2003 Bandit 65, trying to re-power it now, any input? Thx

[Merle Nelson]

Sean are you touching up with a file?

Do you have and use any knife dressing tool you like a lot?

None of the knife dressing tools I have, of about six different ones, are just right. My Bandit chippers are sharpened to 30 or 31 degrees, so that would be nice. But the main thing is I really only want carbide on the face of the knife side of the tool. The other side should be a mild steel which just slides on the back edge of the knife rather than cutting any material. Then just replace when that is worn out of spec.

I've thought of contacting Smith manufacturing and asking them to make a dressing tool specific and appropriate for our industry but have been too lazy to do it.

 

[dsptech]

Sean are you touching up with a file?

Do you have and use any knife dressing tool you like a lot?

None of the knife dressing tools I have, of about six different ones, are just right. My Bandit chippers are sharpened to 30 or 31 degrees, so that would be nice. But the main thing is I really only want carbide on the face of the knife side of the tool. The other side should be a mild steel which just slides on the back edge of the knife rather than cutting any material. Then just replace when that is worn out of spec.

I've thought of contacting Smith manufacturing and asking them to make a dressing tool specific and appropriate for our industry but have been too lazy to do it.

Bandit has a tool you can buy to dress the edge between uses but it's nothing more then a scissor sharpener that they charge a small fortune for.
Just buy one at your local sporting goods store or online.

 

[Merle Nelson]

Yes I find those to have two pieces of carbide that cut the face as well as the back side (flat side) of the knife. The angle is off a little too for Bandit knives if I'm not mistaken. Also, it has bulky edges on the tool that, though it would be fine for drawing scissors through, is too fat to get to ends of my knife blades and difficult to tilt and hold for knife face only cutting.

One other brand sharpener had a narrow "beak" to it but does not hold the carbide well.

 

[dsptech]

I think most have a narrow beak.
I bought this one hoping it would work but its too bulky.

 

[RopeShield]

i like

https://www.leevalley.com/en-ca/shop/tools/sharpening/files-and-hones/66738-universal-sharpener?item=AG705

 

[Reach]

I have had good luck with using a flap wheel type sanding disc on a 4.5” angle grinder for occasional touchups. It runs cool enough I’ve never seen a hint of a burn, but I would still recommend moving quickly so you can’t burn it or take off too much steel. We rarely touch up our knives though, when they get dull we pull them and send them off to be sharpened.

 

[Barc Buster]

A speedy sharp was my solution to the non bulky knife touch up tool.

About | The Original Speedy Sharp Carbide Sharpener

The Original Speedy Sharp carbide knife sharpener is the most versatile sharpener made. It is fast, easy to use, durable, compact and fits in your pocket, tool box or backpack., The Original Speedy Sharp is compact and fits in your pocket, tool box, or hunting pack. Quickly sharpen and hone...

www.speedysharp.com

I generally loose them before they wear out.

 

[Merle Nelson]

I think most have a narrow beak.
I bought this one hoping it would work but its too bulky.

View attachment 69896

That's the one I like for getting into the right spot but mine (in green) did not hold its carbide well. If that orange model holds it better I would happily cut off part of the handle for better access.

 

[Merle Nelson]

i like

https://www.leevalley.com/en-ca/shop/tools/sharpening/files-and-hones/66738-universal-sharpener?item=AG705

That's a good idea Thomas, I'll try that next go round.

 

[colb]

Being fanatical about not running dirt through and dressing the knives helps a lot. Difference in chipping performance between wood dull and dressed is marked.

Understood. I'm delayed on my first knife change because I've had to kit up for it - bought new knives, then realized I needed new bolts and nuts and ordered those. There was a discrepancy between the manual and my dealer about which bolt was correct, so that email thread lasted two weeks... I bought a torque ratchet wrench. My 18" breaker bar will not break with a 12" extension (part of the reason for definitely changing the nuts and bolts on the first go) so my next step is to cut an old galvanized pipe fence post out of its concrete to put on a longer extension pipe to see which breaks first - the breaker bar or the nut... If that does not work I'll need to buy a large air compressor and build a shop to put it in... etc. In the meantime, I'm just keeping the rpms high. 3.5" is still going through without stopping. 6-7" I'm doing 10" at a time. 5" is going through about 2.5 feet at a time.

I'm looking for ways to reduce dirt, but at day's end it's really frequent for a butt to get dirt on it. I think at least part of my strategy will be having 4-6 sets of knives and be efficient at changing them out and setting the gap. Haven't addressed the latter yet at all...

Also need to replace or clean out about half the grease nipples and get the autofeed control working again.

It's going to about 2/3rds of the jobsites that my 16 yard bin used to go to, so it's working out great.

 

[southsoundtree]

Accusharp Blade Sharpener

DetailsGreat tool for quickly honing any blade edge. Lifetime warranty. See demonstration video on the videos tab below. Made in the U.S.A.In about 10 seconds, sharpen knives, (even serrated knives), cleavers, axes, machetes, and many other cutting tools. The large ergonomic handle fits either...

www.wesspur.com

Don't sweat the angle. It's for a touch-up, not perfection.

For part way between professionally ground, and dull enough to change.
It takes me 2-3 minutes for (4) 16" blades that take an hour or so to change.

