How to sharpen a saw blade for wood. How to sharpen a circular saw blade - step-by-step instructions

A circular saw is an indispensable tool for frequent work with wood and similar materials. This tool is especially important when arranging country houses.

But, like any piercing and cutting tool, the saw tends to become dull. Therefore, saw blades require periodic sharpening. We will talk about how to sharpen a circular saw blade in this article.

A dull blade has the greatest impact on the saw motor, as the load increases significantly. The most noticeable signs are noticeable heating of the motor casing and the appearance of dark spots on the sawn wood. These are the consequences of significant heating of the saw teeth. Accordingly, a burning smell appears.

The amount of effort that needs to be applied when working with the tool also increases. The bars do not move so smoothly, but with jumps. If you use an unsharpened tool for a long time, smoke may appear from the motor.

Types of disks

Discs vary in tooth shape:

Straight tooth. Often used in circular saws for rip cuts, and quality is not so important.
Oblique tooth with left and right angle of inclination of the rear plane. Incisors with different angles alternate, therefore they are called alternately beveled. This option is the most common. The value of the inclination depends on the material that will have to be cut. As the angle increases, the cutting force decreases, which helps eliminate chipping. However, this reduces the strength of the tooth. The front plane can also have an inclination.
Conical tooth. Such discs are used when making cuts in the lower layer of the laminate, thereby preventing the appearance of chips during finishing sawing. Often the front edge is flat, but in some cases the teeth have a concave edge.
Trapezoidal teeth. They have good resistance to dull edges. As a rule, they are used on discs in conjunction with regular teeth without bevels. In this combination, trapezoidal ones perform rough cutting, and straight ones perform finishing cuts.

Sharpening angles

The teeth have 4 characteristic sharpening angles:

front;
rear;
bevel angle of the front planes;
bevel angle of the rear planes.

There is also a sharpening angle, but it depends on the value of the front and rear angles.

The purpose of the saw directly affects the angle values. Depending on the material being cut and the direction in which the cutting will take place with a circular saw, the angles change.

For cross cutting, the rake angle is set in the range from 5 to 10 degrees. For longitudinal - from 15 to 25 degrees. For universal saws, the front angles are set to an average value of 15 degrees.

The hardness of the material to be sawed also plays an important role. As the hardness of the material increases, the angle values decrease.

The rake angle can also have a negative value. Saws of this type are used for cutting metals and plastics.

Sharpening teeth

Sharpening circular saw blades can be done in two main ways: using a specialized machine, or using improvised tools.

How to sharpen a circular saw blade using a machine?

The top edge of the tooth is most susceptible to wear. During operation, its rounding is observed. The highest wear rate is at the leading edge.

It is better to sharpen discs made of hard alloys on two planes. It is possible to sharpen along one plane (usually along the front), but then the number of sharpenings is reduced by approximately 2 times.

Before starting the process, it is necessary to clean the disk from dirt and also measure the corners.

It is important not to let abrasive wheels get too hot, especially diamond ones.

As the temperature increases, the hardness of the materials from which the wheels are made decreases. At a temperature of 1250-1350 degrees, the hardness of abrasives decreases almost 5 times.

But using water as cooling can provoke corrosive processes. To avoid this, add soap or electrolytes to promote the formation of a protective film.

For regular grinding, use a soap or soda solution; for final grinding, use low-concentrated emulsions.

To increase the efficiency of sharpening, as well as reduce wear, it is necessary to use the largest grit that provides the required surface cleanliness.

For example, for diamond wheels, during rough turning, a sharpener with a grain size of 160/125 is used, for the main one - 50/40. Materials with a smaller grain size serve to get rid of nicks.

It is important to achieve maximum smoothness of the teeth, since if there are jagged edges, the irregularities crumble during operation, and this will cause the saw to become dull much faster.

Sharpening a saw with straight teeth. The disk is installed in a special frame on the machine, and is clamped into it with a conical bushing and nut. The position is then adjusted so that it is horizontal, thereby ensuring a zero bevel angle.

