Retoothing a Saw

[James Phillips]

I have a Disston D-8 filed cross cut and I really need a rip saw. The quality of the Disston is higher than what I could buy to day with out paying out the nose....

I have not sharpened my own saws before, but am thinking of retoothing this thing. What am I getting myself into? Should I just take it to a sharpening shop? What would something like that set me back?

Thanks
James

[John Kananis]

James, you can get that saw sharpened for 8-20 dollars depending where you go.

However, consider doing it yourself (really not that hard) - watch the Paul Sellers video on Youtube (simplest instructions IMHO). GL

[Mike Siemsen]

I have a re toother which makes it fairly easy. I would not want to file in that many teeth, especially big ripsaw teeth. Keep your eyes open for a decent ripsaw. I see this craigslist ad has a thumbhole d8 in Littleton for $30
Antique/Vintage Woodworking Hand Tools! Disston Stanley Norlund Saw - $1 (Littleton)

[lowell holmes]

You don't need a machine.

It really is easy to file the teeth flat with a course flat file, attach a paper pattern with the tpi you want, and file new teeth with saw files.

There are video's from Popwood on the subject. I really recommend the Herman videos

[Mark Kuzee]

James,
My opinion is that you should purchase another dedicated rip saw.
Reasons: You did not mention the length of your current saw but rip saws were typically 26-28" in length. You can rip with a shorter saw but...

Retoothing by definition is removing all the teeth and creating new. This is done to not only change the tooth count but, on occasion, to straighten the tooth line.
I would not recommend this be done with a file. The only instance where this may work is if you just remove every other tooth converting a 10pt to a 5 pt and changing the tooth geometry in the process. Lots-o-work.

Most rips are 5 to 6 pts and they are available on the popular website.

You could file your xcut teeth into a rip tooth and, I have done this on rare occasions but you can not change the tooth count without removing all the current teeth (or do what I mentioned above).

Most cross cuts are between 8 and 10 tpi. The finest rip saw I use for general work is a 7 pt but I only use that on thin stock.

For general ripping I find something in the 5 to 6pts per inch to be a good compromise.

Good luck

Mark

[lowell holmes]

When sharpening a saw, it is customary to joint the teeth. You do this with a 10"-12" mill bastard file. If its a resharpening, you flatten the tooth line until it is level. Then, using saw files, you shape and sharpen the teeth to sharpness. If you joint the teeth severely, you will end up with no teeth and a flat straight saw plate. The new teeth can be filed with a saw file. You can make the tooth count any number you want. I have patterns of lines on 10, 12, or what ever tooth per inch you want. Cut a strip from this pattern and tape it to the saw plate. This gives you the tpi your looking for.

Popular Woodworking has a video "Sharpen your Handsaw" with Ron Herman. I highly recommend it. You can download it from their site. It's an enjoyable tape to watch.
Happy saw sharpening. It's something of a slippery slope your starting on.

[Jim Koepke]

I have a Disston D-8 filed cross cut and I really need a rip saw. The quality of the Disston is higher than what I could buy to day with out paying out the nose....

I have not sharpened my own saws before, but am thinking of retoothing this thing. What am I getting myself into? Should I just take it to a sharpening shop? What would something like that set me back?

Thanks
James

James,

Do you want to change the tooth count?

If not, it isn't difficult to change the profile of the saw teeth to rip from crosscut.

There are all kinds of videos, DVDs and web sites to help you do this.

The one that helped me is, "Saw Filing--A Beginner's Primer" at:

http://www.vintagesaws.com/cgi-bin/f...y/library.html

You shouldn't worry about damaging your saw. At worst you will have to send it to a professional. Which isn't much different than your current option.

Some folks will buy a junk saw to practice on before working on a good saw.

BTW, my rip saws run from 6ppi to 15ppi. The finer toothed ones being for cutting dovetails and other joinery tasks.

