Aftermarket chipper blades?

[WoodChuckDad]

I called to get the price on a set of 2 chipper knives for a Normet CH222 chipper. $180 each. $360 per pair. I was expecting $120 ish per pair. So A quick search of the internet found Sharp Tool Co who advertises an American made replacement blade for this chipper. American vs Finnish. Hoping to get coparisons between OEM and after market chipper blades. Anybody have input?

 

[oosik]

I've never thought of new blades. My Wally BX62S has four and they are reversible. After five years of chipping small pines - I'm still on the original side. I just checked and replacement blades would be around $130 each. The Kubota dealer will resharpen all four - both sides - for around $100.

 

[WoodChuckDad]

I have mountains of slash left from when this place was logged 3 years ago. I've burned but still have 100's of tons of material that needs to be addressed. I'm sure the blades will wear eventually. The blades on the chipper are in very good condition but the edge needs to be dressed. I'm going to get a second pair of blades so I can just change them and send the old ones out for sharpening when needed. I have seen some home sharpening with a grinder or sander on youtube but that looks like it might heat the blades up too much.

 

[ericm979]

I think if you have a light touch on the sander (and the knives don't need a lot of material taken off) it wouldn't heat the knives up too much. You could alternate sanding and spraying with water.

Slash that's been stacked mechanically can contain dirt which will wear the knives faster.

 

[Captain Dirty]

I think if you have a light touch on the sander (and the knives don't need a lot of material taken off) it wouldn't heat the knives up too much. You could alternate sanding and spraying with water.

Slash that's been stacked mechanically can contain dirt which will wear the knives faster.

If you have have the misfortune to chip a rock, staple, wire, or other non-wood object that put a nick in your chipper blade you have two sharpening options. A "proper" sharpening maintains the desired angle and removes all the blade steel down to the bottom of the nick, often a lot of material with an increasing risk of overheating and de-tempering the steel. An "improper" sharpening may keep the proper angle but leave as much of the nick as you are willing to tolerate, or it may keep the proper angle but put a bow in the edge, or it may increase (blunt) the angle in the vicinity of the nick, also putting a bow in the edge. Any of the "improper" methods will affect the efficiency/effectiveness of the chipping, but the reduction may be so slight as to be unnoticeable.

It is a fairly simple matter to drill bolt holes in a (squared up) 2x8 so you can mount the entire set of blades with their edges in line. Then make numerous light passes with a belt sander, flap sanding disk, or for the adventurous, angle grinder until the desired edge is restored.

 

[WoodChuckDad]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I will come up with a way to Touch the edges up from time to time. And then I will send them out for proper sharpening when appropriate. I have found a source for blades domestically made from grade 8 steel at about 100 bucks apiece so I’m gonna buy one back up set

 

[10backacres]

I use a 1"x 42" belt/disk sander, light touch and the table can be set at 45 degrees for my bearcat blades. After 2 sharpenings at the dealer you've got the sander paid for, not to mention down time.

 

[Storm56]

I use a 1"x 42" belt/disk sander, light touch and the table can be set at 45 degrees for my bearcat blades. After 2 sharpenings at the dealer you've got the sander paid for, not to mention down time.

This. My chipper has 4 blades. I bought spares but still using the originals. They have 2 cutting edges. Like any piece of cutting equipment, sharp works better. On mine the clearance between the knife and anvil is pretty critical for proper chipping, especially tops.