How to Sharpen Your Saws

[@johnford7847]

This is the best coverage of "getting ready to sharpen" I've seen - 20 minutes of your 30 minute video before you actually start to sharpen. Don't get me wrong, the sharpening part is excellent, too. (Although I think you need a close-up lens to show the teeth clearly.) Good work, gentlemen.

[@mattevans-koch9353]

Thank you for a timely saw sharpening video. Good information. I will say that the first time you sharpen a saw, the hardest part is overcoming the fear of messing the saw up. But once you get the feel for it it becomes an almost Zen experience.

[@bigoldgrizzly]

Buy a couple of 'beaters' at sales for a dollar or two a time and practice away to your hearts content. If you mess it up. re-joint it and try again. You never know, you might well get a useful saw out of It ... I did and I'm still using it decades later, even though the blade looks pitted and ugly, it really does the job and stays sharp longer than any of my other 'top brand' saws

[@jamiejarrett4054]

I purchased your Foundations video and this has more info about saw sharpening than it. Great addition. I’ll save this to my playlist.

[@ikust007]

Love the wooden shovel in the back ground .

[@ikust007]

Thank you Mike !

[@TonKuipers134]

Thx for posting, it is a very usefull tutorial and i am looking forward to the coming tutorial on how to solve issues like a binding saw etc.👍

[@joshwalker5605]

Very nice! It had never occurred to me to approach the saw in any other way than just standing in front of the face vice, I’ll have to try that.

[@pantelisnikolaou6956]

Good video and to the point. One polite remark though, at about 16:35 you are saying that the more you go to the toe of the saw, you would reduce the rake to ease the starting of the cut. I think you meant it correctly but using the term reducing the rake it will generate a more aggressive cut. Right? The opposite is true. Increasing the rake at the toe of the saw will indeed ease the starting of the cut. Best regards, Pantelis

[@andrewbrimmer1797]

Great video

[@markzambelli]

6:17 I love the way you couldn't keep a straight face cracking that joke about your American saws cut finer than our English saws 'cos they have more PPI than TPI🤣... brilliant.

[@dpmeyer4867]

Thanks

[@michaeldoto4673]

Im really enjoying this video series. Question: do you place the hammer of the saw set at the tip of the tooth or at the bottom (closest to the saw plate) of the tooth? Thank you

[@mortisetenonmagazine]

The hammer should be at the top of the tooth. You only really apply pressure to the top 2/3 of each tooth. My set naturally rests in that position, so I don't have to actively keep the hammer and anvil "aimed" properly.

[@donaldheselton232]

I realized you said to file each tooth, but doesn’t the saw have the teeth file alternately?

[@steverochon1620]

Your video was helpful. However, in buying a saw set tool from eBay or other market, there is no mention of whether the tool is for larger teeth/lower TPI, or finer, smaller teeth. Any advice?

[@mortisetenonmagazine]

I would write to the seller and ask for more information/photos. Typically, these "plier style" sets are for smaller saws, since big crosscuts require more leverage to bend the teeth. Also, if the make/model of the set is included in the listing, you can look up that particular tool to see its intended use.

[@steverochon1620]

@@mortisetenonmagazine I’ll try researching the make and model, as most of those selling vintage American made tools have no knowledge of much of what they sell. And I don’t want the new ones made in China.

[@ikust007]

19:00 good point .

[@stanbrown915]

I have 15 or 20 Diston and Superior crosscut saws. I find them at yard sales and flee markets for 5 or 10 bucks....Can't turn them down 🤣🤣🤣

[@g5flyr169]

@stan brown: Is it fair to say that you never met a saw you didn't like? 🙃😉

[@mortisetenonmagazine]

You're rescuing strays!

[@stanbrown915]

Yes I do love them sawz. 🤣🤣

[@stanbrown915]

@Mortise & Tenon Magazine I love tools and all kinds of knickknacks and doodads, my dream is to be that strange guy that the Pickers show come too and I can chase them off 🤣🤣🤣

[@bigoldgrizzly]

You are not alone with your 'problem' I long ago stopped counting but must be well north of 150, all bought for a pound or two. Living about 20 miles from Sheffield, I probably have a bit of an advantage as it seems that an awful lot of tools were 'liberated' from the manufacturer by employees, back in the day. I find that restoring and renovating saws to be a relaxing pastime for my knackered old body.

[@ikust007]

6:40 that’s why some of my saws don’t cut as fast ;))

[@ikust007]

Hum: you don’t skip a tooth even if not crosscut ?

[@mortisetenonmagazine]

I have never found that necessary. The only time I would consider it is if I had to do more than just 2 or 3 passes per tooth. That could lead to a series of metal burrs on one side of the saw.