Thread: Choosing a saw set?

Howdy,

I was just given an eclipse by my uncle. It does the job really well. The local Op shop in alderley(cant think of the name but i drive past everyday) has a few for sale from about 10 bucks i think. They were in pretty good nick. I use mine on 3 diston saws i have and they range from a small panel saw to a large rip saw.

When you say you have a vice do you mean a vice that supports the whole blade.

cheers

Michael.

Thanks for the tip on the Alderley Op shop - do you mean the junk shop next to the railway line or the charity shop?

I don't have a proper saw vice yet, eventually I'll get around to making a wooden one, but for now I'll just have to keep moving the saw along the vice jaws.

Howdy,

Yep thats the shop. He doesn't like to bargain much and some of his stuff can be quite expensive for 2nd hand.

I would strongly recommend making a saw clamp asap. Keeps the whole blade from springing when sharpening.

Also be very careful when sharpening a saw in cold weather. Have seen teeth snap off when setting them. If you need to sharpen in cold weather, heat the blade, leave it in the sun for a while.

I justed check my saw set and its an eclipse 77. Old but still works well. I picked up a couple of Nicholsen files from bunnings. Every now and then you need to run a flat file across the tips to remove any pointy teeth. This will cause the saw to jump while cutting if they are not removed. Just couple of quick light rubs along the length of the blade to flatten out any high spots.

Cheers

Michael.

Originally Posted by rhancock

Thanks for the tip on the Alderley Op shop - do you mean the junk shop next to the railway line or the charity shop?

I don't have a proper saw vice yet, eventually I'll get around to making a wooden one, but for now I'll just have to keep moving the saw along the vice jaws.

Quicker than moving the blade along the vice, get two pieces of wood say 25 x 75 hardwood wood as long as the saw blades and clamp the blade in between these in your vice. To save the ends from possibly rattling, clamp, or shim the ends with carboard. It's not as good as a saw vice nut still works OK.

In case you haven't seen my wooden saw vice here it is.

Oh yeah - and I use Eclispe saw setters.

Cheers

My local Mitre 10 sells new Supercraft saw sets for about $21 or $22 dollars. The Supercraft one is an Eclipse 77 clone, as are the Somax and the unbranded one highlighted by rhancock above. My Dad has an old F.H. Prager saw set (No. 770) which is an Eclipse knock off and he uses it quite successfully. He bought it new around 30 years ago, it was made in Japan. The new Supercraft (an F.H. Prager brand) is made in Taiwan.

I have a Stanley 42X and a Disston No. 24. The Disston 24 was actually made by Stanley and is the same as the Stanley 42W.

'nother vote for the Eclipse (well I'm a pom too!) If you want to set finer teeth make sure you get an older model; the later ones tend to have wider plungers.

Cheers, Alf