Shopsmith Forums

jon wrote:Hi Guys,

Now that I have my old 510 cleaned up, I am moving on to the box of accessories that came with it. I have 2 (somewhat) rusty carbide saw blades. One is a SS Rip and one is a SS crosscut blade. After I looked at the cost of new ones, cleaning up the old ones seemed like a good idea! So here are my questions:
1. After I clean and wax the blades, I want to have them sharpened. Are there any questions I should ask, to make sure I get a quality job?
2. Why does SS use a 1 1/4" arbor hole and everyone else use a 5/8" arbor hole?
3. My Christmas budget can only stand the impact of purchasing 1 blade. Should I buy the SS or one of the many other 5/8" blades out there? After looking at some of the threads, I would also have to buy a 5/8" arbor too.

Thanks!

First I would find out if there is a resharpening service near you. In my case there are a number of sharpening services but I use Roberts Saw in Tampa.
When I take a blade to Roberts Saw I get back a bright shiny as new blade that is perfectly sharpened. Can't tell you price as my short term memory has forgotten it.

Find out if you have a sharpening service, find out if they will clean the blades while sharpening and find out the exact cost.

I'm cheap and cost of sharpening has to be a lot lower than the cost of a new blade so I'm guessing the cost to be closer to $10 than $20
I'm probably partial here but I really favor Shopsmith blades. Yes I know many places sell 5/8 bore and it is tempting but the SS blade has never failed to deliver an excellent cut for me.

I told the story a few years back when a new blade came out, I bought it, took it home and mounted it to my SS. I then ripped a hunk of wood. Then I remounted my SS blade and ripped the other side. I took the two pieces back to the dealer and showed the manager. He really didn't say anything just walked over to the cash register and got my refund out.

Here is the kicker while Shopsmith blades are excellent when received I have found that my sharpener always makes them better.
Now when I buy a new blade I can't wait until I have to get it sharpened.

Most towns have a sharpening service that will sharpen circular saw blades. If you Google 'sharpening (city state)’ you may find a local service shop.

When I did that I found:
Ray's Saws
721 West Main Street
Centre, AL 35960-1224
(256) 927-8433

Sincerely,

Ron309753

Just finished work and am getting caught up with all the responses. Wow!

I have put in a bid in on a slightly used SS Combi blade and arbor on eBay. Hopefully that turns out to be a bargain.

Ron, Center, AL is just up the road from me. I will give them a visit. Thanks for the tip!

Perhaps in 2 weeks I will be the proud owner of 2 newly sharpened and 1 "new" SS combi blade. When that happens I will be well equipped for anything1

Thanks to all of you.
Jon

Hi Guys,

I found a local guy to sharpen my saw blades. It turns out he does all the sharpening for our Parks and Recreation department, and takes care of many of the local contractors as well. He has all the Foley-Belsaw equipment to do a good job, and has actually attended several of their schools.

The sharpened blades cut great. I cut several OSB panels this week and the general purpose blade cut the panels like a hot knife through butter. No binding, burning, or splintering.

Resharpening blades is a great way to save money and improve the performance of my ShopSmith! Thanks for the advice!