The great thing about doing your own saws is you can have a larger variety at a much lower cost than buying modern saws in all the tooth profiles.

jtk

[Ron Bontz]

Hi James.
Obviously there are differences of opinions here. Each have their ups and down sides. Personally, I would just touch up and sharpen your cross cut saw that is probably at least a 7 or 8ppi. Then look at your local flea markets, estate/ yard sales first for a decent rip saw. D8 or equivalent. Some hidden treasures can be found there. Then Craig's list and finally the over priced Bay. Some of the guys on these forums will rehab a saw and sell them as well. Those will cost a little more, but the work should already be done for you and ready to cut. So... many possibilities. The main thing is to make sure the plate is straight and the handle solid. Even handles can be repaired though. Best of luck to you.

[James Phillips]

Thanks for all the inputs.... I already have a very nice circa 1900 Disston D-100 crosscut saw, so that is part of the reason for repurposing this one. I think it is around 7 TPI, so I would not have to completely retouch, only reshape a little. I may give it a shot

[george wilson]

I had to STOP sending museum saws out to be sharpened. There used to be a good sharpener,but I began to get back bad work that I had to re do.

Any hack can set himself up as a saw sharpener,so it would be best if you could learn to do it yourself.

Once a maintenance shop gave a set of drill bits to a local guy who talked like he was a competent sharpener. The idiot ground the drills with the angles BACKWARDS(the drills would have had to be rotated backwards to do any cutting!),plus,of un even,off center ground,too. That was the end of them dealing with mr. hot shot!

[lowell holmes]

If you don't want to do it yourself, there is a store in Houston that can re-tooth a handsaw. It is Circle Saw. If you take a saw to them to be sharpened, they will re-tooth it if you want them to. I'm sure there are shops in other cities that will do the same. Circle Saw's prices are quite reasonable.

Having said that, it's not difficult to file the teeth of a saw and re-tooth it with a file.

[Brett Fulkerson]

James, I did just what you are proposing. I purchased a D-8 crosscut from e-bay and the teeth were a mess. I had never sharpened a saw before. Before starting, I watched several videos on saw sharpening from Sellers and Herman. I then filed all the teeth off with a flat mill file until the saw plate was smooth and straight, taped a paper printout with 5.5 TPI spacing to the saw vise and then recut the teeth and sharpened them into a rip pattern using saw files. It took a while but was worth it. I now have a D-8 rip saw that cuts smoothly and straight.

[Andrew Pitonyak]

James, I did just what you are proposing. I purchased a D-8 crosscut from e-bay and the teeth were a mess. I had never sharpened a saw before. Before starting, I watched several videos on saw sharpening from Sellers and Herman. I then filed all the teeth off with a flat mill file until the saw plate was smooth and straight, taped a paper printout with 5.5 TPI spacing to the saw vise and then recut the teeth and sharpened them into a rip pattern using saw files. It took a while but was worth it. I now have a D-8 rip saw that cuts smoothly and straight.

So, for your first sharpening experience, you chose to start entirely new?

I applaud you in this. I would have loved to see photos of the process, since I don't consider this for the faint of heart.

[Tom Vanzant]

Although you can develop a 5-1/2 PPI spacing easily enough on a computer, marking off 3/16" intervals from a tape or ruler will get you 5-1/3 PPI...close enough for all but a few.

[Jim Koepke]

Welcome Brett and thanks for posting on your saw experience.

So many see a mystic art involved in sharpening, especially saws. In reality it is such a simple process that many may feel they must be missing something.

Starting with a smooth saw plate is a bit more involved. It can also be hard on a file.

The Norse Woodsmith site has some filing templates:

http://norsewoodsmith.com/files/file...-templates.pdf

Here is a page for a progressive pitch:

http://norsewoodsmith.com/files/file/Progressive.pdf

These are starting points. If you wanted a 5-1/2 ppi chart, enlarge the 11ppi 2X or just file on every other line.

I once retoothed a saw at 4-1/2ppi. It was a bit difficult for me to use. The plate wasn't heavy enough for the aggressiveness and snapped in use.

jtk