grinding chipper knives

SkwerI

Treehouser
Joined
Sep 6, 2006
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19,276
Location
central Florida
About 35 years ago when I had my lawn business I bought a Neary blade grinder to sharpen lawnmower blades. Very nice grinder with the ability to set the angle, etc. Looked like this. Sold it with the lawn business when I was 25.

home-comp-pic-115-jpg.29695


Now I'm thinking about sharpening chipper knives. On my chipper the little hand held touchup deal works about 5-6 times and then it changes the angle enough that the brush no longer feeds. I've given up using it and now use a 60 grit flap wheel on a 4.5" offset grinder. This works better but it is hard to maintain the correct angle. The Neary would make that much easier.

Anybody here sharpen their own chipper knives? Here's the current version of the Neary grinder and the best price I found.
https://www.sharpeningsupplies.com/Neary-Rotary-Mower-Blade-Grinder-Model-440-12-HP-Motor-P1022.aspx
They have a 1hp version for about $150 more.
 
Geez you guys get a good deal for sharpening prices.
One set costs me $64AUD to get sharpened...and I have to drive 120km round trip to drop them off.
 
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  • #7
Well my knives are 10.5" wide, have two cutting edges and there are four of them per set. So 8 cutting edges times 10.5" is 84" or $84 at a dollar per inch.

However, my opinion on sharpening chipper knives is sort of like my opinion on sharpening chainsaw chains. I don't want to run them until they are too dull to work any more and then pay somebody to sharpen them. I'd prefer pulling them off and sharpening them myself every couple weeks. It would only take an hour or less, hardly longer than the time it takes to swap or flip the knives anyway.

No, I'm not going to get a perfect machined edge measured to within 1/1000 of an inch between all four knives. But on my chipper the angle of the knives means that it would take a huge difference in knife length to create a measurable difference in the cutter gap. I can get it close enough to maintain proper gap all the way across the knife and between the four knives.

At $100 per whack getting knives sharpened and doing it 3 times per year, it would take 2 years for the grinder to pay for itself. I think that is an awesome return on investment and as a side benefit I'll be able to do my mower blades as well. Heck, I might even sharpen some chipper knives for friends if I get good enough at it.
 
Keeping them all the same size is important. If you?re gonna do it yourself, make up a jig that holds them all at once, using the bolt holes to center them. Best to mark A and B sides if they?re double edged. That?s all I got for ya as I rotate between 3 sets and when they?re down to the last sharpening I buy three more sets. At work our bc2100?s rotate 6 sets each and luckily they?re identical. The crew that does the most land clearing will sometimes flip blades after a day depending on conditions and equipment operators. Most of their material is drug out with a skidder so mud is gonna dull things up quick
Forgot to add that the at work blades and my personal knives go to the same local shop. Wish I knew the price but I don?t do that part
 
Oops...serves me right for not doing the math :) deserved smackdown...I'm getting up now.
 
Im a jerk, i just buy new sets and chuck em when dull. I was saving them for sharpening then said screw this im not changing the anvil. They are a consumable, but i really should rotate three sets or something.
 
I find my anvil lasts a long time...except the time I chipped a bolt...
 
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  • #12
Brendon, I know lots of guys that do that. But then I know guys who buy new saw chains instead of sharpening them as well.

Rich, I appreciate the input. Not sure exactly how I would make a jig but I'll run it by my machine shop guy and see what we can come up with.
 
The service I use is pretty darn cheap IMO. I had four sets for my BC1500 milled, not ground, for $84 picked up and delivered.
FJR bought a bed grinder and does his own.
Personally there is no way I would grind my own knives with out a bed grinder or milling machine. The risks of throwing the drum out balance would make me loose sleep. Then I would have to throw the chipper away LOL
 
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  • #16
Mine are $210 per set delivered. Bailey's is the only place I can find them, chipper is 26 years old.
 
Ah... I was gonna say Cal-line in livermore...ships them anywhere...they sharpen too.. but after the mailing back and forth and hassle.... I end up just leav8ng them at the local place.... support local business.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk
 
My local machine shop sharpens mine. I keep 4 sets of 4 8" knives. He charges me 40.00 per set. Place 1.5 hours out will do them for 25.00. I stay local. Lotta fuel in a couple trips. He does my anvils for 60.00. Those have 6 edges.
 
Oh sure rub it in why don't ya "I have a small machine shop" bla bla. :P:lol: (said in my best whiney 6year old voice)
I would love to have some machine tools! A mill, lathe I'd in heaven!
 
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  • #21
Well I probably should have done this before but I just searched Google for sharpening services near me. Found this place and sent an inquiry about prices for sharpening my chipper knives.
http://bowenssharpening.com/

Still want to do my own, even if I just send them out every so often to get them straightened out and perfect again. My little Morbark does a great job but there is a huge difference in performance when the knives are not sharp.
 
We don't sharpen the chipper knives but the chain saw chains are sharpened every morning.

Bermy, we have to drive to tim buck two as well, no one on this island does it.
 
I send mine to a place in Melbourne, Victoria not Florida. Buy them there as well, good quality and prices.

Rayco here have a sharpening service that's pretty cheap, but it's not called Rayco anymore. https://globalmachinerysales.com.au/service-parts/

Thought about doing my own sharpening once, that mob I bought the stump tooth grinder off has a setup but it's pretty expensive and I still haven't used what I bought yet after buying a bulk lot of teeth. Thorvie chipper knife sharpener : https://www.thorvie.com/product/av-54-automatic-jointer-planer-chipper-knife-grinder/
 
Hair CLIPPER not chipper, but does work for human or animal clippers.


Bandit, IIRC, sells a back-bevel machine that might be worth investigating. I think Merle knows something about it.
 
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