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Here's How to Sharpen a Gigantic 50-Foot Bandsaw Blade

And it needs to be sharpened every two hours!

By Rain Noe - May 11, 2016

in Hand Tools

Hull-Oakes Lumber is one of the last steam-powered sawmills in America. The Oregon-based company are the go-to guys if you need, say, an 85-foot-long timber.

Image by Gary Katz / This is Carpentry

Gary Katz visited their facility and took some awesome photos. One of the things he captured is their massive headrig, which dwarfs any bandsaw you've ever seen in your life.

Image by Gary Katz / This is Carpentry

Incredibly, Katz reports, the blade needs to be removed and sharpened after every two hours of use!

Image by Gary Katz / This is Carpentry

That being the case, the saw techs have got the procedure down to a science.

Image by Gary Katz / This is Carpentry

Once they've loaded it onto the sharpening rig, the actual grinding is automated. Here's video of the process in action, shot by YouTuber StoneCabinPhotos:

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You can see where the teeth have been worn down on the other side of the blade. With something this big, it makes sense that after one side wears down, they'd flip it and use the other.

Image by Gary Katz / This is Carpentry

I wonder how many times they can resharpen before the teeth are all gone. Judging by the wear marks in the photo above, I'm guessing they can't regrind a new set because the blade wouldn't have enough meat to track on the tires properly. Lastly, I'm estimating the overall length/circumference of the blade by looking at the images and assuming the dudes in them are six-foot; does 50 feet look about right to you?

Please do check out Katz's full article on Hull-Oakes, their processes are pretty fascinating.

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Jon Plummer

8 years ago

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I'm wondering why the sharpening rig is not something that is brought over to work on the blade in-place – it seems wasteful to maintain the blade far away and at a different posture than mounted, especially since it needs such frequent work.

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- Rain Noe
  
  Jon Plummer
  
  8 years ago
  
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  Simple answer, I think: If they brought the tool to the work, there'd be no way to advance the blade with the required precision. Look at the size of the massive flywheels the blade tracks between, and think of the momentum they're designed to generate. Even with the tension loosened, you'd still have the weight of the entire blade resting on the top wheel, and when that little device goes to advance the tooth, it's not going to cleanly stop exactly one tooth-length away. It makes a lot more sense to get the blade off and between two guides closer to the grinder for support.
  
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- Mik Efford
  
  Jon Plummer
  
  8 years ago
  
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  I'd say it's taken away so they can quickly replace it with another sharp blade and get the machine working again while they're sharpening the blunt one.
  
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Kris Phillips

7 years ago

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When the bandsaw comes off the wheels it is moved to a bandsaw "bench" where a highly skilled tradesman called a Sawfiler will initially inspect the saw for and cracks. If cracks are located, the crack will be welded, either with MIG, TIG or oxygen/acetylene. The weld will be dressed and the sawfiler will proceed to "bench" the saw, which will involved hammer or rolling down lumps, bumps and ridges which are defects in the steel caused by the high stresses the saw will encounter "in the cut".

Once the sawfiler has completed his work the saw will be handed off to a sawfitter, which is a separate and specialized trade. The bandsaw will be loaded onto a bandsaw grinder and the sawfitter will inspect all teeth for wear, he will repair or replace damage or missing teeth. He is also responsible for swaging (cold rolling the steel on the tooth) and shaping the tooth both via specialized tools. Once the sawfitter has completed his repairs to the teeth or swaging, he will run the grinder until new steel has been exposed on the tooth face, the tooth gullet and the tooth back, created a sharpened bandsaw.

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