Ok, if you are sharpening an expensive blade on a tool that you readily admit is made by a company that tends to be cheap in quality along with price, can you honestly expect that sharpened edge to be adequate? Think of sharpening a chisel. When first sharpening, you run through the grits. I use wet sand paper, from maybe 200 grit (depending on how the edge is to begin with) all the way through 2000 grit. Now, if I stop at 600 grit, that surface may look perfectly smooth and sharp, but you put it under a microscope, and you will see a very rough edge in reality.
So back to the Harber Freight sharpener. How tight are the tolerances on the grinding wheels? How fine is the grinder? What is the quality of the carbide you are sharpening? Higher quality carbide, such as in a Festool or Forrest saw blade is much more difficult to work. The harbor freight sharpener may be perfectly fine for an Irwin ripping blade for your circular saw, but are you truly getting a perfect edge on that $100 Forrest?!
Locally, I take my blades to Carbide Specialties in Grand Rapids, MI. Even my Forrest blades. I did a lot of research on them, and found out that they have the exact same CNC sharpening setup as Forrest uses to make the blades to begin with. It is cheaper, because I don't have to pay for shipping to send them back to Forrest. True, I could do them "cheaper" on the Harbor Freight, but in the long run, it will cost me more. The edge will not truly be as sharp as it should be, and therefore will wear down quicker. Then, you will have to sharpen it again, just getting a "good enough" edge again. More sharpenings in a shorter time will obviously mean a shortened life of your blade.
Just my $.02
And David, I for one don't think you are an evil rascist bigot just because you don't like Harbor Freight. I have a strong dislike for Ryobi tools after a bad experience with a couple of them. Therefore, I won't buy any Ryobi tool. Its my money, and I don't see that as a wise expenditure. I wonder what that tells Steve about my character, politics, or tolerance? I would hope that would just say that I only have so much money to spend on tools, and after personal experience and lots of research, I try to make wise choices with that money. But maybe I'm just not PC enough, and I should buy Ryobi and Harbor Freight just to make those companies feel better and be accepted. After all, its not fair that a company like Carbide Specialties has the money to buy incredibly expensive tools to sharpen things in the best way possible.
Good grief, its a choice! If the Harbor Freight sharpener meets your needs, go for it. Be happy with your choice. If the machine breaks down or screws your blades up, you can't say that the company doesn't have a reputation for not being quality all the time. Its a risk YOU choose to take. I don't have the right to tell you you can't make that choice. Don't tell me (or Dave) that my choice to NOT buy Harbor Freight or Ryobi makes me some sort of evil, intolerant bastard.
Off my soapbox now.
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone!
