Reply To: Lapping Plates
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I’ve bought several NOS (new old stock; vintage but unused) saw files on ebay for 5-10 bucks apiece. So far I have not been disappointed with quality on any of these old files from Disston, Heller and others.
Lee Valley sells decent Grobet saw files for very reasonable prices as well.
http://www.leevalley.com/US/wood/page.aspx?p=69854&cat=1,320,43072,43089,69854
You will need specific files for saws within certain TPI ranges; saws with more TPI will require a different file than a saw with less TPI…I’ve found this to be an excellent source of info on the subject:
http://www.vintagesaws.com/library/primer/sharp.html
Paul also covers much of this info in a blog post somewhere, I think.
As for saws, you can find nice vintage saws on ebay for very reasonable prices if you are willing to put some work into cleaning them up and sharpening them. Garage and estate sales as well as flea markets are also great places to find old saws. My two main saws I use right now are a Disston No. 4 backsaw I got for 8 bucks and a Disston made Lakeside L-100 (just like the disston d100 with the thumbhole for two handed use) for 2 bucks. Yes, 2 bucks. (I’m almost ashamed to say that’s all I paid for it, but that’s what they were asking and I jumped on it.)
Newer saws of very high quality can be had but be prepared to pay at least $100, probably more like 200-250 for a Wentzloff or other top maker.