How Are Saw Teeth Made?

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My name is Alec Steele and I am a 24 year old blacksmith. We make videos about making interesting things, learning about craft and appreciating the joy of creativity. Great to have you here following along!
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Alec Steele Blacksmith 2022

[@Bloktarino]

‘Turning 9 Panel Saws into dust while making a Panel Saw’ 😝

[@nicolasguerin4678]

Exactly what I thought watching this.

[@Cory-Stewart-]

welds 10 together, grinds 9 away. Feels like he just back where he started

[@heffatheanimal2200]

Exactly. Starting the first vid I had hopes he might make something like a 2 person cross cut saw, then watch Alec and Jamie try to fell a tree

[@fetzie23]

@@heffatheanimal2200that might have been the idea until the panels refused to weld together and it turned into “how do you make a saw?”

[@stumpy990]

Remember when Alec had a surface grinder? Sure seems like that would handy now

[@Xboxdude87]

Would have made everything way too easy

[@markfergerson2145]

Remember when he had someone to do piles of hand sanding?

[@7over21]

I came here to say precisely this.

[@andrewrehm1600]

was going to mention this exact thing

[@ziero1986]

Pepperidge Farms remembers.

[@StrengthOfADragon13]

Filing the teeth has to be the task that has most directly inspired optional earplugs, for saving your sanity more than your hearing

[@Steamtostay]

You should try making something starting with an ingot of all the iron/etc filings from around the workshop.

[@fakjbf3129]

He could make approximately 9 more saws just out of what he ground off of this one.

[@thedarkknight1971]

KZbinr 'shurap' did that, if memory serves 🤔. He makes many impressive damascus blades, out of Nails, Cannon barrels, needles and much much more! 😏😉👍 😎🇬🇧

[@JackSilver1410]

A guy named Chandler Dickenson did that. Swept up all his shop dust and smelted it down. It was a little slap-dash, but I want to say he got some steel out of it. Not particularly the best steel in the world, but...

[@ehovig]

Didnt you just weld ten saws together and then grind off nine of them? 😂

[@MrWesty500]

that's youtube content for you

[@Aiyahhh]

8.5 maybe... its kinda longer

[@eus090474]

LOL, came to say the same. Just making a normal saw again. Not sure the purpose of welding them together

[@paintballplayer700]

Usually love Alec's videos but this is the worst series in ages lol. "I welded 10 saws together, made a saw blade 15% bigger than normal, ground off the remaining 8.85 blades into powder, and I don't know how to make saw teeth." I know this is partially just him learning stuff but this is such a waste of time compared to just buying a slightly larger saw.

[@CampingRulesOkay]

​@@paintballplayer700 We've all been thinking it, just not quite so precisely! 😂 That said, he's got a lot more skill than me when it comes to making. I just hope the titanium firepit I made in my last video isn't such a waste of time

[@compt3ck]

The metal popping in and out is called oil canning. Its caused by the steel being stretched and there's tension in the steel.

[@Hellsong89]

what i recall from car sheet metal side of things, you can ether use oxy, acetylene torch to heat it from the center, then rapidly cool it to shrink the metal, or use steel compression tool, but yeah i struggle with that effect on car rust repairs.

[@tomrockholm-timeless_morph6691]

@@Hellsong89if you have one you can also use a unispot stud welder with a shrinking tip, works really good and a lot faster than torching and shrinking hammers/dollies. That was my go to tool when dealing with oil canning in the body shop.

[@glennbrown1961]

They are stanley knifes in Australia too. Re toothing a saw used to be a skill old joiners used to put bigger or smaller teeth in a saw. As a saw was sharpend down it would get thinner, the blank being taper ground. Therefore a saw would normally be retoothed to a smaller tooth after a few years use. Cheers and G'day from Tasmania

[@neotagatg3238]

So the point was to make a "BIG" saw which turned to making a slightly bigger saw which turned into a thinner but bigger saw. I expect the saw to be Ant sized by the time it's done

[@jeffspaulding9834]

Paul Sellers makes fantastic content. He's of the last generation of British woodworkers to go through a traditional apprenticeship as a boy, so he approaches hand-tool woodworking from a production standpoint rather than your standard hobbyist mindset - i.e. he's very pragmatic and shows you how to just get the job done.

