Question about saws
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10 March 2015 at 4:12 am #125415
I recently purchased a Veritas Carcass Saw, 12 ppi rip cut, and I have a question about hand saws in general. Having used power tools most of my life, I just don’t know…do I need to polish the plate and sharpen my new saw? If so, is that true of any saw you purchase? Next.. what is the best way to polish the plate? I have watched the sharpening video, and found some “Made in the USA” Nicholson files at a local lumber store(I bought all of them), so I’m ready to sharpen using Paul’s method. Thanks for any advice.
Darrell
New Mexico, USA10 March 2015 at 4:56 am #125416If you purchased it new, then my guess is that it’s plenty sharp. Before sharpening it, I’d buy some cheap saws on eBay or at a local flea market to practice on. Maybe start with an 8 PPI hand saw. That’s what I did. I got an old Craftsman 8 PPI saw for 50 cents at a yard sale and had at it. I reshaped and sharpened every tooth and it cuts like a dream. But I would never have touched my tenon saw before doing that practice.
Try cutting straight down a line and see if it pulls to one side. If it does, then you may have to remove some of the set on that side of the plate. A flat mill file, with no pressure added but just the weight of the file, drawn once along that side is all it would probably take. But my guess is that your new saw is going to run pretty true as it is. Again, practice adjusting the set on a cheap saw that you would not mind dispatching to the great saw heap in the sky.
I don’t think that there is any reason to polish the plate. At the end of the day give it a very light coat of machine oil. I just use the oil-soaked rag in a can method that Paul uses.
Enjoy!
11 March 2015 at 12:35 am #125436Thanks for the advice. I do have an old hand saw that I can practice with. I had forgotten about it until you mentioned it.
11 March 2015 at 2:31 am #125438I have that exact saw. Out of the box the teeth have burrs on them from being machine cut. As a result it can be really hard to start it, until those burrs are worked off. It doesn’t mean the saw is blunt. Do some sawing in a piece of scrap, and you should quickly find it improves. You shouldn’t need to do anything else to the saw to get it working, you will have to sharpen it once it goes blunt though.
11 March 2015 at 4:09 am #125441I think it was Ron Herman who showed how to identify and remove the burr. Take a light stroke on a piece of pine. If you see tiny curls of wood stuck to the tip of the tooth’s face edge, then you might want to remove those burrs with a very light pass of a saw file. Seems a bit overkill to me, but fun in itself to experiment with.
11 March 2015 at 8:27 am #125443I suppose you COULD do that. I’d try knocking it down on some wood first though, lots less time consuming 😛
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