Est. 1998 — 27 years of woodworking knowledge
Saw Sharpening
Bob Hutchins in Central Texas
>Howdy Folks!
It's about time I learned how to sharpen hand saws. Over the years, I've read a number of web sites and articles but don't feel fully prepared to give it a try yet. I've got several no-name saws that I can practice on. I want to learn to sharpen both rip and x-cut panel saws as well as tenon, back and dovetail saws with various tpi.
What tools do I need (saw vise, files, saw set)? What materials are "must" reads?
TIA
BobH
Re: Saw Sharpening
Jack Guzman from Maine
>I recommend the video "Hand Saw Sharpening" by Tom Law. He covers the subject thoroughly and his how-to lessons are easy to follow.---Jack
Re: Saw Sharpening *LINK*
Tony Sade (Charleston, WV)
>
Link to the Sharpening Video
Re: Saw Sharpening *LINK*
Pam Niedermayer - Austin, TX
>You can easily make your own saw vise with wood.
Re: Saw Sharpening *LINK*
Ted Shuck, Centennial, CO
>I learned by reading Peter Taran's treatise on saw sharpening several times, then practising. Once you get the basics, it's not that hard. It can be hard on the others within earshot though. My wife describes it as "fingers on a blackboard at high volume."
IMHO, the essential tools are:
1) Saw vise. You can make one from wood, but I have an iron Stearns model. If you have an iron one, line the jaws with tape to reduce the noise.
2) Saw files appropriate for the size saws you are sharpening. Saw files are triangular with rounded corners rather than sharp like normal triangular files. Lee Valley, Joel's "Tools for Working Wood", and other stores carry these. Make sure you have handles.
3) A flat bastard file for jointing the saw, to make all the teeth the same height. You can buy a device to hold your file perpendicular to the blade or make one by kerfing a piece of wood to hold the file.
4) A sawset. The Stanley #42X has many devotees as an old tool. Many people say they like the newer Somax sawsets available from Joel or Lee Valley.
5) Good lighting and magnification. This isn't so much of an issue when sharpening a 5pt rip saw, but when you start on dovetail saws you will need some additional help. I have 2x magnifying lenses that I clip over my reading glasses.
6) A sharpie pen to mark even/odd teeth to keep track of what you are filing and setting.
The other jigs and guides can be made from wood. I use the methods that Peter Taran recommends. Bugbear has a rake angle control device that many people like. I've provided a link to Peter Taran's sharpening page below. I think there are articles here on WC as well. Read several articles to get a good feel for what you are trying to accomplish, start with a 5pt rip saw, and have fun!
Best Regards,
Ted
Peter Taran's saw sharpening article
Re: my gadget *LINK*
paul womack
>Bugbear has a rake angle control device that many people like.
I've had people in a few forums say they like the idea, but I've actualy never heard from anyone else who'd made one.
Unless you know different.
It works well fo me, anyway. It made the difference being happy with my results and NOT being happy with my results, especially on high TPI cross cuts.
More on Gadgets/Sources *LINK*
Todd Stock
>Like Paul, Frank Klausz also recommends a reference device; especially for those new to the process. Of interest is his tape on hand tools that covers tuning up a cheap dovetail saw (saw vise construction, using an iron saw vise, setting up the file with a gizmo, using a mirror to aid in developing the right form, shaping teeth for rip cut, and setting very small teeth with a small flat-tip screwdriver). Not much that is not covered in the Law video, other than the mirror trick, but still worth it to see Frank do his routine. Frank does not alternate sides when filing rip teeth, which is how I learned.
Vintage Saws (Pete Taran, late of Independence Tools) carries all the files and file handles needed at decent prices, plus primo 42X saw sets and saw vises at prices that are above EBay.
Finally, had the Law video been out when I first 'sharpened' a saw, I'd have done a whole lot better. The single best reference in a show and tell format.
Dynamite Payson's book 'Keeping a Cutting Edge: Saw Filing' is decent, and also covers the use of file tip reference devices. Like most boat builders, Payson is all about getting the job done versus hand-tool purity, so anything goes.
Vintage Saws
Here's mine
Sandor in Boyds, MD
>I made one as well.
The jig is a simple block that could be made from an aluminum extrusion with markings either stamped, machined or silk-screened. My prototype is from acrylic because I thought it would look neat. The file handle has a two piece ferrule. The outer ferrule spins about the inner ferrule allowing you to set the pointing rod with respect to the file rake angle for the sharpening job at hand. On one side of the jig are three rip angles 0, 4 and 8 degrees and on the other side are 12 and 15 degrees for XCut. The pointing flag has a threaded base with a fixed thumb-nut (lower) and a free thumb-nut(upper). The file handle also has a flag that can be set to the desired fleam angle. This flag has the word "HANDLE --> " ( and so does the angle jig) on it to remind the user from which direction he should be filing the saw teeth. The fixed thumb-nut locks the outer ferrule and pointing rod while the loose thumb-nut locks the flag to the chosen fleam angle.
