Hand saw sharpening - how necessary is a saw vice?

[jmk89]

I have been sharpening saws by hand, holding the blade in a B&D Workmate vice bench. It has worked welll for me, but I wondered if I should try to track down a old saw vice, and if so, which one?

Any thoughts?

Cheers

Jeremy

[silentC]

I'd say that unless you are doing a lot of them, it's more of a convenience. All you really need is some setup that grips the blade along it's length so that it doesn't vibrate. My Grandad used to sharpen his in the vice with a couple of boards clamped along either side.

But don't let that stand in the way of pursuit of a new tool!!

[BobL]

Seen this (http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com.au/showthread.php?t=35210) home made saw vice? Since that post I have modified it so that the ends of the vice are much tighter than described in that post.

2 boards in a vice are fiddly but will work. They will work even better if they have the following cross section.

Cheers

[Zsteve]

Hi Jeremy,

Would think the workmate would be a bit low to sharpen saws - for me at least.

I tend to use a saw vice for back saws as they are short (usually not much longer than a saw vice), but for normal carpenters type saws you have to move them in the vice all the time which can be a pain. Get a nice disston or other vintage type saw vice but make sure (if you can that the jaws meet together well) and that it has not been repaired or damaged.

I have clamped boards to the saw, or used wood in a ordinary vice plus clamps but it requires juggling and I'm not circus trained. So for my bigger saw I use something much like in the link, whaich can be made without too much bother.

http://www.woodcentral.com/cgi-bin/readarticle.pl?dir=smalser&file=articles_405.shtml

could also try the one attached if you can see it (I can hardly ever see images on this BB using Firefox)

regards
Steve

[UKalf]

You could always just link to the original - and complete (http://www.cornishworkshop.co.uk/wwsawvice.html) - posting of the article... :roll:

Cheers, Alf

[Mirboo]

My Grandad used to sharpen his in the vice with a couple of boards clamped along either side.

That's how my dad still does it. We're talking mechanics vise though, not a woodworking vise (although I don't see why a woodworking vise couldn't also do the job). It works fine, just holds the saw a bit low for my liking (and a woodworking vise would tend to hold the saw even lower).

[Zsteve]

Good on you UKalf, I just don't know what would we have done without you!!

[routermaniac]

I have sharpened saws on a metal vice and on a home made wooden vice. Both work, but having a proper saw vice (I use a Disston No ???) makes the process a lot less painful and quicker.

[Hardenfast]

Jeremy, I used to use a timber framed clamp which I made specifically for the purpose, but to work well they have to be made properly. I used a couple of 70x20 hwd pieces as the full length clamping members, each with a slight camber in against the saw blade so that the saw centre doesn't vibrate. The outside tops of these are of course chamfered downwards to facilitate a bit of down-angle on the file for that nice needle (shark-tooth) point.
These strips then have slot wedges cut into them to fit in to a simple frame stand which allows you to lean the device against a bench, with a foot and knee rest to keep the thing stable while you're working. You can do the whole of one side and then simply turn the frame around & do the other. My version is almost a combination of the 2 versions Steve has attached above, but modified over several years to completely suit my sharpening preferences. They don't take long to knock up.
However, I bought a nice old, original cast metal clamp a few years back (Disston?) on eBay and it's very good. They have a nice swivel system, quick cam locks which makes moving the saw along in sections very quick, and simply bolt to the edge of a bench. These are available in different sizes & come up regularly on eBay, and they seem to go from $25 - $50 depending on the size, condition etc. Make sure that it is complete and operating properly.

[woodhog]

Most sharpening books I own suggest clamping the blade in between 2 boards. I believe this is to eliminate blade flexing that would alter the tooth geometry when filing saw blades. I have a work mate also the flat jaws are rather wide for sharpening & would require a rather long file. I personally would make a narrower jaw drill exact holes like the workmate table, this will bring the saw blade being sharpened closer to the workmate table edge.