Refining Saw Sets | Paul Sellers

In this video, Paul Sellers shows you how you can easily customise a saw set to work on any type of hand saw.
To find out more about Paul Sellers and the projects he is involved with visit paulsellers.com

[@kenthansen3557]

I've sharpened and set my own saws for fifty years and here I sit watching Paul do what I've done for a very long time...I should be bored silly; yet, somehow I'm sitting here enthralled, relaxed and enjoying his presentation...you're an amazing teacher/entertainer Mr Sellers! Thank you for your time!

[@observersnt]

Absolutely outstanding video. I don’t think anyone deals with the detail in the same way as Paul Sellers. Clear, slow, simple speech where every word can be heard and understood, no gimmicks, no one trying to be a comedian. No meaningless background music, absolutely outstanding photography. My saw setting tool was amongst a handful of tools bought at an auction. It didn’t appear to be working properly so I looked at several saw setting videos without the detail and superb photography like this one and low and behold, thanks to the strip down I learned that the large spring in the plunger assembly was missing. Amazing help, superb video. And like a lot of garage/ workshops in remote rural locations, I have a box of springs that I salvage when dismantling things. I found a spring that fitted. Now all I have to do is learn to use the saw setting tool properly. Thank you so much

[@ardumus]

Paul, in a world consumed with commercialism, it is a true relief to find someone who does not recommend I buy every tool on the market. Thank you for teaching us a practical way to take what we have and easily modify it to suit our needs better than the original product.

[@dale1956ties]

Thank you for this. I just picked up a dovetail saw on eBay and paid 8 bucks for it. Following the advice in Paul Sellers videos, I reshaped the handle, took out most of the set, made a saw vice, sharpened the teeth, and now I'm going to shop for a saw set so I'm prepared for that eventuality as well. That 8-dollar saw now looks and cuts like a boutique saw. Being a senior on fixed income and in today's economy, it's crucial that I can save money in this way and modify cheepo to make it work like primo. Thanks again Paul.

[@cianmerne7961]

I have an ancient saw set that belonged to my great grandfather (he was a carriage maker and wheelwright). It works great on larger teeth but after seeing this video I think I'll purchase a modern set for my finer saws. I didn't realize you could modify the hammer so easily, thanks Paul.

[@738polarbear]

What a superb wealth of old world knowledge he teaches. How many of us knew how EASY it is to set a saw ?Bravo Paul.

[@nackabags]

I can confidently say I will never ever have to set a saw, but u teach so well I can't help but to watch with intrigue...

[@mickelston7512]

Paul, if your reading this comment ive just got to say ive been subscribed to you for a while now and i love your videos if its for new knowledge or to reinforce what bits and pieces i know, i get so engrossed in you videos that i feel like a student in a class room sitting crossed legged on the floor. The detail you go into is great. Envious or you knowledge and experience ive got to say:) keep em comin paul:)

[@RedPillMode]

Internet does not get much better than this.

[@kpharrington]

Paul, you are a phenomenal teacher. Calm and clear and great detailed explanations about why you do what you do. Thank you so much for publishing these. Tell your camera person that he or she does a great job with the angles and focus, too. Thanks again!

[@belthize]

All of Paul's tools are quality and well maintained. The motor on that grinding wheel is so smooth it's still spinning today after he turned it off.

[@TheChrisPineWorkshop]

This is very educational for this power tool woodworker! I was always secretly intimidated by the task of setting a saw! This is easy! Will definitely be buying set tool and following with you and your videos! Thanks so much. You are a good educator!! Regards Chris Pine

[@paulorchard7960]

Chris Pine chase markets and yard sales, so many good quality tools once used by grandad end up being junked because nobody even know what they are!!

[@wickedxe]

awesome vid :) so good to see experts in their fields passing down their knowledge

[@henryraynald7947]

Thank you Paul for a wonderful video on a tool that many of us have never used or seen. My late father left one for me and now I know what it is and how to put it to use finally!

