Thread: My new/old tenon saws

Chipping is the most common problem I have with the Bahcos. As I said they don't seem to be able to find that sweet spot between too brittle & too soft. It's not so bad if you only use files to sharpen saws, once you have a decent gullet the pressure is distributed over a much larger area (comparatively) and the file corners hold up better, but that initial stroke on a flat surface as you begin to cut the teeth in is a killer & when chipping mostly happens. Chips are an absolute pest, they cause the file to catch & chatter & make it very difficult to get perfectly even teeth. But soft files that wear quickly are also bad news. For the same number of strokes at the same pressure, the gullets gradually diminish as you proceed from left to right (or right to left, whatever your preferred filing direction is). If you persist with a chip or two (as I often do in my determination to get my money's-worth out of a new file!), the sharp edge of the chip(s) wears a bit after a while & they don't catch so much, but it's still difficult to keep taking an even amount off at each stroke.

Paul, the old file test is very dated & it's probably time I "unstuck" it & let it drift off into the past. I think a few things have changed since then. On one of the US forums I read (probably 2 years ago already) that the Nicholson files & rasps coming out of Mexico had improved markedly. I haven't used a new Nicholson for at least 6 years, I gave up in disgust over the poor quality we were getting. They were soft, iirc, & wore out far quicker than I thought proper, but my biggest complaint was the irregularity of the corners, most over-sized for the nominal file size & worst of all, no two the same on any given file! That doesn't do a lot for consistency! I'll give the Bahcos top marks on that count, the last couple of batches I've had have been very consistent.

Originally Posted by Mountain Ash

....... I can't work out which I like best - making my own tools or restoring old ones. These saws probably combine both areas nicely.....

You don't have to choose, MA, you can do both.......
Cheers,