HackSpace – September 2019

(Wang) #1
FORGE

The teeth are now shaped correctly, but they’re
not sharp yet, and they’re not in the right position
relative to the blade. You’ll need to use the saw-set
to push the teeth to the left and right of the blade.
The easiest way to set the blades is to work all the
way down the saw, setting the position of every
other tooth, and then flip the saw around to do the
other teeth. Make sure you don’t skip a tooth, as it
can be very frustrating to go back and correct your
mistake later on.
You can fine-tune how much you bend the teeth
to suit different tasks. Wider spacing will increase
the width of cut, but the saw will be less likely to
bind. A general rule of thumb is to set the teeth
about 1/3 of the width of the blade on either side.


The final step in the process is
sharpening the teeth using your
three-point file. If you’re sharpening
a ripsaw, you’ll file the teeth
perpendicular to the blade. Cross-cut
saws usually have a slight angle to
the blade, so they will be about
75–80 degrees (with the point of the
blade cutting when the saw pushes),
rather than the 90 degrees of a
ripsaw. Again, it’s easiest to work
down one side of the blade first,
sharpening all of the teeth on the left
side before flipping the saw over and
sharpening the right side. If you’re
having trouble judging the angle of
the file, you can create a simple
guide by part-cutting through a scrap of wood at the
appropriate angle. Just place the wood onto the
blade and use this to guide you.
You can also use this technique to sharpen an
electric reciprocating or oscillating saw. The
replacement blades for these saws are quite
expensive, so it can be worth the time it takes
to set and sharpen a blade in this way.
Hopefully, you’ll find that sharpening your tools
using these techniques will get your projects
running much more smoothly. Blunt tools are
very frustrating to use, and just a little extra
effort with a whetstone can save you from
hours of extra work, and allow you to breathe
extra life into expensive consumables.

Left
You don’t always
have to reshape the
teeth on your saw.
If the blade isn’t too
worn `ou Jan Qust
go ahead and set
the teeth then
sharpen them

Left
The numbers on a
saw-set represent
the number of teeth
per inch of the
saw you’re setting.
0t’s Qust a Nuide
thouNh so `ou Jan
experiment with
different settings

You can sharpen
old files by soaking
them in vinegar
for 24 hours,
then rinsing
and oiling them.

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