I keep going off on tangents here. I was at the Big Box Home Improvement Store (BBHIS) and found some triangular files for sharpening saws. The files that I have been using were purchased in the 1970's, so they are getting old. Speaking of getting old, that isn't a typo.... I really did buy those files in the 1970's. Yikes! Where did all the years go?
Anyway, I thought that my saw sharpening might be made a bit easier if I had some new files. So I picked up a couple of them.
Two New Saw Files
Sitting next to the files is my new Saw Set. My old saw set was also purchased way back then (in the early 1980's if my memory serves), so I bought a new one. This one looks like it will be a superior tool for setting my smaller saws. It has an adjustment knob on the top for setting the tooth pitch of the saw.
This is a SOMAX NO. 250 from Japan and Is Nicely Built
My little back saw has a tooth pitch of 12 1/2 or 13 teeth per inch. The new saw set only goes up to 12, but I think that it will do for that saw anyway. Here is the setting on the tool.
I Have Set it Showing the Ramp at 12 TPI
It is a pretty simple tool. The setting is just a circular ramp that goes up gently, applying a slightly smaller angle as the number of teeth increases. You can see in the photo that the ramp drops off just under the 12. That is where the smallest number of teeth (4) and the largest angle resides.
I set my saw into an impromptu jig in the vise to see how the new files work.
The Jig is Just Two Scrap Boards to Hold the Saw Blade
I have an old, beat up desk chair in the shop. It no longer goes up and down, so it is permanently bottomed out. But it turns out that it is the perfect height for sharpening my saws in the bench vise.
A Re-Purposed Desk Chair
I used the new file to go down the saw blade, tooth by tooth, sharpening each one. It didn't work out too well because the file seemed to be destroying half of the teeth.
Why Are Half the Teeth Too Small Now?
I tried different angles and different number of strokes, but the teeth on one side of the blade just disappeared.
Some of These Teeth are All But Gone Now
I tried my new saw set on it after I had finished sharpening, but it did not do much to the little nubs of teeth left on that one side. The saw cuts, but not very well.
It Still Cuts, but....
So I went back to scraping my back board thin. I will have to fix the saw later.
Same Old Scraper; Nothing to See Here
It left a pile of sawdust and shavings on the floor.
The Scraper Can Remove a Lot of Wood
That's it for now. I wonder what happened with that saw?