If the installation does not have a mechanism for tilting the angular scale, then this is done with a pendulum inclinometer. It is also important to check the horizontalness of the installation itself.

As a result, the saw is fixed so that the front plane of the tooth is located close to the sharpening surface of the circle. The first tooth to be sharpened is marked in any way. Next, the engine starts and sharpening is performed. Make the required number of movements back and forth. The layer of metal that will be removed during the process depends on the number of movements performed and the force of pressing. This continues until the sharpening process has gone through the entire disc.

Sharpening a tooth with a bevel. The difference from the process of turning the previous type of teeth is that the disk is fixed not in a horizontal position, but at an angle. Its value is measured with a pendulum inclinometer. First, a positive angle is set and every second tooth is sharpened, according to the same principle as ordinary teeth. Next, the positive angle is changed to negative, and sharpened in the same way, through one tooth.

Sharpening on the back plane. Such sharpening is carried out on machines with the ability to fix the saw so that the rear plane is in the same plane as the surface of the sharpener.

How to sharpen a circular saw blade on your own?

Not for all people buying a special machine is a rational decision. And if you hold the disc suspended in your hands, it is difficult to maintain the required sharpening angles. To do this, a device is made that allows the disk to be positioned in the required position relative to the sharpener.

The best solution is a stand whose surface is located at the same level as the axis of the grinding wheel. You can also attach one of the sides to a hinge, thereby achieving its mobility, and support the other with several bolts that can be adjusted. This will allow you to set the blade at any angle to sharpen beveled teeth.

Another important detail is to sharpen all teeth with the same angles. To do this, you need to fix the center of the disk in the required position in relation to the sharpener. One way is to make a groove on the surface of the stand for a mandrel on which the saw will be mounted.

Useful video

The video explains how to sharpen a circular saw blade on your own.

Sharpening circular saws with your own hands is not difficult for a person who has the skills to work with plumbing equipment. The popularity of circular saws is due to the advantages that the operation of this equipment provides. The main advantages of this tool are cutting accuracy, high quality and cleanliness of its surface. Circular saws are a very popular tool that is used very actively, which leads to rapid wear of the working surfaces. Restoring operability is carried out by sharpening the working element of the tool.

Signs of need for sharpening and tools used

In order to sharpen a saw, you need to prepare the following tools:

file;
assembly bench vice;
block of wood;
colored marker.

The circular saw is sharpened as needed. The need to sharpen wood saws is determined depending on the intensity of use of the tool.

Several signs indicate this:

Sharpening of saws is required if, during operation of the device, strong heating is observed on the safety casing in the area of the electric drive. In some cases, rising temperatures cause smoke to escape from the saw's guard.
Saw sharpening is required when, in order to obtain a high-quality result, a stronger impact must be exerted on the circular saw.
During operation of the unit, dark marks appear at the site where the cut was made, which are traces of carbon deposits. The formation of such marks may be accompanied by the appearance of a characteristic smell of burnt wood. If these signs occur, you should stop using the tool and sharpen the working edges on the cutting elements of the electric saw saw blade.

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Varieties of working elements of a circular saw blade

In order to know how to correctly sharpen elements on circular saw blades, it is necessary to study the structural features of that part of the circular tool with which wood is cut. The main element of this part of the disk is the teeth. The production of teeth is carried out using carbide metals. Each tooth has four working planes:

front;
back;
right and left side.

Planes provide a supporting role. The tooth geometry consists of one main and two additional cutting edges. The edges for cutting the material are formed at the intersection of the working planes. Depending on the configuration, all cutting parts of the working element of the unit can be divided into several types:

straight;
beveled;
trapezoidal;
conical

Straight teeth are used to perform accelerated longitudinal cuts. This type of cutting elements is not used to obtain ideal cutting quality.

Beveled working elements are characterized by the presence of a flat surface on the back of the tooth on the left or right side. Some models of circular saws have working elements with different bevel sides, which alternate with each other. Such discs are called alternately beveled. This type of disc is used when cutting is necessary, in addition to wood, chipboard and various plastics. The presence of a large bevel ensures high-quality sawing without chipping on the edges. The working elements have a trapezoidal shape in cross section. Thanks to the presence of this tooth configuration, the working elements of the disk are able to work for a long time without visible deterioration in the quality of the cutting edges.

