# Saw Sharpening Help



## eschatz (Feb 12, 2014)

Bought a Disston D-23 Cross Cut for $10 today. A little rusty but it's a user for sure. It needs a sharpening and I'm not sure how to go about it. I know where I can get an old saw vice for about $24. Is that good? I know it's just a vice but are there things I should look out for?

Sidebar question: Anybody know any concise and manageable videos about sharpening a cross cut or rip saw?

Grassy-ass Amigos


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## tc65 (Jan 9, 2012)

A saw vice is sure nice to have, but not a necessity. Many different options.

Here are a couple of pieces of required reading:

http://www.blackburntools.com/articles/saw-tooth-geometry/index.html

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

If you read through and understand all the previous two links talk about, you are set to go. Of course, I read through each about 20 times before I understood all they were talking about. And I still have to read them as a reminder before I sharpen a saw.

If you do some searching here, there have been several good saw sharpening threads.

Finally, you will need a couple of good files. Here is a great source: http://www.leevalley.com/us/wood/page.aspx?p=69854&cat=1,43072,43089&ap=1 

Don't be tempted if you find a triangular saw file in a big box store, they are mostly crap - unless some of them have started carrying Grobet files.

There are also several members here who sharpen their own saws and can answer questions as they arise.

Sorry, don't know of any videos, they are probably out there, but I don't watch many videos. Even if you find some good videos, I'd recommend studying the two previous links before watching them, understanding the terminology will help with watching.


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## acowboy (Nov 20, 2013)

Here is a nice video..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UA5DixEaaUo


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## Old Sneelock (Apr 19, 2014)

After I spent time looking up methods for saw sharpening I made a series of videos on how to clean, repair, repair the handle on, sharpen and set crosscut and rip saws. 
I had a lot of people help me and I'm sharing the knowledge. 

Cross cut: http://youtu.be/7F5rN3Y2rpg
Rip: http://youtu.be/A_i-36WsaBM

When I was making the videos I was using an iron sharpening vise. 
They work well but a lot of guys are using two boards clamped around the blade. It is a little more secure and you don't have to move the saw every 9" of sharpening. You can't tilt the saw as easily but for starting it will work fine.


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## amckenzie4 (Apr 29, 2010)

Instead of a vise, I use a length of 1x2, resawed down the middle except for the last two or three inches. That's a bit of a trick if this is your first saw, but I was lucky enough to have a rip saw that only needed a little work.

I made the 1x2 as long as my longest sawplate, so I can sharpen end-to-end without moving it, and I put the whole thing in my bench's leg vise. If a saw just needs touching up, I can file the whole thing without moving it. If it needs more serious work, I generally move it every 10 inches or so so I'm always working over the leg vise.


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## Manuka Jock (Jun 27, 2011)

We used to make saw grips on the job out of two offcuts of bevel backed weather board .
They were jam fitted into V's let into the top ends of a lightweight 3"x1" frame . The working height was at ribcage/diaphragm level . The frame was able to be leaned against the trailer , the lunch table , the saw bench , wall framing , anything really , and kept stable by the simple expedient of resting one foot on the bottom cross-member.


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