[@janwintraken]

His VIdeos are a bit like watching Bob Ross doing Woodwork. He´s the best!

[@ruffelhouse561]

Not just how to get it done, but how to get it done well and properly while displaying all the joys of doing so. One of the best out there.

[@JacobAldridge]

He's a great teacher. Lots of knowledge. Also, it was set up for rip cuts and he did a cross cut. But I was hoping he'd make a cross cut saw anyway.

[@saturnguytwelvesg127]

Paul inspired me to take the job I've had the last 5 years.

[@BernardSandler]

You are giving us a familiarity with the form and function of basic tools that we'd never otherwise have. And that, my lovelies, is the internet at its best.

[@jasonmorrow5732]

Lot of haters on this video, but this is the correct take ^ hahaha. Alec is having fun, and the granular focus on each and every step has given me a greater appreciation for tools and manufacturing.

[@MattNZ1975]

You can buy (or make) a saw tooth setting tool.

[@bake162]

I just saw one at an antique shop, had to ask what it was

[@Hellsong89]

ironically enough i have tried to look one locally, but only ones coming around are for frame saw blades and massive timber saw blades. Havent found small enough ones, but did good enough job with needlenose pliers when restoring old saw into use, but then again making one aint that difficult ether, specially for blacksmith.

[@declanwittkowske7128]

Also is an actual tool u can by to set teeth, it used when sharpening cross cot saw because to sharpen u kind of have to flatten the teeth then reset them

[@johnsmithfakename8422]

Saw Blade steel ... OK that is a rabbit hole. In America for a time saw blades were commonly made from 8670. Over the pond saw blades are commonly made from 80CrV2. 8670 is one of the toughest knife steels on the market (It bets many powder metallurgy steels in toughness. Edge holding not so much). The Toughness of 8670 tops out at around 60 HRC. 80CrV2 is less tough than 8670 but it's edge holding is a bit better. The two steels are comparable to each other

[@williammartin5433]

I'm quite enjoying your making tools videos. I really enjoyed the mini power hammer. Tossing out an idea I know I'd like to see. A peddle hammer/some other type of non-powered hammering device.

[@LEGOmak]

Ok, now that Alec has taught himself how to make a handsaw maybe next should be a nice damascus one with fancy carved handle? That would be super cooll series to watch!!

[@TheVanillagorilla12]

Some brass inlay in the handle

[@Sparkrdom]

The start of this project he called this damascus.

[@carlriley9061]

Something tells me that is why he is doing this as a "practice" run

[@afg122602]

Jamie with the fireball tool shoutout.

[@andyanderson2143]

Fireball Tool is legit! Love Will Stelter's anvil resurfacing over there, also that shaper machine is an absolute beast!

[@Brian-mp2mv]

I haven't finished the video yet, but a Saw Tooth Setter is the tool you need... such as *Spear & Jackson 94-370R Eclipse Saw Tooth Setter*

[@Oxypnictide]

Paul Sellers x Alec Steele collab would be amazing on so many levels!

[@ryancarlson5629]

Did anyone else think that he was making KZbin’s smoothest ad read segway when he started talking about the hand warmer?

[@MacGuyver84]

Did you know that cutting saw teeth was almost a thing of pride for the makers of old school saws. They even included a weird cut to prove they could do it.

[@SquareOneForge]

“This is quite foreboding” should be a banner you offer. I’d proudly hang that in my shop. That feeling happens often 😂

[@anatexis_the_first]

Aw man, cutting to a Paul Sellers video, yeah! :D That dude knows a TON and makes great woodworking videos. He's a real pro.

