Thread: handsaw sharpening

Carl

Don't take 'em anywhere. Make a saw vice (there's one here) and read up a bit - good stuff on Bugbear's page. Buy some good files.It is easy and fun and after a couple of goes you will do a better job than the guys who doit with machines. Start with rip saws and big teeth and then go for samller ripsaws and then move overto cross-cut saws. When you have done the reading you will know why! Don't worry too much about set - most saws have toomuch anyway.Once you have some technique you can go from clean but stuffed to jointed, shaped, sharpened set and whetted in about 20 minutes or less. Just the activity t o do while SWMBO is on the phone to her best girl friend!!!

Peacocks in Victoria St West End. They get right 1st time and do a good job. Been doing close onto 100 years now

Regards

Hi,

I have to disagree with the suggestion of going to Peacock's. I sent a saw there about 4 weeks ago and requested 12 tpi and got it back as a 10 tpi.

As far as service goes they are fantastic. Friendly, helpful and fast. If you go with them just make sure you REALLY spell it out.

I've since decided to learn to do it myself. And I have found the following links very informative and helpful.

This one is on sharpening and has a design for a wooden saw vice. Scroll down past the first ye olde world one they show.
http://norsewoodsmith.com/node/57

This is a video of how to sharpen a saw. Great stuff.
http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworki....aspx?id=24976

Then these are two from the king BoB Smalser. Fantastic stuff about technique and process. And some photo's of the saw vice design he uses.
http://www.woodcentral.com/cgi-bin/r...cles_405.shtml
http://www.wkfinetools.com/contrib/b...twoHorses1.asp

They have some great little jigs and stuff that is very useful. I ordered a veritas saw jointer which holds your mill file, now I just gotta make the vice and get some files.

It looks like an achieveable skill.

Cheers
Tom

Go with Jeremy's advise, it's not that hard. After a bit of practice you don't have to rely on saw doctors any more and no waiting either. I an not an expert at it but I can get a blunt saw and make it cut.

I had some done at Peacocks Saws in West End and they did an ok job (great job on the kitchen knives though) although they wrote on the blades with permanent marker, which really p$ssed me of, but fortunately they're users not collectors. I'd go again, but insist they don't write on them. I"d be happy to go somewhere else if anyone knows a better place.

Next job when I've got a spare couple of hours is to make a saw bench and sharpen one myself...

Have a look at this site
http://www.vintagesaws.com/library/primer/sharp.html
Sharpening handsaws well, takes a LOT of practice. I have been sharpening my own saws for about 45 years now. And they do need setting regularly.
Jim

Thanks for the link. I've been collecting information for a couple of years now, but its time I got on and started practicing. Only 45 years to go.

Anyway, back to Carl's query about where to take his saws for sharpening....

Hi Carl,

One more vote for doing it yourself. One thing you don't mention is whether the saws you
want to sharpen is rip or cross-cut.

A rip cut dovetail saw is a good place to start, just remember keep the set down to a minimum.

All the other links already posted are good, but one of the best sharpening write-ups can be found at

http://www3.telus.net/BrentBeach/sawjig/

Be sure to read his section on sloping gullets.

Learn to sharpen your own. Modern saw sharpening services are good for regrinding TCT table saw blades, but smaller hand saws you are MUCH better doing it yourself.

I'll add a vote for DIY, but if you've never sharpened a saw it's not a bad idea to get it done by a saw sharpening service the first time to establish a good tooth profile. If they are old, abused saws, the teeth will most likely be in terrible shape, so let a machine do the hard work, particularly if you want to change it to a different number of TPI. After that, it's pretty easy to touch them up, and soon enough you'll get the hang of it & it will be a lot easier. Then you can start mucking about with the variables like rake & set & fleam angle, to get the sort of cut you like.

Even a poorly-sharpened handsaw will cut, though obviously not as well as a proper job. Set is really important, as a badly set saw is a dog. Too much & you've got a 'rattler', too little & it will jam, & if it's uneven you've got a circle-cutter. From my own learning experiences, you tend to overset when you start, so sneak up on it a bit - it's easy to add a bit more if you need to.

Cheers,

iv got 1 big ripsaw owned by my grandfather. as well as tennon saws in varying sizes from 15" down to 6". haven had a good look at them all yet. there is about 6 or so. ill try peakocks.

Originally Posted by weisyboy

ill try peakocks.

Good idea Used to use them when I was a younger lad. (ahh the days, so long ago )

Carl,
We file hand saws in the shop. by hand.
You can send them in the post and we'll get them back in a few days. cost from $18

Cheers