Sharpening Panel Saws

[gregmcateer]

Folks,

For the purposes of rough sawing old timber for use in the woodburner, I tend to use a 'cheap' panel saw. Is it worth trying to sharpen them, (and if 'Yes' - How?), or just cut till it's blunt, then buy another?

TIA

Greg

 

[AndyT]

If it's a newly bought cheap saw (with a plastic handle) it will almost certainly be a 'hard point' with dark coloured teeth hardened by induction. These are not resharpenable and would just ruin any file you put on it.

Splash out another fiver on a replacement!

 

[Richard T]

For that purpose I would get myself a small bow saw ('bushman' we used to call them, the ones that have frames that curve around at the back and then go in a straight line to the front like a curved triangle) and get new blades when needed.

 

[MIGNAL]

Yep, a bowsaw. Ray Mears would use a Bucksaw. Bahco do replaceable 'hardpoint' blades that are fairly cheap.

 

[Sheffield Tony]

For that purpose I would get myself a small bow saw

I have a couple of these sort of saws, and they are the only saws I've never got on with. It could be that I bought cheapie versions, or poor technique, but I can never saw straight with one, and in green wood - which is largely what they are for - they seem to loose their set quickly and bind in the cut. I have given up on them. I use a part worn hardpoint saw for seasoned firewood like the OP, and Japanese style pruning saws or my Thomas Flinn 1 man crosscut for green stuff.

 

[MMUK]

Firewood? I use my circular saw

 

[MIGNAL]

Bow saws are used for both dry and Green timber. In fact they sell two types of blade for them - a peg tooth and a raker tooth blade. I've only used the peg tooth version in dry wood. I've never really tried to cut straight with them but you should be ashamed of yourself Sheffield Tony.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4j7nibaKjo

That's actually a very large bow saw, probably with a blade that has very large/coarse teeth.

 

[Jacob]

Folks,

For the purposes of rough sawing old timber for use in the woodburner, I tend to use a 'cheap' panel saw. Is it worth trying to sharpen them, (and if 'Yes' - How?), or just cut till it's blunt, then buy another?

TIA

Greg

You don't have to, but it's a useful skill. It gets easier/faster and means you always have a sharp saw. Putting up with a blunt saw for too long takes up more effort than the work of sharpening it.

 

[Sheffield Tony]

But look at that video - what is it, a 5 or 6" square bit of dry softwood, well strapped down, and the bowsaw is still a struggle to use - hard to start, bouncing about on the return stroke. I cut up some quite wet greengage tree of a similar section at christmas using a bowsaw - crikey it makes the job hard work.

 

[bugbear]

But look at that video - what is it, a 5 or 6" square bit of dry softwood, well strapped down, and the bowsaw is still a struggle to use - hard to start, bouncing about on the return stroke. I cut up some quite wet greengage tree of a similar section at christmas using a bowsaw - crikey it makes the job hard work.

The second saweress is MUCH better than the first. I would also suggest that the saw used is too high, too long, the teeth too coarse, and the blade not tight enough.

BugBear

 

[MIGNAL]

They use bow saws in N.America all the time for small logging purposes, Green wood and dry. Nothing inherently wrong with the type of saw (unless you have a cheap, nasty one). If they were that bad, why on earth would so many people use them?
Someone a bit more professional:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lc2hqgr_DS4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b14c247Vgv4

sawing technique:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCGrrDaxLww

 

[bugbear]

The Tyzack patent 532965 bow saws are very good; the hand protector is also the blade tensioner, which is a sort of cam, like a suitcase catch.

http://worldwide.espacenet.com/publicat ... &KC=A&ND=4

BugBear

 

[Sheffield Tony]

TNothing inherently wrong with the type of saw (unless you have a cheap, nasty one). If they were that bad, why on earth would so many people use them?
Someone a bit more professional:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lc2hqgr_DS4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b14c247Vgv4

sawing technique:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCGrrDaxLww

A quick look at these videos suggests that their saws are not of the same quality as mine - I presume theirs did not come from Screwfix

 

[gregmcateer]

Thanks to all of you for your input and links - very useful and interesting. I hope I haven't opened a can of worms!!

