Sharpening squeegees -

[Maxie]

I want to build a simple squeegee sharpener.
What grit wheel do I need to use?
Where can I buy these?
Fimor recommend a Diamond wheel 60 or 120 grit buy theirs are very expensive.

[Rockers]

I bought several different ones from Amazon, mainly for testing first. Once I narrowed down my choice I`ll perfect it all. Need to start building that thing one day. Just having the parts somehow doesn`t do the trick:)

https://www.amazon.com/Diamond-Wheel-Lapidary-Grinding-Dremel/dp/B000OVJX26/ref=sr_1_14?ie=UTF8&qid=1502271304&sr=8-14&keywords=diamond+wheel

https://www.amazon.com/ShearsDirect-Diamond-Wheel-Rotary-Kit/dp/B00XV8314A/ref=pd_bxgy_201_img_3?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B00XV8314A&pd_rd_r=4F2FXZB4JEX9V1M3SGCR&pd_rd_w=jptnc&pd_rd_wg=27UR3&psc=1&refRID=4F2FXZB4JEX9V1M3SGCR

[tonypep]

If you are going to get serious about this you should use three wheels......coarse, medium, fine. And that is assuming you want to take the proper time to do it correctly. Personally, I believe replacing the rubber to be more cost effective although self sharpening automatic sharpeners let you pretty much walk away; assuming you are a larger shop with multiple autos.

[Atownsend]

This is definitely on my build or buy list. For the build, will a high RPM motor from a dremel melt the blade rather than grind it? Anyone know what the ideal speed for the diamond wheel is?

If you are going to get serious about this you should use three wheels......coarse, medium, fine. And that is assuming you want to take the proper time to do it correctly. Personally, I believe replacing the rubber to be more cost effective although self sharpening automatic sharpeners let you pretty much walk away; assuming you are a larger shop with multiple autos.

Its not something that I do since I don't have a sharpener yet, but I have been under the assumption that even new blades should be sharpened, because the material may not always sit in the handle 100% flush, and sharpening helps remove any irregularities.

[Colin]

I only recommend sharpening if:

1) Your shop is dead and you are looking to keep people occupied.

2) You have a low paying individual who is sharp and has down time (pun intended)

3) You have an automatic sharpener where, like Tony said, you can walk away and do something else while its working for you.

4) here is the most important one:  If you can actually stay on top of sharpening your blades.  Its pointless to sharpen in house if you only have time to sharpen once every 3-6 months.  You want to sharpen after say, 50,000 print strokes....  I read a breakdown some years ago regarding print longevity and I cant for the life of me remember it...

I felt the edges of brand new blades after ~10,000 print strokes (new blades in a big job) and it was noticeably rounder on the contact side compared to the non contact side.  Still a good blade, but it was noticeable.  This was a 70/90/70 sefar blade.

TLDR; Only sharpen if you can stay on top of it with regularity.

Mark Coudray, for decades, has championed sharpening weekly.  If you sharpen weekly all you need to do is hit the blade with a polishing grit to keep it back in perfect condition.

[Stinkhorn Press]

ignore everyone here. except Coudray.

get a flat surface, 12" by 4" is fine. bigger is fine. affix emery cloth to it (you can get it in better automotive shops body section). get a low (180 ish) and a high grit (320 ish).

BAD blades - spend a couple of minutes running across low count (think about using a handheld plane) for some real action.
ALMOST good blades (and fixed bad blades) - DAILY 10 seconds on the high count.
lube with wd-40.

brings dull blades back. maintains sharp blades always. cost, $30 if you try real hard to spend it all.

hat tip to (stolen whole cloth from) Joe Clarke. 

[screenprintguy]

personally would just rather replace the blade with a fresh one, just my opinion.

[Inkworks]

Bought a big (6') automatic sharpener in a moment of weakness, but it was at about 10% of original retail price, it's a glorified shelf 99% of the time, but let me tell you it does a beautiful job and we haven't had a dull or nicked sgueegee in the shop since. The 6" diamond wheel is worth what I paid for the whole machine. You want low to medium rpm, not fast! and the larger diameter the wheel, the better.

[Rockers]

The reason why we never continued building a sharpener is because we found a source for very good squeegee rubbers in China. At US$56 for a 157 inch roll of triple duro incl. express shipping you can`t complain. Have to buy a minimum of 5 rolls though per durometer. That`s less then half price of what you pay in the US. If anyone wants more details please send me a pm.

[abchung]

I bought a fimor sharpener, made by encore engineering. I think it is the same as the M&R...
If i am not wrong, they are made out of 8020 aluminium bars....

https://youtu.be/_ajfmUNBVjo

I am a manual printer, when i print, i think of fill stroke, then cut stroke.... thus very sharp squeegees help alot.

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

[Prince Art]

I want to build a simple squeegee sharpener.
What grit wheel do I need to use?
Where can I buy these?
Fimor recommend a Diamond wheel 60 or 120 grit buy theirs are very expensive.

I need to build one too. I came up with a plan, then found someone had already done it: http://www.theshirtboard.com/index.php?topic=10943.0
The simple approach to depth adjustment should work. I haven't built mine yet, so can't speak from experience.

As for sharpening in general- I've used the "Diamond Short Cut" in the past, and it worked well. Definitely prolonged the useful life of the squeegees, and kept the edge where you want it.
I understand the "replace the blade" philosophy; that's what I've done with manual squeegees. However, if you can't get your auto blades to seat perfectly (flat & level across the printing surface), you need to sharpen in order to plane them down. And once you've got a sharpener for that purpose, why not use it to keep your blades in prime condition?

[Inkworks]

i.m.o. 75% of the advantage of a good sharpener is to get the squeegee blade perfectly flat and straight, sharp is just a bonus.

[bimmridder]

Ding, ding, ding

[ScreenFoo]

My squeegee sharpeners are all pre-builds.  Sanding blocks.
I use isopropyl alcohol, but WD-40 sounds like something that would work fine too.

If you can sharpen a knife competently, it's pretty easy IMHO.

BTW, I almost never disagree with you Inkworks, but I can't help but think you're only saying that because you can't straighten out the blade without sharpening it. 

I'll take a very sharp but slightly wavy blade over one that's very straight but slightly worn any day...