Face of a saw blade...

[froglips]

I'm cleaning up a carbide tipped ATB circular saw blade for a friend.

Does anyone care to comment on how smooth the face of the blade should be?

Should I try to buff the face, or just a good coat of paste wax?

I suspect this blade has lead a hard life, but the carbide teeth are in great shape.

Thanks,
Jim

[junquecol]

By face, I assume you mean the sides of the blade, not the face of the teeth. Because the teeth are wider than the body of the blade, theoretically the sides never come in contact with the wood. (But remember that a bumble bee doesn't have enough wings to lift it's weight. Good thing they don't read. or they would be walking instead of flying.) Some blades are coated to reduce friction, while others a ground (rather coarsely) on the sides. Some sharpeners will litterally polish the sides of blades, while others don't even touch them. I really think it is a matter of comfort level. Looking at my collection of blades, most are ground, but not polished on the sides.

[alleng]

be careful buffing a blade.you dont want to heat up the blade from the arbor hole to the rim,as this can cause the blade to loose its tension and make it wobble or run in and out.then it would have to be retensioned,or hammered to make it run true again.and im not sure if a 10 or 12'' blade can be re tensioned.im sure it can be done by a qualified saw shop with the right equipment,but it might be just as cheap to get a new blade.