[@Rockhopper1]

Use the end mill!!!!!!!!!!! You make a y-frame with the hacksaw blade inset, then you programme it on the z-axis to go down, then use the y-axis to reciprocate, the table mount will move it along at a set increment if you are switched on. You can use the angle file with a lubricant to do the last set mounted to the same frame. Then you do the first set of teeth, time it, and then programme it using Mach 1. You can stop the spindle rotating, but if you are clever you can angle the spindle to turn opposite direction around 20 degrees to make a cutting edge.

[@engineerwrecker8153]

In 2002 I worked for a saw shop. To fix dishing on circular saw blades, they use special convex hammers. It sounds like you are having dishing issues.

[@MasterBigBass]

Something I learned from analyzing old American crosscut saws, the teeth are wider than the spine, and the body of the saw is also tapered from the base of the tooth to the spine, making performance even higher and bind much less. Compare this to modern saws where the saw is the same thickness throughout with only an offset tooth to give kerf clearance.

[@billabong9215]

Never knew the body was tapered too. Interesting.

[@ewanrollo5562]

Yeah. I think they used a surface grinder with an angle set on it. so that the whole blade tapers in the way you said.

[@sargy9586]

Alec you should ask eoin reardon to make a ash handle for the saw! Hes content is awesome

[@Thundermuffin93]

This! This!

[@0num4]

What is a square, if not TWO triangles together? For shame, Alec, for shame! Also, Paul Sellers is an international treasure. His blog and YT channel are wonderful.

[@olivermuthu4243]

Alec and Jamie, that was probably the greatest sponsorship integration I've ever watched (also brilliant video as usual)

[@jojidell8675]

Alec loves a geometric segway to talk about Squarespace

[@aHippieWithKnives]

Love this! I do a decent amount of saw sharpening, but i've got a foley tooth puncher and a foley auto-filer for doing the teeth, makes it all so fast.

[@KeppyKep]

That squarespace transition was absolutely brilliant

[@thijspluis9998]

are you going to hammer set or plyer set them? Look up wood by wright how 2, he has videos about that

[@talyrath]

I would pay for a Paul Sellers/Alec Steele collaboration.

[@AllanDeal]

Best channel on KZbin. he learns we learn. What more do you need

[@The_Fluid_Druid]

Taking 10 useful, affordable and practical tools, then spending many, many hours turning it into a worse, slightly larger tool is the kind of thing I'm here for

[@giovannifontanetto9604]

There are some really good vintage japanese videos on youtube about saw making. I believe them and paul sellers are the best source.

[@DwayneWilkinson]

Jamie always reminding Alec where he is, is what I am here for.

[@streetographer]

14:41 I can't believe you missed the opportunity to flog SquareSpace when you are talking about your SquareTeeth. 😀

[@roberterbes]

Love the Fireball tool video reference.

[@Leadvest]

That smooth start hacksaw tip is absolute genius!

[@BenjaminCronce]

Those heat packets work by having a super-cooled(liquid below freezing) material that the popper causes a nucleation site that starts a chain-reaction of freezing. Heating the material back up melts it again, but it can't re-freeze without another nucleation site to be created.

[@srw4181]

Why is everyone so negative about a good waste of sawblades? It is about the process and the journey. I like what you do Alec, alway have. Keep on being you!👊

[@Thundermuffin93]

I saw props to Alec for doing the shenanigans of cutting in all those teeth by hand and continuing to deal with all the unforeseens. Carry on, see you on the next episode!

[@TimBielawa]

Alec, please go meet up with Paul Sellers. It would be a fun collab video, showing him what you did.

[@GBblacksmithing]

hi alec i am 14 i have bean blacksmithing for 5 years now ; have you got any advice for making blacksmithing videos

[@SuicideNeil]

Don't copy Alec, that's my advice. Learn about cameras, lighting, angles and video editing, the rest will come naturally, but don't copy Alec's style, be your own person.

