Squeegee Sharpeners - small format, manually operated

[ZooCity]

Buying a new sharpener here and wanted to see if anyone had thoughts on the different models in the 20-24" range, manual operation: 

Fimor/Serilor Short Cut
M&R Bladeshaper SC
AWT Sharper image

The Serilor and M&R are either both made by Serilor or somebody did a carbon copy of the other, can't see any visible differences and would default to M&R, price being the same.  However our quote on the Serilor is a few hundred less than the Bladeshaper, maybe worth it for M&R support of the machine though.

AWT's is interesting though, has a nice vacuum routing on it to get rid of clogs and dust.  They pop up used a lot too.

[baystate]

Did you ever buy one? which one and how are the results? Thanks

[GaryG]

Good bump- new ears want to hear...
Or others that have 20-24" sharpeners.

Thx

[jvanick]

Listening as well... we just bought all new squeegee rubber... would be nice to be able to sharpen the old blades... which are now just getting stacked in a box.

[Mr Tees!!]

...Just offering this up as an alternative:

  We just replace all our blades every two years, In fact it was time again to do this past January. We put new blades in all the holders, and when mounted on press, we always insert all of them the same way to make sure the same edge is being used each time (for instance, if your squeegee holders have the common bolt/nut, we make sure the nuts are facing out each time. You could also use a sticker for this purpose). The following January, we remove all the blades, flip them around in the holders, and print with the other side of the blade with the unused edge.

...this gives us even wear on the blades, and eliminates guesswork, or looking for "that one really sharp squeegee". The following  January, we ditch the blades entirely and start all over. Actually we cut them into square pieces and use them to apply blockout, they last a LOOOONG time for that purpose.

...I know I'm gonna catch hell for this, but we even only use 70/90/70 blades (with the exception of two 60/90/60 I keep on hand for special situation). Again, eliminates a variable that can be easily compensated for in other areas if need be. This aids in making sure all blades get used/ worn evenly, as there are no "go-to", or favored, blades in the collection.

..we bought our last rubber coils here:  http://www.goldupusa.com/triple-duro-squeegee-roll/   . Two full coils replaced nearly twenty blades for us, so essentially, for $80/year we always a full set of nice sharp blades.

...food for thought!!

[tonypep]

I'm in this camp. New rubber. The material is either slit cut or extruded. The sharpening process roughs it up. Not good for several reasons

[ZooCity]

We purchased the Diamond Shortcut new from our supplier.  It has an issue where it's basically out of true according to all measurements that my production manager found that he has been having a very hard time trouble shooting with Fimor.  I'm going to take a look at it this week and get it settled.

As far as sharpen v. replace.  I would say replace.  Aside from manual blades we aren't actually going to sharpen down ours.  We will be polishing them regularly, just honing the sharpest edge onto the blades, not grinding off significant rubber.  I see it more of an upkeep thing than a substitute for replacing blades.  Our blades get worked pretty hard and will probably need yearly replacement anyhow.

I'm looking forward to having the sharpener in the workflow and hopefully we can work out the issue so I can report back with some actual info. 

I swear we are cursed with equipment purchases both new and used, rarely has anything come in here that isn't damaged or defective it seems.

[jsheridan]

Ive used many shapeners over the years and given the option to sharpen or just use new blade. I go with sharpen as long as you use good brand name rubber, like serilor, along with the correct grit wheels  you can keep your edges  brand new all the time.

Dont have the correct wheels and or dont clean them correctly Or just dont have the time for the process. then just buy new.

[Doug S]

I have the sericol short cut and being a low volume shop, I have to say that sharpening is the best route for us.   The only problem I have is that when I round the corners that that's the hardest part to clean. 

[Ross_S]

Go with the serilor sharpener.