Conical working elements have a cone-shaped cross section. Most often, discs with such working teeth are used as auxiliary ones when performing preliminary cutting of the laminate. Discs with such teeth help avoid chipping when cutting laminate flooring.

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Principles and angles of sharpening working elements of a circular saw

The working surfaces of the elements are sharpened at the four sharpening corners. The sharpening angles and the shape of the cutting element are the main parameters of the disk, on which the quality of the work performed depends. The circular tooth has two main angles (back and front); in addition, the characteristics of the working element include the cutting angles of the front and rear surfaces. The characteristics of sharpening angles depend on the purpose of the sawing device, the material being processed and the direction of processing.

A circular saw intended for longitudinal cutting of material is sharpened at a large rake angle; for sawing in the transverse direction, a sharpening angle of 5-10° is used. A universal sharpening option is considered to be an angle of 15°. The sharpening angle of the working elements is influenced by the level of hardness of the material being processed. The harder the material being cut, the smaller the sharpening angle the saw tooth should have.

During the operation of the tool, the upper cutting edge wears out as much as possible. As a result of using the tool for its intended purpose, the cutting edge is rounded. The rounding rate can reach 0.3 mm or more. Among the planes, the front one is subject to maximum wear.

Proper sharpening should provide an edge appearance in which their rounding does not exceed 0.2 mm.

For this purpose, simultaneous grinding of the rear and front planes of the working elements is used. This sharpening method is optimal. It is possible to sharpen only the front plane, but in this case the sharpening process requires more time, and the tooth wears out faster due to the fact that the metal needs to be ground down. With standard sharpening, it is necessary to remove metal with a thickness of 0.05 to 0.15 mm.

How to sharpen a circular saw correctly?

Circular saw is a very popular instrument. In order for it to be most effective, it must be restocked regularly.

Grinding a saw blade is possible either using a special machine or using improvised tools.

You can sharpen a circular saw yourself, if you follow the instructions then there is nothing particularly difficult about it.

What do you need for this?

It should be borne in mind that all circular saws need to be sharpened correctly and in a timely manner, but those that do not have high power must be sharpened carefully. The fact is that a dull disc helps increase the load on the electric motor. This is the result of the fact that it quickly overheats, and it becomes impossible to work with the tool because it breaks.

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A saw blade needs urgent sharpening if it has the following characteristics:

You need to apply significant force when cutting.
The cutting edges begin to burn, an unpleasant odor appears, and dark stains from the saw teeth appear.
The protective cover of the heater begins to heat up very quickly (even when working with such a tool, smoke may appear).

Using a file, each tooth is sharpened. Each one has the same amount of movement and equal pressure.

To sharpen a saw blade, you must start from the surface behind. It is this part that during the implementation of the work process relates to the material being processed. The most preferred is to grind the disc directly in the machine, but it is also possible that when the grinding process needs to be removed for the grinding process.

When you need to sharpen a saw in the device, the cord is pulled out of the socket (this should be done for safety reasons, so that the device does not start up accidentally). You need to wedge the disc while wooden rods are laid on both sides, they are pressed tightly against the saw teeth.

How to Grind Saw Blades

sharpen Carbide discs are very simple with a simple device, but such discs take time to operate.

How to quickly sharpen a circular saw

my honing method circular saw(music series from Audionautix

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The marker should be marked with the tooth that will be pointed first. When the first tooth is sharpened, it is necessary to remember the number of movements made by the file. This is done because all subsequent teeth must be sharpened with the same force and the number of movements must be the same.

So, how to sharpen circular saws correctly? If the sanding disc is removed from the machine, it must be clamped in a vice (it is best to use wooden dies for this purpose). After this, you must follow the same procedures as described above. When the teeth are sharpened, the disc must first rotate in a vice. Doing this is much simpler than it might seem at first glance, you only need to follow the safety rules, otherwise all this can lead to the most negative consequences.

