Cheshirechappie
Established Member
mouppe":is7zqv6d said:
Mouppe - the principle is exactly the same for a tiny dovetail saw or a big, 4 tpi or so, rip saw. It's the scale that varies! With the big ripsaw, you can see what you're doing quite easily, but with the tiny teeth of a 16 tpi dovetail saw, eyestrain can set in rather quickly. It's also depressingly easy to file just a bit too deep, and effectively file off a tooth. If you do something with big teeth, then something around 10 or 12 tpi, the confidence builds with file control, tooth shaping, depth of cut and so on. Like a lot of things practical, it's not really that hard once you've done a few, but practice makes perfect.
The usual advice is to buy a cheap, damaged or badly worn saw, and try first on that. If you make a real hash of it, just joint the toothline straight again, and have another go. The worst that can happen is that you make a scrap saw a bit scrappier!
Set is another aspect. There seems to be a fashion these days for absolutely minimal set, on the grounds that a thinner kerf makes for quicker work. That's fair enough, but I suspect that as with all fashions, some people take it rather to excess. It's probably better to have enough set and a sharp saw; a little wiggle-room in the kerf allows gentle correction of the cut's direction, but a tight kerf constrains the saw to the direction in which it started cutting. That may be OK for a really skilled worker, but until you've become very familiar with any particular saw, a wee bit of wiggle room helps with accuracy. A set that gives a kerf between 25% and 50% wider than the blade thickness is probably about right in most (dry wood) circumstances, though there's no absolute 'right answer'. The best way to ensure fast cutting is to keep the saw sharp.
Finding a sawset that works for very small teeth can be a bit of a problem, in that most seem to designed for saws of about 10 tpi and larger, and to apply quite a lot of set. That's ideal for a carpenter dealing with slightly wet softwoods, but not quite so good for the cabinetmaker working very dry hardwoods. In North America, the Stanley 42X is often recommended - I gather they're not cheap, but you only need one per lifetime. In the UK, there are a couple of options. One is a new Somax, which are available in two versions, one of which is specifically for small teeth. Another option is to buy a used Eclipse 77 and thin down the punch so that it touches only one tooth of fine saws. Finding the right anvil setting can be a tad hit-and-miss at first - another plus for the 'buy a worn out wreck' idea - but aim for a setting that bends only about a half or two-thirds of the tooth, and NOT the blade behind the gullets.
There's an excellent Youtube video entitled 'Sharpening Western Saws' which whilst long at 2 1/4 hours, demontrates the tools and techniques very well. It's well worth a perusal.
Edit to add link to video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-_MF2Mnxwc
