2022 - Volume #46, Issue #5, Page #13
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Best Buy Sawmill And Sharpener
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“When I sharpen my blades, the stone barely touches the blade tooth, giving off a tiny spark. That’s important, so it doesn’t heat the blade. My blades last me 19 1/2 hrs. on average.
“I watch others being used, and they have big stones, and the sparks just fly. It’s no wonder they have to change blades so often. They’ll tell me theirs last only a 1 1/2 to 2 hrs.
“My Norwood sawmill is also a best buy. It’s one of the smaller ones with only a 20-in. throat. It uses a 140-in. blade. I can sharpen one side in about 3 min. and set the teeth in 15 min. Then I flip it inside out and do the other side.
“The sharpener and tooth setter cost me around $1,100 in 2001 when I bought it. It’s paid for itself at least five times over. It’s easy on the blades and stone. I ordered half a dozen stones when I bought it, and I still have two or three left. They last a long time, and I’ve sawn a lot of lumber.
“The company suggests the maximum size log it will saw out is 24 in. with its 20-in. throat. However, I figured out how to cut up a tree as big as 3 ft. in diameter with it.
“Instead of a square cant, I cut a hexagonal cant. I can cut 20-in. boards on each side, rotating the cant and reducing the diameter as I go. It takes a little wiggling, but it works.”
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