Successful saw sharpening

[Randy Thurman-Keup]

Returning from my parents a few weeks ago, I grabbed a rusty old saw that was tucked away in a corner, figuring I could use it to practice sharpening.  I suspected that it probably belonged to my grandfather who was a carpenter.  When I got it home and took a closer look, it turned out to be a turn of the century Disston.  The etching on the blade was hard to make out, so I can't say for certain, but the other features seem to be consistent with a D-8.  The funny thing is that the reason I wanted to practice sharpening on a crappy saw was that my other grandfather had given me a Disston D-8 of similar age that had been given to him by his grandfather and I didn't want to ruin it with inexperience.  Anyway, I normally wouldn't have posted this, but I was so surprised by how well the sharpening process turned out on the "practice saw", that I just had to share my success.  Below are photos of the various stages.

This photo is after I removed the handle and tried to clean up the etching.  The handle, as you'll see later, was partially cut off.

The next two pics show how ratty the teeth were.  You can see the tops that were in the process of being jointed.

Here is a side view where you can really see the unevenness of the teeth.  The angles look symmetric, like whoever sharpened them just set the file flat and went at it.

This is after the first tooth forming.  They were still uneven enough that I had to joint the saw again and make another pass at forming them.

Finally, these images are after filing the fleam and setting the teeth.

Below you can still see unfiled sections on some of the teeth,  but I think they look pretty good considering how they started out.

And here is the saw with the partially missing handle on it.

I think I'm going to try to make a new handle for it, but I'm still figuring out how best to do that.

Oh, and now that I've had some practice, I can try the other Disston.  Especially since it is in far better shape than this one was.

 

[wtnhighlander]

Nice work! I have a couple of my grandfather's old saws, which I hope to restore to usefulness some day soon. You just provided me with extra inspiration!

[Strasberry]

I have a couple of old Disstons also but don't know the first thing about trying to sharpen one. Did you learn from a video?

My dad was a saw filer in a lumber mill and I helped him on occasion to sharpen the big head rig saws. Mammoth blades like 15 or 20 feet diameter. They would cut a 4' dia log faster than you could walk! 

Never had the chance to work on little stuff but you are giving me hope that I could learn!

[SamV]

Looks good. You need to make a new handle for it or repair the old one with some new wood. After all this is a practice saw so it be a shame not to practice making a handle. Bad Axe's or Blackburn tools' blog has some great info and links, just be careful about the rabbit hole.

[Randy Thurman-Keup]

I have a couple of old Disstons also but don't know the first thing about trying to sharpen one. Did you learn from a video?

My dad was a saw filer in a lumber mill and I helped him on occasion to sharpen the big head rig saws. Mammoth blades like 15 or 20 feet diameter. They would cut a 4' dia log faster than you could walk! 

Never had the chance to work on little stuff but you are giving me hope that I could learn!

I don't think I watched any videos, but I did a fair amount of online reading.  Eventually I printed out a document from the vintage saws website.

http://www.vintagesaws.com/library/primer/sharp.html

That led me through most of the sharpening process.  This was actually the second saw I tried sharpening.  The first was a smaller backsaw, like 12 or 13 ppi.  I filed that one freehand and that was a mistake.  The advice of embedding the file in a block of wood to keep the angle constant was a big help.  Even for the fleam I used a block of wood to set the fleam angle as well.

Looks good. You need to make a new handle for it or repair the old one with some new wood. After all this is a practice saw so it be a shame not to practice making a handle. Bad Axe's or Blackburn tools' blog has some great info and links, just be careful about the rabbit hole.

Thanks, I will definitely make a new handle for it.  Still wading through the blogs and websites.  As for the rabbit hole, I think it's going to take some effort to keep from slipping further.  

[Tpt life]

http://www.craftsmanspace.com/free-projects/saw-handle-templates.html

I give you...rabbit hole. 

[Tom King]

I have strips of plywood I lay behind the saw with a bunch of lines drawn on with a sharpie of the fleam angle.  It's an easy reference you can't miss in the background while you watch the tooth being filed.