newbie question on saw sharpening
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Hi !
my new old Disston rip saw 26″ long needs a resharpening. Teeth semm to be correctly formed, so i think i will only sharpen her..Reading various articles on the net , seeing various woodworkers doing sharpening, i can say that there isn’t e general consensus on saw sharpening, because:
a) someone pulls the file towords tooth face
b) someone pushes the file downward toward the gullet
What i have to do?20 October 2015 at 6:48 pm #131528Add: c) pulls file toward the tooth and down toward the gullet. 🙂
I sharpen with a kind of “down and back” motion. You want to sharpen the tooth, but you also need to deepen the gullet a bit too or your teeth will slowly get smaller and smaller with your sharpening! You don’t have to gorilla it or anything. Just a little pressure.
21 October 2015 at 2:28 am #131541I’ll tell you what I’ve told most who have saw filing questions – review Andy Lovelock’s youtube video on “Sharpening Western Saws”. It’s long, but thorough. And if you don’t listen carefully, you’ll miss some important points, just like with Paul’s videos.
I think the answer to your question of where to focus the pressure could be “it depends”. If you’re filing between two teeth, look carefully at the tooth in front and the tooth behind. Also look at the depth of the gullet. When you compare the gullet and teeth to others, it will give an indication of how best to apply pressure when filing.
Now, if your saw has teeth that are fairly well shaped and just need a bit of touching up, then just give one or two swipes with the file with pressure straight down (but not too much pressure – let the file do the cutting).
Use some kind of a jig to make sure you are level and straight as you file. The Lovelock video and others will guide you here.
Good luck.
21 October 2015 at 2:37 am #131543Matt I think you are spot on as some say you could not have advised better or clear.
FrankjIt took me a long time to understand that sharpening doesn’t just shape and sharpen teeth, it can *move* teeth depending upon how you apply the pressure, just as Matt described so well. If you don’t pay attention to what is needed tooth by tooth, you end up with uneven teeth. Alas, I understand it (somewhat) but am still unsatisfied with my saw sharpening skills. For me, I refuse to use a jig. I don’t want to be encumbered by it or dependent on one. Maybe that’s a mistake.
Thank you guys. Now i am understanding more about filing: it’s not mere filing, it’s altering teeth geometry since i change file pression. Tooth form and near teeth ‘s form will tell me where apply a little more pressure.. I apologize for my bad english , in fact i cannot understand all words Paul says in videos.
21 October 2015 at 3:09 pm #131558Bow, definitely watch that video that Matt linked, it’s good.
I think you have the idea. If you just go in and file the face of the tooth, or just the gullet, you’ll end up with wonky teeth. You want to get the saw sharp and keep the teeth the same even geometry all along the saw plate.
You can even correct bad teeth over time (as long as they aren’t TOO bad) by applying a little extra pressure at the right place to start evening it out. I don’t worry too much about misshaped teeth because I know after about three regular sharpenings I can get them pretty even again.
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