[@KevinCoop1]

This video was exactly what I needed to see and when I needed to see it. I am trying to learn to make dovetails and my saws are too dull. Making very bad dovetails so far! Thank you very much for the timr you spend to educate people like me! Kevin Cooper St. Louis, Mo area.

[@barrydoxseyuk]

Thank you for this video. It has made me examine with more detail my saw sets. Found each one with punches from 1.4mm to 4mm wide. One with a pointed punch. Anvils with degraded chrome coating. So thank you it make it possible to set each for a suitable saw size.

[@mwilson70201]

Just in the nick of time Paul answers my question, and I didn't even have to ask. I recently picked up a Somax No. 250 saw set at an estate sale for a song. It is in excellent shape but the hammer is far too wide for my needs and you have demonstrated exactly what I need to know. Thanks for these most informative and easy to understand videos. God bless.

[@2000willsome]

Thanks for the video. I lost my saw set somehow, I hadn't used it for years. I bought a used one on ebay very cheaply thinking it was a steel one, it turned out to be brass, but had the wide plunger which was too wide to sharpen my saw (16tpi) . This was exactly what I needed, thanks.

[@perfectionframing7067]

Couldn’t be more helpful. Just picked up an identical set. Thanks for sharing your knowledge.

[@lesgill8490]

Thank you Paul Sellers for taken time to show these great tips and know-hows, brilliant, keep them coming.

[@JunkworksGarage]

i was just going through a bunch of free side of the road after a garage sale box of tools and found three of thees last week and now i know what they are thanks. now i can set the free side of the road saws i got .thanks for the vids

[@hishamseri]

Thank you for your expertise. Good knowledge will never be wasted.

[@headknocker8999]

WOW!! I keep learning from you Paul. I wish I had gotten to spend more time with Grandpa Gatterer who was a Master Cabinet Builder & later made knives for shapers in his retirement.. I'm gonna walk out & get Gramp's old saw set & see what kind it is. = Morris Special circa 1897..

[@lewisward4359]

Thanks for the practical demonstration based on your experiences and knowlege

[@Ninja_Shepherd]

Awesome channel your the reason I got back into wood working to try my hand at pure hand tools !! Thanks a million for the inspiration!!!

[@rickreed123]

Dito

[@MrOlaboss]

Hi Paul, I am so happy I found your videos here. I so love the way you teach woodworking without being all fancy with the latest and most expensive equipment. I have wanted to learn woodworking my whole life and now when I am getting closer to retirement age I will take the leap and start slowly to learn. I understand that some tools should be carefully selected and they can last a lifetime if we keep up the maintenance. I am buying tools in second hand shops now both because of the good quality of old tools but also to minimize the shopping hysteria and put a lot of things in landfills. Could you talk a little about the few tools that you would try to find good quality? I imagine saws and planers being something that we should be more careful when selecting. I love the videos showing the "poor man tools" that you make yourself. Do you ever mention some good brands of old second hand tools? I was always told to buy Bacho or Sandvik hand-tools when I lived in Europe for example. Thank you so much!

[@Paul.Sellers]

Hi Ola. Thank you for your kind words of appreciation for Paul. I believe the following link would be useful to you.paulsellers.com/tag/buying-good-tools-cheap/ . Merry Christmas from Team Paul.

[@GrantHendrick]

Very interesting and helpful. Thank you.

[@animeclips7232]

It was wonderful watching .

[@deejannemeiurffnicht1791]

Excellent Paul! very comprehensive and clear!

[@flyerphil7708]

Love your style Paul.

[@ranik8890]

please don't stop making videos - many thanks

[@MrJonnytattoo]

I love the videos. I wish I was closer and could come to your school. Maybe one day I can visit. Keep up the awesome series.

[@daveyfus1]

Thank you for sharing all your knowledge, I just ordered your books and can't wait for them to arrive.

[@darren3771]

This is a Great video Paul and team keep up the great work

[@lagrange-munuzerezh9245]

Fantastic! that's the job I do yesterday : refining the Saw Set that I won on eBay. ^^

[@Mr_Rick]

Outstanding Paul! Thanks.

