A saw-sharpening "thank you"
To all those of you who have posted saw sharpening advice on this forum: thank you for your words of wisdom, advice, and encouragement. While none of these were directed at me, specifically, when it comes to saw sharpening, I've received a lot of good advice, with the sources not always in agreement with each other on some points but all agreeing that one should just go ahead and do it because it's easier than beginners assume. The sometimes-contradictory nature of the advice demonstrated to me that there are clearly many right ways of sharpening a saw; this in particular encouraged me to go ahead and try it out. I'll add my voice to the rising chorus of "I should have done this a long time ago!"
I'll relate my own story in the hopes that it'll convince some other beginner to start sharpening their own saws.
When I first got my Veritas dovetail saw (14 tpi , I assumed (given the outstanding quality of the other Veritas products I own) that the factory sharpening, set, and tuning would make it ready to go out of the box. I should have known better; I've never assumed that any non-saw sharp object I have purchased was ready to go out of the box. It cut fine; better than the not-so-premium saws I had used previously. I assumed that the saw's tendency to cut a kerf that curved to the right as it got deeper into the wood was my fault as a beginner; clearly, with a saw of this caliber (even as an "entry-level premium" saw, as I've seen it described elsewhere) the saw should be good and any issues should be my own lack of skill, right? Well, then my wife bought a Lie-Nielsen Tapered Tenon Saw for me as a 10th anniversary gift. Oddly, I was able to cut straight and hit my line much better with this larger and longer saw. Was it the extra height, extra weight, and extra length that made the difference, or was it the saw and how it was built, sharpened, and set? I waited until my Veritas was slowing down and clearly was badly in need of sharpening to find out.
Hoping not to mess up my saw too badly, I cut a kerf in a piece of scrap, inserted the blade, clamped it into my vise with the toothline slightly protruding, very lightly jointed the teeth, and started in with the file, using light strokes mimicking a confidence I didn't initially feel. My file's tang was inserted into a hole in a piece of scrap, with one of the large flat faces of the file parallel to the large flat face of the scrap so that I could more easily make sure I kept my angles consistent. Thanks for these tips! I also used a tip that I believe I first saw on a Chris Gochnour saw sharpening video, in which he suggests that a beginner file every other tooth (even on a rip saw) and then flip the saw around and file the remaining teeth: this way, he says, any (consistent) biases in the file angles (such as unintentional fleam) will cancel out, leaving a saw that should cut straighter. Next, I "tuned" the set using the Wenzloff method (wrap the toothline in paper and squeeze the saw plate in the vise). Expecting mediocre results from my first attempt, I started cutting a dado. Yes, I know a dado is cross cut and this saw is (still) filed rip, but it was hard maple, I used a marking knife to define the cut line, and this saw is 14 tpi. Plus, cross cuts are where the tracking problems were most apparent; I could never (previously) cut a straight, vertical dado with this saw. So, a cross cut seemed like the ideal test.
What a difference! The saw now cut nicely vertical straight kerfs and faster than when it had been new; I can follow a line like never before and it's so much easier to just let the saw do the work. Clearly, it was the factory (machine?) set and sharpening of the saw and not me that was the problem. Now that I've sharpened it and evened out the set, this thing cuts better than I had imagined it could. No offense to Lee Valley/Veritas (I'm a big fan every tool I've purchased from them, including this one), but something went not-quite-right at the factory on sharpening and setting this particular example, and I should have long ago taken the few minutes required to sharpen and tune it. Not that I have anything close to a vast array of experience, but in my beginner-level estimation it went from being very good to an absolutely wonderful saw.
Once again, a big "thank you" to everyone who has provided saw-sharpening advice on SMC!
Best regards,
Michael Bulatowicz
