Strange saw vise

[Cody Cantrell]

Has anyone seen a vise like this? It doesn't look to difficult to manufacture and it looks like it wouldn't vibrate like a normal vise, and it slopes.
sawvise.jpg

[Jim Koepke]

It may not have been a popular vise. Disston also made saw vises with a ball and clamp to achieve the same ends. Since it took less shop space, it was likely more popular.

jtk

[Mike Brady]

Great if you are a fan of sloped gullets. Bubble level longitudinally on your file or fleam guide and you're good to go.

[Tom M King]

I've never seen one like that. I do have one of the ball and socket ones, but it's not one of my favorites. I think I only used it once or twice. I am a fan of a little slope on a crosscut saw. I just level the file by feel.

Most of the guys I've ever seen sharpen a saw only used one hand on the file. That's the way I learned to sharpen a chainsaw, and the way I do handsaws too. The hand on the off side always felt weird to me. For a chainsaw, I like the smooth end on the file to get a running start into the tooth, but on a chain it's almost always more than one full stroke. On a handsaw I don't always use a full stroke so the little smooth end doesn't get much use. I start there, but jump from where I am on the file to the next tooth to be filed.

Edited to add: I only knew three men that sharpened hand saws, and they're all gone now.

[lowell holmes]

I spent 2 hours today filing teeth in a carcass saw. I'm glad I have my home made saw vice. I would throw that thing under the bus.

I use both hands on the saw. I was successful after setting the teeth with my Stanley 42x saw set.

[Tom M King]

I have a Wentworth No. 1, which is hard to beat if you don't want slope, but my favorite is a Stearns that has levers to lock the saw in the jaws, and the amount of slope. I don't remember the model number. They also made some with big wing nuts for the slope, but I've never had my hands on one of those. I like the levers. That Stearns is the one I use almost all the time, although the Wentworth gets the call for rip saws. The Stearns has a big wing nut on the "c"clamp to clamp it to something, and I mounted the Wentworth on a 2x board that puts it up at a good height off the floor, clamped to one of the benches in the shop.

The Best Things has one with 15" jaws that looks interesting, but I can't see how any of the clamping mechanisms work. The 1 I've been looking for an Acme for years, but only came on one that the guy only wanted to sell with the filing machine, and it was too much money for me.

Lowell, were you cutting new teeth in that Carcass saw?

[Cody Cantrell]

Tom,
I have the Wentworth also mounted to a board so it is closer to my working level. That seems to be a downfall to this vise is it looks best mounted on a bench.

[lowell holmes]

No Tom. I was reworking an old saw in my collection. I do that from time to time just to keep the skill.

I replaced the teeth on a 10" long saw I've had. I filed it 14 tpi to see if I could. I filed it rip. I wanted to file it crosscut, but it was to tiny.
I use +3.25 reading glasses, but I need stronger magnification if I want to file crosscut.

The Carcuss saw has turned out to be a keeper. I found that if I turn a board vertical to start the cut, after about 3" into the board, I can lay the board flat on the bench and saw the length of the board, keeping square edge on the cut. You might want to try it if it's new to you

[Tom M King]

windows4 005 (800x600).jpgI got a laugh out of that Lowell. I cut several hundred of these siding boards with a handsaw I had sharpened by throwing my leg over it on a sawhorse. There was nothing done to any of them after the first cut. That was one house that I built, and I built such new houses for 33 years before I went to working on old ones full time.

[lowell holmes]

Tom,
My daddy built houses with handsaws and he sharpened his saws.
I have saws that will cut and rip straight , and if one needs a bit of squaring up, a hand plane in my tool apron will deal with it.
I suppose I could sharpen a saw without a vise, but not like you did.

I have my daddy's saws. I also have one of my wife's grandfather's saws. He was a stair builder living in Hoboken in the early 20th century.

I will be repairing a neighbor's wooden fence in a few weeks when the weather breaks. My old bones just can't handle the cold.

I will take my saw bench and hand saws, brace and bits to fix it. I have all the electric tools to take, but I don't intend to use them.

[Tom M King]

I've never sharpened a saw without a vise. I've never seen anyone do that, but have seen some cobbled up contraptions used.

I never used a handsaw just for the sake of using a handsaw. I would have used a RAS on siding if a better job could be done, but the best way is with a handsaw.

[lowell holmes]

I have the full complement of saws and don't hesitate using them, power or hand.