What should you consider when sharpening your saw?

After the procedure, the saw blade should be checked for uniform sharpening on a piece of wood.

Once all the teeth have been sharpened, the disc is carefully inserted into the machine. The machine is then plugged in and the unwanted wood block is sawn. If there is a lot of noise or the material is fed unevenly, then it is necessary to check how close the teeth are to each other in height. This is done as follows: the marker must be brought to the cutting edge, the disk rotates a full turn in the direction opposite to the direction of rotation. The disk must then be inspected very carefully. Each tooth will then be marked so that you can identify those teeth that differ in height from each other. The height of the long teeth is neatly aligned with the file.

Circular saws are used throughout construction. Many works require changing the dimensions of the building materials used, making cuts, and much more. A circular saw allows you to quickly cut a wide variety of materials, while the cutting speed is very high, and the quality of the cut is the best. The constant use of the equipment in question determines that the cutting tool begins to become dull, which has a significant impact on the efficiency of the work performed and its quality. This is why many people think about how to sharpen circular saws with their own hands. After all, the ability to perform such work efficiently will allow you to save significantly.

Required Tools

You can sharpen disks for a circular plate with your own hands only if you have special tools. There is also a machine that allows you to automate the process and make it more efficient.

To carry out the work of sharpening a disc with your own hands, you can use the following tools:

assembly vice;
file;
block of wood.

You can also use a circular saw sharpener, which does not require the above tools.

When is it necessary to carry out restoration work on circular saws?

A rather important issue is determining when circular saws should be sharpened. Excessive wear may make it impossible to carry out such work. There are three clear signals that determine the need to sharpen a circular saw blade:

Smoke appears, the protective casing heats up. The device, as a rule, has a special protective casing, which can heat up if the disk becomes dull. It should also be noted that in special cases, smoke appears due to the strong heating of the cutting zone.
Also, with mechanical feeding, when the pressure is adjusted with your own hands, great force should be applied to obtain the desired result.
When processing wood or other material, traces of soot and a corresponding odor appear in the cutting area.

Principles and angles of sharpening circular saws

The saw has four main sharpening angles for the circular saw blade along the working part. The angles under consideration, as well as the tooth shape itself, can be called the main performance characteristics. Each tooth can be characterized as follows:

front and back angle;
cutting angles of the front and back surfaces.

The values of the above parameters depend on the purpose of the sawing device and the type of workpiece material.

Based on the above parameters, several saws can be distinguished:

for performing longitudinal cutting. In this case, the rake angle should be from 15° to 25°.
when performing cross cutting, the considered indicator should be from 5° to 10°.
The universal version is recommended to be sharpened at an angle of 15°.

The type of material being processed also determines what characteristics the tooth should have. As a rule, the harder the material, the more difficult it is to machine. That is why it is recommended to sharpen the cutting teeth to a lesser extent.

With prolonged use of a carbide saw, significant wear occurs on the uppermost cutting edge. When considering the tooth plane, it is worth noting that most wear occurs on the front surface.

Sharpening circular saws at home

You can sharpen the saw yourself without using a special sharpening machine, which is expensive and is rarely used for its intended purpose due to the use of carbide material when creating the cutting edge. However, you cannot simply hold the circle in your hands, since you need to achieve certain cutting parameters to ensure the required performance indicator.

To fix the gear wheel in a strictly specified position, an ordinary flat stand is used. It has the following features:

The surface of the flat stand should coincide with the level of the axis of the sharpening disc.
We place the toothed wheel on the stand so that the sharpening plane is perpendicular to the saw blade.
The device in question for teeth located at a certain angle is equipped with a rotary hinge.

The device in question makes it possible to fix the element being processed in relation to the abrasive material used. Using a colored marker, marking lines are drawn that allow you to select the correct angle. A vice is also needed in which the created fixing device is attached.

Sharpening using a machine

If it is possible to purchase a special machine, then the process in question can be carried out with maximum efficiency. This device is compact in size and can be used at home.

