Veritas dovetail saw question

[Russ Kupiec]

LOML surprised me with pair of Lee Valley Veritas dovetail saws. Lovely little things, nice feel in the hand. The anonymous gurus at Lee Valley included some directions with the saws that say to stone the blades once or twice depending on number of teeth, to get burrs off the teeth for faster cutting. I've never done this with a saw before. The idea sounds a little scary to me. Can anyone suggest a technique that keeps me from screwing up the teeth??

[Chen-Tin Tsai]

Personally, I've found the teeth on my Veritas dovetail saws to cut perfectly out of the box. Even if there were a few burrs from sharpening, cutting a few dovetails will remove the burrs anyway. Why not make a few practice cuts to get familiar with them?

[Jeff Heath]

Stoning both sides of the blade equally with one or two passes will only remove the burrs leftover from the sharpening process. You will not effect the set with one or two passes. This is common procedure after sharpening your saw.

[Tony Zaffuto]

Using the saws a few times will accomplish the same thing.

The Veritas saws are gems! I have a carcass saw that cuts with the best of them--both vintage and modern. I bought the new Veritas gent's CC saw and it is equally to the task--very comfortable handle (I have the LN "broom handle" CC that is used rarely). The other day I ordered the other Veritas gent's rip saw for small dovetailing. Can't believe the price/quality ratio on these saws!

[Curt Putnam]

I simply used mine. If there was a burr present, I really didn't notice. By the time you get enough practice cuts in to get the feel of the saws, whatever burr may have been present will long be gone.

[Mark Baldwin III]

Great saws! I got mine before I knew how to sharpen, so I didn't stone them. In use, whatever burr there is will wear off. However, if you intend to learn to sharpen them at some point, you'll need to learn to stone the teeth. I use an old short oil stone and A LIGHT TOUCH. You'd be surprised with the difference in cutting after a single light pass down each side of the teeth.
It's better to stone too lightly. Just lightly pull the stone from the heel towards the toe of the plate. This step is vital once you start sharpening, because it allows you to correct any over setting in the teeth, as well as remove burrs.
I use an oil stone because I think a saw would tear up a water stone in pretty short order.

[Russ Kupiec]

Thank you all for your expertise. I went with the majority and cut practice dovetails in half inch hard maple. I do admit I have been somewhat of a coward regarding saw set and sharpening. Some where in a dusty corner of my shop is a saw set and file jig. Probably find it on one of those day when the power is out here. I use a LED headlamp alot so I can I can at least clean my shop when my rickety power poles are shaking in the wind.
Thanks again.

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

I would imagine one of those small DMT hones would work well, too. I've been using a fine file on larger stones, using no pressure, just letting the weight of the file do the work - but most of my saws have come to me with too much set as it is, so removing a bit of set with the burrs doesn't hurt.

[John A. Callaway]

Just make a few good full blade length back and forth cuts all the way down to the saw back and they will be ready to go