A Bit of Saw-Doctoring for the Weekend....

[Argus]

I'm hoping to gauge the consensus on sharpening an old saw. I don't have an issue doing the job, it's just a case of trying to work out the best sequence.

Here's the scenario: I have a good quality but old (Victorian) steel-back saw that I'm refurbishing to put to use. It's in good order for its age except that a previous user has, to put it kindly, done an inexpert job with the file to the extent that the teeth are all over the place, no set, big ones, small ones, in short, blunt and disfigured. Underneath all this, there's a lovely little old saw waiting to get out.

I'm not intending to alter anything, to restore it I've decided that it's about 11 point Rip; it isn't bad enough to need a full cut and strip but I can do a re-file, restoring the correct pattern with a combination of a gradual jointing along the length and Paul Seller's junior hack-saw trick to define the gullets and then refiling. This hack-saw business is a fiddle but has the advantage that I can avoid a lot of premature file wear at the apex of the files and use older files that are good on their long sides for the preliminary cutting, then finishing with a decent 4 inch XX slim file to set the the gullet.

That's the idea.

My query is about the set. When is it considered best to restore the set?

At the end of the job, last thing, when all teeth are sharp?

Or to set them after defining the shape of the teeth but before the final pass with a sharpening stroke?
I'm inclined to the latter, but I'm interested to hear what others may think.
(I usually complete the set with a light wipe along the edges with a very fine stone, but that's me!).

 

[AndyT]

I'm no expert, but I did a similar rescue job a few years ago.

bristol-saw-restoration-t86283.html

I have looked back at the thread to see what I did but I didn't mention it and can't remember.

It may help to think that it's normal practice with a saw in use to just touch up the sharpening without resetting the teeth. So at least on those occasions you wouldn't be changing the set after sharpening.

So I think I would restore the tooth profile, then set, then lightly sharpen.

 

[Cheshirechappie]

So I think I would restore the tooth profile, then set, then lightly sharpen.

I'm no real expert either, but I'm with Andy on this one. The few saws I've refurbished have all needed jointing and reshaping, some quite drastically so, and it seemed best to do all that - it's the bulk of the work - then set, then a final light sharpening pass. Seemed to work.

I think the objection to sharpen and then set is that the setting process can slightly distort the tooth, as it involves the pressure necessary to distort the metal intentionally, and a light filing after evens up shape and removes any setting burrs.

 

[thetyreman]

I usually sharpen it first then set it in that order. Haven't had any problems with doing it in that order! cheers.

 

[deema]

The traditional approach would be to sharpen, and then set just before the final single stroke of the file to top off all the teeth for a final time and then after setting do the final sharpen.

I can’t think of a more misguided approach to sharpening than the Paul Sellers ‘trick’. You lose a lot of control over shaping the teeth by removing the gullets with a hack saw, the file will try to follow the path of lease resistance. Saw files are cheap and each side with do at least a couple of saws. That’s six saws minimum per file.

I always recommend removing all of the teeth and resharpening any old new me saw. Inevitable the teeth will either have too much set, have been incorrectly stoned down one or both sides, have the wrong TPI. It doesn’t take very long perhaps 5 minutes longer. You lose an insignificant amount of plate thickness and you start of knowing it’s correct.