Sharpen Your Sawmill Blades!$ [[Save Big Money]]

I found out soon after building my sawmill. That sawmill blades do not come cheap. They are definitely the most expensive part of sawing your own lumber. With time you could have more in blades than a mill. At $30-35 dollars a piece for the cheap ones that I use. You can rack up quite a bill if you saw a lot of lumber. From my experience, I get two to three logs out of a blade. Depending on size and species of course. A large oak log will burn up a blade quick.
I decided very early that I was going to have to figure out a way to sharpen my blades. After looking at the price of custom sharpening tools. I felt like that was not going to work for me. Since sawing logs is a hobby and not a profession. The investment did not make much sense for me. I went on a deep dive looking at all the different ways to sharpen blades. I decided to get a cheap grinder from Harbor Freight. This seemed like a viable and cheap option.
My first try at sharpening a blade was touch and go. I had a hard time getting in between the teeth without hitting them on the wheel. It was rather frustrating. I kept changing the shape of the wheel to better fit the tooth. Once I reduced the width of the wheel and got the right radius. Things got much easier. Along with getting the muscle memory down. I was then able to effectively and efficiently make it through a whole blade.
The other thing I had to figure out was setting the blade teeth. This was very important because this is what gives your blade room to pass through the log. Teeth setters are yet another high priced set of tools you could buy. After some research I found a cheap handheld pair on eBay. They take a little bit more effort to use, but get the job done. I found that getting the blade set out on a table helps a lot. It is much easier to spin the blade around. It also makes it easier to get the tool in and out.
I am sure there are better ways out there to sharpen blades than this method. This is what I have found works for me. I am no expert on this topic at all. I still learn something new every time I put a log on the mill. I hope by sharing my experiences. I can possibly help others in the same shoes as myself. Thank you to everyone who have taken the time to watch! I hope you find something interesting or helpful!