Chipper Knife Sharpening?

stheis004

stheis004

Participating member
Location
WI
I did a search and there weren't any posts less than 3-4 years old and so much has changed...Anyways, looking for recommendations on where to send of knives to have them sharpened and how much to expect to pay for it. I fit two sets (8 knives) in a medium flat rate box so figure it should be worth shipping them.

Any recommendations for trustworthy places to buy proper bolts from online? Vermeer says to not re-use them after one flip.

Thanks!
 
We have our knives sharpened at Kreider Outdoor Power, in Coatesville, PA. I’m not sure if he takes mail orders for knife sharpening, but I don’t see why he wouldn’t.

We pay $57 to sharpen a set of four double sided 10” knives, that’s about 40” of cutting edge, and those guys do real good work. The knives always come back with wax dipped edges, nice and clean, and shrink wrapped by the set.

As for bolts, we just buy them from a local independent hardware store/machine shop and have never had a problem.
 
I take my blades to a place in Portland that does industrial sharpening. I would just call around in the closest major city to you and see if there is a place that does sharpening. Maybe check with some of the other tree services near you to find out who they use?
 
Many sawmills do in-house sharpening (think of all the blades they use!) if you have one nearby. Whether they take outside knives or not can be hit or miss.
 
Most Large sawmill have a full time saw shop with all the equipment to do chipper knives, and the equipment usually belongs to the person in charge of the shop, not the sawmill. If you speak with that person, you will probably find that they will do your knives after hours.
 
I had two vendors for sharpening.

The first sharpened paper cutting knives. I bit of google time should find a print shop to help your search

The other was a guy who had a garage full of Foley sharpening tools. He did mostly hand/circle saws. There were 3-4 of us chipper owners who kept him busy too. Call around to find a saw sharpener.
 
My recommendation is to find one who has a chipper knife sharpener that keeps the blade in a water flow and takes very little off at a time. Takes a while to sharpen a chipper knife properly so as not to ruin the temper. I would pass on anyone who just uses a grinder. It will be sharp, but it won't hold up as well as one done properly, on the proper equipment.
Not to step on Tom's toes, but I would never take a chipper knife to someone with Fowley-Bellsaw equipment. That is where that stuff belongs, in a garage. Pay attention in this video on how long he says it takes to sharpen a banged up set of chipper knives. And they do them all at the same time. 8 hours!
 
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Shadowscape said:
My recommendation is to find one who has a chipper knife sharpener that keeps the blade in a water flow and takes very little off at a time. Takes a while to sharpen a chipper knife properly so as not to ruin the temper. I would pass on anyone who just uses a grinder. It will be sharp, but it won't hold up as well as one done properly, on the proper equipment.
Not to step on Tom's toes, but I would never take a chipper knife to someone with Fowley-Bellsaw equipment. That is where that stuff belongs, in a garage. Pay attention in this video on how long he says it takes to sharpen a banged up set of chipper knives. And they do them all at the same time. 8 hours!
Click to expand...
The shop we use wet grinds on a bed grinder, that’s the only way we will have our knives sharpened, it’s too easy to overheat the knives and draw out the temper otherwise.
 
No problem

Printer's Service used a wet grinder. Over three decades of owning chippers I never found a difference in either method. The convenience of driving five blocks over to Tony's garage in the evening was a huge savings in my time V going downtown. No doubt...wet grinding is better. But at times putting pearls in front of me...the pig...is lost money. LOL
 
We have done other similar knives in our cnc mill using endmills for hardmilling. I need to build a jig to hold our knives. This is by far the fastest way to do them (2 to 5 minutes of run time). We have a surface grinder in house too but its terribly slow and not automated like our cnc mills. They come out of cnc mill barely warm to the touch when running them with no coolant. Running coolant causes temperature shock to the carbide and cracks it. No temper issues and very sharp.
 
Just wondering what a machine costs, that can sharpen chipper knives? And what’s the actual name of that machine? Even if it was several thousand dollars, maybe for the right sized company it could be worth it.
 
Anonymity said:
Just wondering what a machine costs, that can sharpen chipper knives? And what’s the actual name of that machine? Even if it was several thousand dollars, maybe for the right sized company it could be worth it.
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A good surface grinder large enough to do knives would start around $30k plus new. Buy a lifetime supply of knives for way less.
 
Anonymity said:
Just wondering what a machine costs, that can sharpen chipper knives? And what’s the actual name of that machine? Even if it was several thousand dollars, maybe for the right sized company it could be worth it.
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The machine is called a Bedknife Grinder. I’ve seen well used machines sell for $5-10k in this area, so a new one is probably quite a bit more.

For the right company it could be worth it, but how many knives do you have to sharpen to justify it? Throw in the cost of labor to run it, and the cost of consumables for it, you would need to sharpen at least 250 sets of knives to break even on your purchase, and that’s based on a fairly inexpensive grinder.
 
I just purchased a Bevel Buddy it’s a dremel with a diamond stone with a guide system
It works great and sharpened two chippers in 25 minutes!
They say to only sharpen three times per side
A little expensive but priceless because you don’t have to remove your knives to sharpen!
Cost $600 I’m pretty sure for the 110v
 
When I first came to France I was paying extortionate rates for sharpening from a local garden machinery supplier.

Then one day I picked them up and they had left on the wrapping of the sharpening company they used.

Went direct at a third of the price.

No relevance really, except try and go direct to the company rather that let anyone else dip their beak.
 
I use Atlas Saw and Tool sharpening in Spring Grove IL. They are very reasonable and they pick up and deliver.
Bolts I buy a box from Fastenall but I suggest befriending a Fastenall employee and use their employee discount. Massive savings! Even if you don’t like the guy the beer it will cost you is money well spent.
 
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VenasNursery said:
I just purchased a Bevel Buddy it’s a dremel with a diamond stone with a guide system
It works great and sharpened two chippers in 25 minutes!
Click to expand...
If I were running chippers I'd look close at the Bevel Buddy

Precision Sharpening Devices | Home

Precision Sharpening Devices, Inc., is a manufacturer of sharpening and beveling equipment for the knived Industries. Our products work with disc and drum style chippers and conventional pocket style, face mounted and reversible/disposable knife systems, as well as recyclers with chipping...
www.precisionsharpeningdevices.com www.precisionsharpeningdevices.com
 
Tom Dunlap said:
If I were running chippers I'd look close at the Bevel Buddy

Precision Sharpening Devices | Home

Precision Sharpening Devices, Inc., is a manufacturer of sharpening and beveling equipment for the knived Industries. Our products work with disc and drum style chippers and conventional pocket style, face mounted and reversible/disposable knife systems, as well as recyclers with chipping...
www.precisionsharpeningdevices.com www.precisionsharpeningdevices.com
Click to expand...
That’s the place I ordered from
 
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