[@GBblacksmithing]

@@SuicideNeil thanks 👍 I appreciate it

[@thebeardeddove]

Makes me appreciate how easy it is to sharpen a chainsaw

[@BulletTing]

Cheers love the channel for over 7 years

[@Slikx666]

Smoothing one side of the file would have been a good idea for when you started to file the teeth, you would only have filed away the metal form one tooth at a time giving a more consistent finish. The idea of making a load of saws into one saw is bonkers but the educational value in the end makes it worth while. 🙂👍

[@rascal3042]

Alec is great at showing the wrong way to do things. Then maybe getting something that kinda works at the end.

[@jrsanacore2310]

You should really do more woodworking tool build. Like your Damascus steel chisel. This saw too. Maybe a perfect handplane blade or else. Thanks for your video great as always.

[@gibbsm]

Paul Sellers is a great source of info. been watching him for years.

[@samuelthomas8777]

Why didn't you glue/tape the piece to a plank of wood to support it when grinding. Also, why didn't you mill it?

[@PureNrGG]

Dont listen to the hate my man. What they see is worthless, what we see is practice, experimenting, learning, and doing something new. Sure, the result is basically the same as before, but its about expanding your knowledge and skills, and thats why ive been watching you since close to the beginning. Keep doing you!

[@AlecSteele]

Thank you that means a lot 🙏🏻

[@PureNrGG]

​@AlecSteele any maker knows that some projects turn out insane, and others turn out not as great. It's part of the experience! God knows how many times I started on a piece of material and ended up with a quarter of the thickness left 😅 it happens, ya learn, and ya grow!

[@msparkes1990]

When are we going to start doing 24 part series on epic weapons again? Damascus steel, amazing gold infill, handmade handles, steel engraving and gem stone settings. All that fun stuff? 😢❤

[@ChowderN8]

Alec it would be super cool to see you try and make a set of golf clubs! Very different project and yet another cool and inexpensive hobby you can try :)

[@ericdavis7779]

I would like to note to you I have an antique saw blade bender . It's a hand held tool to realign your saw teeth as they slowly bend inwards from use . I figured you would have come across this tool . I believe it's called a saw pliers

[@glennbrown1961]

Saw setting pliers. The saw teeth are bent alternating teeth when they are sharpened. This is to give clearance in the kerf (the saw cut) to stop the saw sticking. G'day from Tasmania

[@BraxxJuventa]

So far, very good Alec!!! I'm proud of you!! 😁👍🏼😁👍🏼😁👍🏼

[@MaxStax1]

I have never seen one of those hand warmers before in my life. Now i have seen it twice in back to back videos i watched. Sabine Hossenfelder's latest video also used one to illustrate a point.

[@jeffspaulding9834]

Those things are great. You can get them in various shapes and sizes. My girlfriend has back problems and has one that goes around her neck. They last for years. Once they cool down, you simply put them in boiling water for a bit to reset them. They're nice and bendy (like a plastic sack full of water, really) before you pop the metal disc, but once you pop it they stiffen up.

[@dunc71]

Where have you been?

[@workingovertime4429]

For future reference the rtd cutting fluid works well with hacksaw cutting

I feel honored to have my comment displayed in the video ! (and I did genuinely believe it was a joke, as it was too big) :-) been following the channel since the beginning, keep up the good work !

[@beangames6679]

an 18 min alec steele video!!!!! yessssssssss!!!!!!!! wheres my pop corn!

[@ToraKwai]

benefit of using a larger file is that if the depth of the file is twice or more that of the height of the teeth, you can use all 3 sides when each side wears out. if you're doing a one off like this though, then it probably wont matter

[@DaKevable]

alec, pls try to craft a whip sword sometime in the future, i think this would fit into what you are doing nowadays perfectly

[@ZeLoShady]

You need a palm sander or die grinder for getting that thinness evenly. No need for that crazy belt setup. With the two tools mentioned, you can just hold it on a flat table and with even grinding you are good!