[@tomjeffries58]

So little time, so much to learn.

[@imager8763]

Great explanation! I noticed your screwdriver looks like it was made from a spade bit. I would love to know how manage that trick. It looks awesome!

[@Boggieman10]

Paul you mentioned that the plunger is hardened steel? the sawset that I have the plunger can be easily filled, it's very soft that's the kind of saw I can buy here in the Philippines. I have several saws I need to set.

[@hehoward01]

Thank you Paul. I wondered how you used a saw set.

[@CipsWoodChips]

Thanks, this was a very interesting video. I was looking at one of my saw sets. I just noticed it only has a center plunger to set the tooth. No outer plunger to grip the saw blade.

[@richardbormans4393]

Hello Paul, in trying to fully understand you (I just required the brass Eclipse on Ebay), I was listening specifically to the points/teeth per inch on a saw and corresponding recommended number on the saw set. You explain that when following the guideline of this particularly Eclipse saw set the setting of the saw will be to wide. You recommend that 12 points on the saw set is suitable for most saws from 8 up to 18 points per inch. Carefully paying attention, your explanation around the 4:00 time mark in this video confuse me. Most probably I misunderstand you: here you recommend for a fourteen points per inch tenon saw a setting on the saw set of 8 to 10 points. This seems to be the other direction than you explained earlier. So now I'm confused. Please set me back on trach here. By the way, your videos, blogs, classes etc. are indeed life changing! Many thanks and regards, Richard

[@richardbormans4393]

of course: "I just required…" should be "I just acquired …"

[@borjesvensson8661]

Is the big saw-set perhaps intended for really big toths on buck saws, timber felling saws and resawing saws? All sawtypes that were important untill the chainsaw and bandsaw took their jobs Btw here in sweden you almost only find the type that looks like a modified flat plier with springs and stop screws, any experience with them?

[@nrgcarrington]

I think the plungers are case-hardened. Once I'd taken the outer surface off mine, it filed quite easily, as others have found.

[@shanecannon4698]

Awesome! Wonderful tutorial. Thank you so much!

[@ikust007]

LOVE it! As usual humour and knowledge. Tx sir.

[@Trillapurge]

Thank you Paul

[@kerryfoster1]

Great comprehensive video. I would have liked some detailed close -ups. I got the gist but would like to see more detail.

[@gragor11]

Very interesting. I see the marks on the tool I found now - It says Eclipse # 77. I suspect that mine is the 'wide' one.

[@kop_pictures]

Where can I get some and buy... Am in Africa Ghana

[@pauldyer8714]

Paul, thank you for the instructions. I purchased a saw set new from Amazon, made in Taiwan. Seems to be a good one, but I am not able to set any saw. The saw cannot go into the tool far enough to push the teeth, because the wheel to back leaves 1/16" for the saw. I have used a toothpick (1/16") and can almost slide it fully into position. How much distance should there be from the gauge wheel to the backstop? Stay safe! Paul D.

[@gunsandzen8575]

Hi. My vintage Spear and Jackson Tenon saw is binding after about 10 strokes into the cut. The teeth are sharp and faces smooth. I have never set it. Do you think binding is a side effect of the saw not being set for some time?

[@garethrichmond4388]

Yes

[@als1023]

Nice work, great info !

[@DavePawson]

Paul, you're grinding the broad hammer down to the size of the narrow one... Without one to compare, what width is the narrow one please?

[@noire1001]

Are the hammers interchangeable between the steel and bronze saw sets? I bought a steel one as it has the finer plunger and now Paul is saying he doesn't like the steel ones, so I feel like I made a mistake buying it now. I wish he would have said the steel one wasn't as good in his blog as that is what made me buy the steel one. Ahh well, it was only £10 from ebay.