 

[Fivepoints]

You don't need air for an impact anymore. The cordless electric ones are really good if you choose wisely. We use an 18v bosch to change out knives On out bandit 990. We also use a right angle die grinder with a sanding disc to sharpen them between changes. Makes a big difference in how long we go between changes and it takes 5 to 10 minutes. I'm thinking about buying one of the Milwaukee m12 right angle die grinders just for doing this. We do have our bucket truck plumbed for air output so I guess I could just put a die grinder in there.

 

[Reach]

You don't need air for an impact anymore. The cordless electric ones are really good if you choose wisely. We use an 18v bosch to change out knives On out bandit 990. We also use a right angle die grinder with a sanding disc to sharpen them between changes. Makes a big difference in how long we go between changes and it takes 5 to 10 minutes. I'm thinking about buying one of the Milwaukee m12 right angle die grinders just for doing this. We do have our bucket truck plumbed for air output so I guess I could just put a die grinder in there.

The new Milwaukee cordless are impressive. We just picked up the M18 3/4” impact wrench and Hole Hawg and the power of both are impressive. The impact gun has more power than a comparable air gun for sure. We have some M12 too, also equally impressive.

I like the bucket truck air idea, except that I doubt the truck makes enough air to be useful - an air die grinder usually uses at least 25 cfm, which is far more than a truck compressor usually makes.

 

[Fivepoints]

The 3/4" milwaukee impact is on my to buy list. I've even thought about the 1" as we have some large equipment to work on.

My bucket truck powers a 1/2" impact just fine. I bet it will do good with a die grinder. I'll try it next time I sharpen my chipper knives. I know my die grinders don't consume any where near 25 cfm. We regularly run two at the same time off a compressor rated for 24 cfm. It has no problem keeping up with constant use.

 

[Merle Nelson]

Thanks Sean, yeah the Accusharp is the sturdiest unit I have found.

Sounds like an adventure Colb, but an adventure worth taking. I cut one firewood round off the end of any branches that speared the ground - or just enough to remove dirt. It makes a big difference. I did one job right on the coast at a time of the year that was foggy and heavy wind. Every branch I trimmed off the trees within 15 feet of the ground had sand stuck to it. I would chip a pile of brush for half an hour and dress the knives before the next pile was chipped.

Good call on tossing those bolts. Torque to specs doesn't feel tight enough to me but I stop there. That tight might well have stretched the bolts. I mark my bolts for the spec'd five times used by filing a slight groove on one of the six sides of the outer edge of a nut.

 

[Reach]

The 3/4" milwaukee impact is on my to buy list. I've even thought about the 1" as we have some large equipment to work on.

My bucket truck powers a 1/2" impact just fine. I bet it will do good with a die grinder. I'll try it next time I sharpen my chipper knives. I know my die grinders don't consume any where near 25 cfm. We regularly run two at the same time off a compressor rated for 24 cfm. It has no problem keeping up with constant use.

I thought about the 1” gun as well, but we don’t quite need that much power consistently. The 3/4” is the first gun I’ve found that I could not use one handed - it will torque itself right off the bolts if I don’t use two hands.

Glad to hear your bucket truck makes enough air for your impact gun, that’s surprising, but great. Hopefully it will run your die grinder too, it sounds like yours use less air than what mine do for sure. Our 16 cfm will only just keep up with one die grinder, and that’s if we don’t run it continuously for long periods of time.

 

[southsoundtree]

Thanks Sean, yeah the Accusharp is the sturdiest unit I have found.

Sounds like an adventure Colb, but an adventure worth taking. I cut one firewood round off the end of any branches that speared the ground - or just enough to remove dirt. It makes a big difference. I did one job right on the coast at a time of the year that was foggy and heavy wind. Every branch I trimmed off the trees within 15 feet of the ground had sand stuck to it. I would chip a pile of brush for half an hour and dress the knives before the next pile was chipped.

Good call on tossing those bolts. Torque to specs doesn't feel tight enough to me but I stop there. That tight might well have stretched the bolts. I mark my bolts for the spec'd five times used by filing a slight groove on one of the six sides of the outer edge of a nut.

There was talk at the TH from an experienced person that all torque-specs are with some compound in it, NOT DRY.
IDK if it was Never Sieze, or what.
Dry torquing won't actually stretch the threads properly... What I took away.

 

[colb]

There was talk at the TH from an experienced person that all torque-specs are with some compound in it, NOT DRY.
IDK if it was Never Sieze, or what.
Dry torquing won't actually stretch the threads properly... What I took away.

Really?! You guys are just what I need. I would never think of this stuff.

 

[dsptech]

My chipper came with new knives.
I removed them and cleaned under them properly because it seemed the gap was off even after turning the anvil.
My nuts came off relatively easy.
There wasn't anything on the threads.
I remounted the blades and torqued to spec and have used the chipper heavily on 3 jobs since.
Seems to me that someone had torqed the freaking hell out of colb's bolts.
Probably used an impact gun to secure them.

 

[Merle Nelson]

Double check NeverSeeze with a call to a Bandit tech. I'd love to use it myself but have been in a Bandit chipper safety course put on by CalLine in Sacramento CA. They say specs are for dry.