I have had similar experience to Sheffield Tony, with the bow saw binding, especially with green wood. As an earlier post said, it's probably the quality and/or sharpness (or rather bluntness), of the saw I was using.

Regarding the panel saw, mine is indeed a cheap plastic handled number with the dark teeth - so it sounds like once that's blunt, it's toast?

Cheers

GReg

 

[AndyT]

Yes.

You could use some of it to make scrapers,or special smaller saw blades, but its days as a tool are over.

 

[MIGNAL]

Sawing firewood by hand in the usual quantities needed for a log burner is pretty hard work. It's a huge amount of crosscuts. Bad enough in softwood, even more work in hardwood. Make the task as easy and as pleasant as possible.
You need something that's relatively efficient, kerf size or quality of cut doesn't enter into the equation.
I've recently bought a Bahco peg tooth blade for an old metal framed bowsaw. I don't know the make of the bowsaw, it's just something my father bought- probably over 30 years ago. It's not very good at all. The blade has a tendency to twist in the cut, even in dry softwood. It's obvious that the frame and the mechanism cannot tension the blade sufficiently. The blade itself seems perfectly fine. It's a hardpoint.
I've recently made a wooden frame saw which has a Japanese blade in it. Far too fine for cutting firewood. I'll try the Bahco blade in it and see if it can tension it sufficiently. I have my doubts.
Whatever you buy needs to be decent quality and the correct tool for the job. Think about an effective and firm method of holding the wood. That can also make a big difference to the ease of cutting firewood.

 

[gregmcateer]

Thanks for the tips, Mignal.
Pretty much all I collect now is hardwood from fallen or tree surgeon-lopped trees and I cut these with the chainsaw, then split them for drying.
The handsaw question has just come about because I have a heap of old window frames, etc which I will just use until it's finished. Needless to say, I ain't chainsawing construction timber!!
Cheers
Greg

 

[carlb40]

Thanks for the tips, Mignal.
Pretty much all I collect now is hardwood from fallen or tree surgeon-lopped trees and I cut these with the chainsaw, then split them for drying.
The handsaw question has just come about because I have a heap of old window frames, etc which I will just use until it's finished. Needless to say, I ain't chainsawing construction timber!!
Cheers
Greg

And there i was going to ask why not use a chain saw. Maybe if you or a friend has one? A reciprocating saw would be quicker and a few screws/ nails never bothers them.

 

[MIGNAL]

Thanks for the tips, Mignal.
Pretty much all I collect now is hardwood from fallen or tree surgeon-lopped trees and I cut these with the chainsaw, then split them for drying.
The handsaw question has just come about because I have a heap of old window frames, etc which I will just use until it's finished. Needless to say, I ain't chainsawing construction timber!!
Cheers
Greg

Ahh, well window frames usually aren't big section timbers. Any decent sharp hand saw should fly through the stuff.
I have a small Stanley Jet cut that does pretty good on 4 x 4 softwood. Maybe a larger version with bigger teeth might be in order. something like this: ?

http://www.toolstop.co.uk/stanley-5-15- ... -saw-p6443

The one I have is a fine cut, which is probably not what you need. Maybe someone else has experience of 'coarser' versions of these speed cut type saws. They cut on both the pull and push stroke. For such a small saw (tool box type) my Stanley cuts impressively although I don't think it would be suitable for something like 6 x 6". A coarser version might fly through the stuff though. The handles on these things are quite comfortable, even though they maybe made of plastic/rubber.
Of course you would want to avoid any nails.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Pallets, window frames, general scrap etc. - what's wrong with a jigsaw? I've cut tens of tons with mine over the years.