[@ahmedabdelhaii]

Thanks very much for this vedio But I still dont know do we have to set the saw using this tool or not? And thanks again

[@toms4123]

very informative thank you

[@jasper12785]

I grind the hammer down on a diamond plate, easy, very quick and keep things flat and straight.

[@JoeBob79569]

You know somebody loves their job when they don't know what time it is. When people hate their jobs they usually know, down to the second, how long before they are allowed to go home.

[@russbuck1000]

Hi Paul, I recently bought a sawset to help me restore some old saws that were lying around. I noticed that the two shoulder parts that rest on the saw teeth have been worn down by decades of saw tooth points - does this affect the setting of saw teeth much? It seems to work fine, but there is a definite rough groove in the bronze where the saw set has been dragged along saw teeth and lowered the shoulders slightly.

[@paullanctot4486]

Mine is like that, just have to hold it up a little so the plunger hits the tooth in the right spot

[@russbuck1000]

Paul Lanctot Thanks, I thought that might be the case!

[@johnmm]

Is a higher number more set (more spread of the saw teeth) or less - is 12 more set than 10? Thanks

[@jeremiahlongshanks6434]

Higher number = more teeth per inch = less set

[@rickylangley8690]

I have a e.c.stern saw set it.does not have a dial with numbers just a piece that slides up and down how do i set it

[@andrewellender672]

When you say it cuts better with less set can you get away with no set thanks love your channel

[@skywalkers011]

Like the video. I've been looking for some info on saw sets.

[@TobiasRedepenning]

Would this also work for band-saw blades?

[@garydelder]

Thanks You Paul

[@tomchamberlain4329]

Do your cuffs up, Paul!

[@willwyatt7023]

Only thing I would add: as a dentist I'd much rather to this with a hand held tool, in my case my lab drill. I'd think a dremel tool could do it as well. Much more control than on that grinder.

[@eddierodden]

Does anyone know if you can set a metal cutting saw in the same way?

[@Offshoreorganbuilder]

Many thanks.

[@johnmm]

Combine this with this KZbin video - and you'll really understand saw set: How Much to Set a Hand Saw by Bob Rozaieski

[@timtrammell3971]

what make/model is that bronze set?

[@bentyreman5769]

+Tim Trammell looks like an eclipse 77 to me, they are on ebay all the time.

[@MrBernardogut]

Hello, Paul! Do you have a book on sharpening saws?

[@kurasoe]

search 'saw' on his channel and the top 4 results are good to watch (1 of them is this video)

[@ataurus62]

Will those work on a Sandvik bow saw?

[@Paul.Sellers]

Yes, as long as the teeth are not too hard in which case they will possibly snap off but you can try it.

[@bigglesone7673]

When Paul says how useful something it the price on eBay leaps up. On the video he says that he paid only very few pounds for the saw set, now on eBay they go for up to £30 or so! But I have been buying cheap saws with laser hardened teeth. These are generally very sharp and hard wearing but they are fairly delicate, touch a nail and the teeth break off rendering the saw useless. Although the one short saw which I like, missing two teeth, will get a re-sharpening etc just to see if the remaining blade is suitable for this.

[@anthonychavez3742]

Question when buying a saw set on eBay I noticed that it doesn't say if it's a tick plunger or the thin plunger how would you know what you're getting, I'm new to this.

[@bigglesone7673]

I did manage to get a good old brass/bronze Eclipse saw set for £7. It did not work on arrival with the works full of grease and sawdust. When cleaned out it works perfectly. (Kindly believe that I am not one of the Health & Safety Police but please do not wear loose clothing around rotating machinery.)

[@loadzofhobbies4219]

Had to subscribe based purely on that plane collection! Atb Ryan

[@Boggieman10]

Anyone can help me find a good sawset, I live in place where good saw set is very hard to get.

[@willwyatt7023]

eBay

[@I_Waste_Food]

Three or four pounds! Seven years on and a Stanley 42x is $50 to $100!

[@738polarbear]

Why doesn't he write a book?

[@stefanopassiglia]

he wrote several. look on his website