Cutting Tool Resharpening Decisions

Cutting tool resharpening is called for when your sharpened cutting tool grows dull. If the job the cutting tool is for is a high tolerance job, than resharpening may be more economical than reconditioning the cutting tool every time it grows dull. An example of high tolerance job where cutting tool resharpening would be more economical than reconditioning could be using a table saw to rip long pieces from stock for further manufacturing processes. In this case, the saw blade could be resharpened over and over again until sharpening is not a possibility because the teeth are all gone.

When a cutting tool grows dull, it may become dangerous to use. A dull cutting tool may bind up in the material that you are cutting. When a cutting tool binds in the material being cut, the possibility exists that the cutting tool may break. When a cutting tool breaks while spinning at the rate needed to perform it's cutting, it will become a dangerous flying piece of shrapnel with the potentiality of injuring one or more of your workers. If it does become a piece of shrapnel, it will cost you much more than resharpening it would. Between lost time from your worker having to receive medical attention and the production slowdown, Cutting tool resharpening is a much more cost effective process than using dull cutting tools with all the potentially dangerous things that can happen.

If your cutting tool is used for low tolerance applications, then cutting tool resharpening may not be feasible for that tool. In some cases, it may still be an option. For example, when the cutting tool is used for a simple part-off from stock already machined, then resharpening could be considered instead of sending the cutting tool out for reconditioning each time it grows dull. But if your use of the cutting tool is more complicated procedures that call for a specifically shaped cutter, then cutting tool resharpening should not be considered as a viable option at all. In this situation, the cutting tool should either be reconditioned at your work place or sent to a specialist each time the tool becomes dull, so that you retain the capabilities needed to manufacture the part within allowable tolerances.

Doing cutting tool resharpening at your facility might be more economical than sending your cutting tools to a specialist. If you are causing enough cutting tools to grow dull through use to keep one person busy sharpening them for a full day's work, than it might be less expensive for you to purchase a sharpening machine and train an employee to do the resharpening on your premises rather than sending out to a specialist. Machines that do cutting tool resharpening are not very large and relatively inexpensive. Training schools for cutting tool resharpening can be found in many places and once again, are relatively inexpensive. When taking all of this into consideration, and the amount of cutting tools that can be simply resharpened in your place of business, the decision to resharpen your cutting tools yourself might just be the most economical choice to make.