Particular attention is paid to the choice of abrasive wheel. In this case, we note the following nuances:

Carbide blades are difficult to sharpen.
When choosing, you should pay attention to wheels made of CBN, with diamond chips or green silicon carbide.

The sharpening process when using professional equipment is very simple. The disk is secured using a special clamp. It was created taking into account the design features of the circle. We will pay special attention to the fact that when using special machines it is very easy to sharpen circular saws while maintaining the required parameters. In this case, the error is minimal. This is due to the fact that the design has a special angle indicator meter. In order not to be mistaken at the time of work as to which teeth have already been processed, you should use a marker to mark the starting point.

Any construction cannot be done without a circular saw. When performing various operations, you have to make cuts and cuts. With the help of a circular saw, it becomes possible to cut any tree with high speed and high quality. With constant use of such a device, the cutting tool becomes dull and the productivity of the operation decreases. Sharpening circular saws becomes the most important operation.

Classification of circular saws

To obtain a clean cut, it is necessary that the circular saw blades are sharpened correctly. Tools are divided into several groups:

All metal.
The working area of the disk has a hard coating.
Carbide plates are soldered onto the saw teeth.

The saw teeth must be set apart after sharpening. If you perform work with a dull tool, the drive begins to experience additional stress and the quality of the cut suffers.

If the disk works with hard wood, it must have special technological grooves. Their absence leads to overheating of the blade, the metal will begin to expand, and the cutting tool will deform. Dangerous vibration will appear and the quality of the cut will suffer.

Types of cutting surfaces

To increase work efficiency, engineers have developed several types of teeth, differing in their shape and sharpening angle:

On some canvases, the front plane of the tooth has a concave shape. This tool makes cross cuts.

Correct sharpening angle

Circular saws have teeth with two angles:

Rear
Front.

The size of the angle depends on the type of material being processed, the purpose of the operating equipment and the direction of sawing. For example, to obtain a longitudinal cut, the front angles are made within 15-25 degrees. For a cross cut, the rake angle will be in the range of 5-10 degrees. An angle of 15 degrees is suitable for processing any material in the desired direction. The size of the angle depends on the hardness of the workpiece being processed. The harder the material, the sharper you need to sharpen the teeth.

Methods for processing disc blades

To form a cutting edge, any sharpening machine is suitable where the design of the equipment does not is of great importance. Of course, the sharpening angles of disk plates with carbide tips are obtained more accurately using specialized equipment. However, its cost is very high, so a conventional grinding machine is used, which has the ability to change the inclination of the corundum disk.

To sharpen a circular disk yourself, you must strictly fulfill several basic conditions:

Usually the top edge is subject to deformation. Sometimes the rounding of the edges reaches 0.3 mm. Therefore, sharpening starts from the top.
Processing is carried out taking into account the leading edge and its rear part.
The operation is repeated at least 25 times. The thickness of the metal being removed should not be more than 0.05-0.15 mm.
The quality of processing must be exactly the same over the entire surface being processed.
After sharpening is completed, it can be fine-tuned manually using fine-grain sandpaper.

Sharpening carbide-tipped tools

Sharpening circular saws with pobedit tips often causes problems. Processing with standard abrasives takes a very long time, and if the material is overheated, it can be “tempered.” Of course, processing with a diamond tool will be much faster, but its cost is very high. It will be much more economical to purchase a victorious disk.

Each master approaches solving this problem purely individually. To obtain the correct sharpening angles for carbide-tipped circular saws, you will definitely need a machine.

Home processing of toothed blades

To process a circular saw, it is not at all necessary to have a special machine for sharpening circular saws with your own hands. To secure the fabric in a certain position, you can use a flat stand, which has several nuances:

The surface should be flush with the center of the sharpening wheel.
The sharpening plane should be at an angle of 90 degrees relative to the gear wheel.
To create different inclinations, the device must have a swivel joint.

To select the desired angle, make a mark with a colored marker. The device must be installed in a powerful vice. Even the slightest movement of the special stand is not allowed.