Once a blade hits metal, it is generally pretty well trashed. Norwood does sell a setter to keep the blade cutting consistently, but there are two issues to consider: 1) only about 1/8" of the tip is hardened steel. Once you grind below that, it will dull very quickly. 2) you need to watch for small cracks in the blade, usually in the narrowest part of the gullet. The blade flexes every time it goes around a bandwheel, and that fatigues the metal. If you notice cracks in the blade, it is best to trash it. Otherwise, it will likely break while you are milling. I generally set first, then sharpen. The set is around .022", about half the thickness of the blade.

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A good rule of thumb is to sharpen band blades every two hours of cutting (so take a few blades with you for a full day of cutting). However, you may need to sharpen your blades more often if you are milling dirty logs or species that have a lot of sand inside the fiber (like cedar). Most sawyers can re-sharpen blades between 5 to 8 times. To keep track of each, make a label that you can affix to your blade with a wire. That blade always has its tag unless it is on your mill. Not on the tag each time you sharpenened.

Some people use tipped blades. And some people really like them. I find that their cut is slightly rougher and they are slower. We saw some pretty hard woods in places like Australia and Africa and just make sure that our blade is sharp. We will sometimes also use a bimetal blade.

Hi Wayne Norwood sharpeners start at $795. You can learn more with the following resources. The last one is the price list - Check out page 8. Thanks - Norwood Catalog (downloadable link): www.norwoodsawmills.com/digital-info-kit - Visit Norwood Sawmills online: www.norwoodsawmills.com/sawmills . - Price list (downloadable link): www.norwoodsawmills.com/digital-info-kit