Ques 1- I have a Tormek sharpening system. However, with my limited knowledge of sharpening I feel that it should only be used to sharpen shop tools, scissors, etc. I am not sure that it should be used to sharpen mower blades, or other similar hardened steel or as a grinder. Please advise if I am correct and if so , what type of grinder or sharpener is suitable as to speed, etc.
Ques 2- I am setting up my shop after moving to a different location. I feel that since I have my router imbedded in the extension table to the right of the tablesaw and for other reasons I would prefer to have an overarm blade guard and dust collector that is attached to the garage ceiling. I could only find one producted by Penn State Industries in their catalog. Is that the only system available and what are your comments on it. What do people then do for a splitter? What are the negatives to this type of system?
Replies
Virtually all tools are hardened steel so the mower blade wouldn't present any problems if you wanted to sharpen it on the Tormek.
Actually most mower blades are fairly soft to prevent the blade from shattering if it strikes a rock. The easiest way to sharpen a mower blade would be with a file if the steel isn't hardened or to use an angle grinder if the file won't work, the precision of the Tormek isn't required.
To keep the blade balanced, try to file or grind away equal amounts from the edges at each end of the blade and check the width of both ends of the blade with a ruler, evening up the width if needed.
Overhead mount blade guards have two main advantages, they can easily be swung out of the way and they have much good dust collection without the hose interfering with the positioning. The only down sides are the trouble of installing the assembly and the fact that you can't move the saw to a new location without also having to move the ceiling mount. You can still use the original splitter in most cases by simply removing and discarding the plastic guard from the top of the splitter assembly.
I think there are a few companies making overhead guards, if you ask in the regular Knots forum you will probably get a few recommendations from actual users, I have little experience with them.
John White
Thanks
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