[@pauln07]

I have an old saw tooth setter tool in my shed. Would be cool to see u make one

[@LashanR]

This looks as maddening as it sounds.

[@scoobtoober2975]

Alex the most famous and sought after hand saw is the Disston d8. That is the standard go to model. Taper back. Meaning tooth side metal itself thickness is thicker than the top part of the saw. I'm not sure how much.

[@likeapro5496]

Paul sellers is the man!

[@Gdwmartin]

You could get good use out of a surface grinder in your shop. Useful in making blades, and on projects such as this the Magnets hold everything tight to the plate evenly while the grinder does its work.

[@alihaggis78]

Idea for a project. How about trying your hand at an infill hand plane with dovetailed cheeks made from brass and steel with a Damascus blade. On the hand cut saw teeth... i think that a hand cut saw would be better than a saw with machine cut teeth, in a similar way that a hand stitched file is better than a machine stitched file. With machine cut teeth the spacing is exactly the same for every tooth meaning that it will resonate and vibrate in the cut. Whereas the inherent uneven spacing on a hand cut saw should stop resonance, making the cut smother.

[@Hillbilly-Tech]

I'd rather see Jamie doing his best Alec impression on the sponsor spot. =) Thanks!

[@The_Fluid_Druid]

We also call the "Stanley knives" in Australia.

[@fredcarlson5775]

My dad was a carpenter for 50 years and watched him sharpen saw blades for years he had a steel jig to hold his blades he never turned the blade he just changed his angle then he had a blade setting tool it was designed to offset the teeth it's adjustable he also had long small files for filing in 3 hours he could 5 to 8 saws depending on how dull they were he also said that the set was the most important thing

[@incurser7090]

Thise hand warmers arent actually a chemical reaction. Its a salt of some sort that has been melted when you heat it and the inside of the pouch and the disk are smooth enough that the salt cannot actually solidify and release the heat that it holds until you pop the tab

[@ebc1f7]

You should try to cast an aluminum hand if u still have the foundry from last time u were in the UK. You could also carve some embellishments with your jewelry carving gear

[@marshalltucker9690]

Play the saw like a cello or violin. It's a epic sound

[@SWIIIIIG]

'it does cut on the backstroke, Fireball tool did a video on it" lol I love fireball tools

[@gregbeck906]

Excited for the handle! I think a carbon fiber handle would look real nice. 🤙

[@jordanbahr203]

If only you had a surface grinder..... Too soon?

[@TimothyHall13]

Oh Yeah!!! Thanks Alec!!!

[@darknob]

I find this "let's try stuff I have no clue about" way more interesting than the 10000st forging of "Damascus" steel

[@Dreadought]

Man, I had really hoped when Fireball Tools made that video that it'd be around for a while and then people would forget, but they really haven't. His video is an excellent example of the challenge in trying to establish a viable experiment and application of the scientific method, because the data he got is not directly usable to answer the question he asked. The question he asked was 'does applying pressure on the back stroke dull that file faster than lifting it on the backstroke does.' The data he got told him that applying downward force on the backstroke makes the file remove more material per complete stroke, and that after X number of strokes, don't remember how many he did off hand, that both files were worn out. The fact that continual pressure removed more material could imply that it did not meaningfully reduce the tool life, but it doesn't necessarily prove it. He collected no data on actual wear rate, but instead is extrapolating based on material removal. He may very well be correct in his extrapolation, but he hasn't actually assessed rate of wear.

[@greenhatparts6552]

that was awesome i really enjoyed it

[@thedarkknight1971]

It's a amusing that Alec, took 10 steel panel saws, hammered them together, stretching it out, now with grinding, ended up with a saw same size! 😏😉😛🤣🤣🤣 😎🇬🇧

[@roberta.brokaw3829]

Keep having fun with the saw. Micarta handle would look cool. Stay safe.

[@benharris9175]

Hahaha, at 44, I still laughed at the hand work line like a 14 year old.