In use, the file is placed in the teeth with the pointing rod vertical and at the fleam angle indicated by the fleam flag. It really does make easy work of setting the rake and fleam on your saw, especially when changing from one rake angle to another.
Re: Here's mine
Sandor in Boyds, MD
>File in use...
Re: Here's mine
Sandor in Boyds, MD
>Setting tooth rake...
Bob Broede *LINK*
David Miller from Iowa
>Has a good read
Sharpening Saws with BB
Re: More on Gadgets/Sources
Tony Zaffuto
>What are the differences between the Stanley 42 and 42X sawsets?
Re: neat!
paul womack
>Much neater and gizmo-ish than mine.
I have considered making such a thing, but haven't, yet.
My "mental" design was similar to yours, but with one major difference.
Since saw sharpening requires a file to match the saw, you need several handles.
In order to avoid having to make quite an elaborate device for each file, I was going to make a handle, with built in (fixed) pointer. The file would be "tanged" into a piece of dowel, and the handle would have some-kind-of collet chuck on the front, to hold the dowel. The dowel is free to spin when the chuck is loosened, allowing the rake angle to be set.
This means that a single (rather splendid) handle and pointer can be shared amongst the several files used for saw sharpening.
BugBear
Just move the outer ferrule, etc.,
Don Thompson - Cutler Ridge, Florida
>It seems to me that one could move the outer ferrule and the pointer and flag, as one piece, between various sized files. It would just slip over the file, onto the inner ferrule, and then tighten it up.
Hey Sandor, how much do those things go for? ;-)
Re: More on Gadgets/Sources *LINK*
Ted Shuck, Centennial, CO
>From what I have seen, some sawsets marked "42" are virtually identical to the "42X", and some are quite different.
Some "42" sawsets have the double plunger mechanism of the 42X. This is what you want to look for. Some others have an adjustable block to square the sawset on blades of differing thickness, but no double plunger.
Stan Faulin has pdf files of the instructions for some Stanley aswsets on his website. I have linked this below. The instructions shown for the 42 sawset there apply to the 42X, the #43 sawset there looks like one #42 sawset that I have.
Re: neat!
Ted Shuck, Centennial, CO
>Sandor, that is really nice!
The handle I use is one of the screw-on types so I just use one handle and change it for the file I need to use at any time. This could be done with your device as well.
I need to put this on my list now.
Thanks,
Ted
Re: Here's mine
John Pappas
>Sandor, great stuff like this is what justifies my annual contribution to WoodCentral. Very clever, indeed.
Very cool...
Scott Burr in Ben Lomond CA
>Ingenious idea Sandor. Well executed too. When you going into production?
Re: inspiration?
paul womack
>Sandor;
I'm wondering. Did your device come direct from Bob Wearing's book, or is it an elaboration of my gadget, or did you invent it "source free" ?
I've been told that a variant of this idea used to crop up in books using a lolly pop stick as the pointer, and sticky tape to fix it (popsicle stick if you're American). I have no reference for this notion; has anyone else heard it?
BugBear
Your website of course!
Sandor in Boyds, MD
>Actually you had linked your site to a message on BP about saw filing some eons ago. So I have to give you credit for the inspiration. Your site is great BTW.
Thanks,
Sandor (can't wait for the PATINA sale woo hoo!)
Re: Bob Broede
jerome bias
>Could you repost that link it doesn't work.
Jerome
Fixed it
Ted Owen, Moderator
>By default, the "Optional Link URL" line already has an "http://" at the beginning. Here on WC, double http is the most common fixable problem with links.
Best, Ted
Re: Fixed it
paul womack
>Here on WC, double http is the most common fixable problem with links.
Could the perl back-end check for it (i.e. partial field validation)?
BugBear
Re: More on Gadgets/Sources
Todd Stock
>FWIW, I've seen a number of 42X sets sold as 42s on the 'Bay, which normally means they go for $10-$15 less than if they were listed as a 42X. Check the description for something like "...casting labeled 42X..."
I don't have any history on this, but it looks like at some point, Stanley started putting 42X sets in the 42 boxes as a standard item.
Re: the start point
paul womack
>The reason I asked was you have ended up almost exactly where I started!
Attached is the illustration from Bob Wearing book. He doesn't sugggest making the file handle iself, but recommends that any file for use with his gadget must have a good ferrule (which your clearly has ;-)
BugBear