tool. Just saying.

 

[imagineero]

Would you like some spam with that Dave?

 

[MasterBlaster]

Dayum!!! Three in a row? Crikey.

 

[blades]

He has a speech impediment problem.

 

[RDAA]

He actually does my greenteeth for me and I am happy with him. Ha Ha I can get a couple of sharpenings out of each tooth as long as they are not destroyed

 

[imagineero]

If you're very fast, why does it take 2 weeks to get them back? I used to turn mine around in about 15 mins. Most shops around me offer a next day or even same day service.

 

[Matt81]

Thought this worth posting up. I've always used the bandit knifesaver tool, but it's pretty crappy honestly. It makes a small difference but doesn't really do much. Couple weeks ago I decided to have a go with a dremel, I've got one of the small rechargeable dremel stylus tools, the shorter pistol grip style 7.2v one not the longer 10.8v straight style tool. For my machine the longer straight tool would be too big to get into the machine. The 7.2V tool is small enough that I can sharpen both blades on my 250XP without needing to move anything. I used the grinding stone number 8193 and it did a pretty good job of redeeming the otherwise ****** slightly chipped edges of the blades in about 5 passes. I sharpen the blades from both sides as per bandit recommendations, not just a single sided blade.

I find that blades still do ok when slightly blunt on most material, but you need super sharp blades on stuff like cypress pine or small thin hedge like material or it just comes out real twiggy. Touching the blades up with the dremel brought the blades back to producing good chip from stringy stuff. It takes about 6 minutes to do all 4 blades. You could use any stone, but try to use a large diameter stone or you'll leave divits in the blades if you stop for a moment.

Good to know. We run a 250XP and often the bloke who does our blades is busy with a backlog of work and they are never ready when we go to pick them up. He also sometimes rushes and the blades widths do not match up properly. We have to swap them around to get a pair that matches better. We always have a spare brand new set of blades in the truck, but things happen and once or twice we have been caught short. Knowing there is a cheap and easy way to touch them up ourselves is always handy.

 

[imagineero]

Not sure if you get up to sydney or not, theres a place in bankstown called LSW does mine from memory $70 for 4 blades. 9708 0888. They do a good job and turn them around quickly. They would probably do mail order but postage might be a killer with what the blades weigh.

Shaun