[@Bao_Bab666]

To make a jig to make a saw, you need a saw, mindblowing my dude.

[@nunyabizness4354]

All set to see the next episode! I'm sure you have a handle on the technique by now. Having to work on that blade vertically must set your teeth on edge!

[@flat4fan]

Saw making is now on the critical list of endangered heritage crafts here in the UK

[@carolbuzelim]

It does cut, thats amayzing, been able to do something by hand usually over machinery is a craft for feel

[@lukearts2954]

Stanley knives are called Stanley knives in Belgium as well. But the ones where you can break off little segments to get a sharp point again, we call _cutter knives_ even if they are made by Stanley... I prefer Stanley knives over cutter knives because they are stronger, harder and generally just sharper as well. I got a "semi-automatic" one too (where you can dump the used blade, then just flick the retractor button back and forth and bam!, you got a brand new blade loaded from a blade magazine...)

[@manythingslefttobuild]

Great opening for the ad. The saw is coming along well, its a shame you had to grind it down so much, maybe you could revisit it when you have access to a rolling mill to make thin sheet metal. Looking forward to the rest of the build.

[@MrScooterland]

May be a silly question but could you put this thing in something akin to a wood planer? The abrasive may need to be changed, but I don't see why it wouldn't give you a nice consistent way of reducing thickness.

[@garrettsmith9297]

If you could find one, there is an antique tool that is made to set Sawteeth

[@RobbieBeswick]

shoutout to Paul I’ve been watching his content over 10 years, first ever woodwork video I seen was Paul Sellers, he’s an outstanding woodworker! Oh and those saw teeth look like a British persons front teeth, all different sizes😂😂

[@timharmer4211]

It's commonly called a Stanley knife here in the US as well

[@RichChh]

It (a file,) doesn't cut on the backstroke but the backstroke clears debris from the teeth, making the next forward stroke more effective. one would think.

[@Arkios64]

It doesn't matter how much you grind off, it won't get rid of that "popping" you are experiencing, since it's caused by the contraction of the metal itself when cooling off; since this is the first time working with homemade sheet metal on this channel it's understandable why this seems confusing. Basically, simply because of the geometry of being a material that contracted after cooling off, the entire outside part is in tension around the middle that is under compression. You can easily see this by using any straight edge to bend the saw, which will exaggerate the distortion. To fix it you simply have to lengthen the perimeter back out, so that the material is back to neutral/tension; if I remember correctly there was a ring roller in the shop, which might be able to be set up to have two rolls press directly against each other. Have them slowly run around the perimeter to thin it out, which causes the material to expand in the plane of the sheet... think of it like how some blades actually get their curves forged in during the forging of the taper, except it's happening around the entire circumference. Getting the saw back to tension all around should also help with making it more stable, since it will naturally have a stronger tendency to straighten itself out. Currently, as we have seen, the saw bulges and bends by itself, without even having any force applied. But, to be fair, I'm basing this all off of knowledge from working with band-saw blades, which actually WANT a certain extent of this bough over their width to help with self-aligning on the wheels. I usually did the opposite, of lengthening the middle section, after welding a break in the blade; welding just completely messes the bough up, which results in a need to manually re-introduce it.

[@piccalillipit9211]

*OIL CANNING* is the technical name for the "pop thought" - its a massive problem with pressed car panels, its why they put ribs in them and add dampening strips. They have stretched the outer metal by the stamping process but not the inner metal - the outer then shrinks back and puts tension on the unstretched part - the ribs are both for stiffening and the actual take metal out of the inner part of the panel - floor and boot area etc - the balance the tension.

[@QuackingCheeseGromit]

I was so convinced that the square teeth were going to turn into a squarespace ad segway

[@klaaspieterrook4532]

Paul Sellers is tha bomb. Kudos for shouting him out!

[@brokid13]

That popping thing is called canning. That means the material is under a lot of stress in that area and has stretched/warped. In most cases its a lost cause but maybe with a proper tempering it might help.