Hand saw re-toothing

[Mark Buchanan]

I have a couple of hand saws that I would like to have re-toothed. I cant find anyone in my area that even knows what re-toothing is much less have the ability to do it. The last ones I had done were about 25 years ago by a company in Atlanta but they are extinct. Google turned up http://www.cookes-sharpening.com/. Anyone used this service or know of a reliable one?

[Jeff Burks]

Steve Cooke just died (http://blog.woodworking-magazine.com/blog/Steve+Cooke+The+Sharpening+Guy+Dies+At+61.aspx) so that is probably not an option unless somebody is taking over his business. Have you considered retoothing the saws yourself? If you have another saw of the same tooth pattern you can use the existing pattern to transfer the tooth count to the altered blade. Grind the teeth off the blade you want to change, remove the handles from both saws and then tape the blades together and clamp them in a saw vise. You can then file through the old teeth to get the same TPI count. Depending on the spring steel hardness you might burn out a file or two in the process.

[Mark Buchanan]

That is sad. At 61 he was just a youngster. Condolences to his family and friends.

Mark

[Jonathan McCullough]

How bad is it that you would want to retooth? Are the teeth uneven from tooth to tooth? Does it just need to be jointed and sharpened? Be careful if you're using a grinder; I find that a file is sufficient and there's no danger of overheating the thin steel saw plate.

[Robert Rozaieski]

If the teeth are already evenly spaced, you don't need to fully retooth it from scratch. You can joint it and file it a couple of times without completely removing the old teeth to save the original spacing and give you a guide. All it takes is a mil file, a tapered saw file of the proper size, a saw set, and some time and patience to try. It's really not that hard. See here (http://www.vintagesaws.com/library/primer/sharp.html) for instructions.

On the other hand, if the spacing is all uneven and wrong and all the teeth really do need to be completely removed and recut from scratch, you can do it yourself using a paper guide. File all the old teeth off with a mil file, then attach the paper guide to the saw plate.
http://logancabinetshoppe.weebly.com/uploads/9/4/7/5/947508/7945022_orig.jpg

Use the paper guide to guide the spacing of the new teeth. You can even fold the guide over the saw plate and file right through the paper on each line to establish the spacing. Then remove the paper and finish shaping and sharpening the teeth. Again, the hardest part is getting the confidence to try. If you take your time, it's not as hard as it seems.

If after all this, you still want to send the saw out, check out Bad Axe Saws (http://www.badaxetoolworks.com/bad-axe-restoration-services.html) (Mark Harrell) or look up Daryl Weir over on Woodnet. Both will do a 1st class job at a reasonable cost.

[David Weaver]

You can even fold the guide over the saw plate and file right through the paper on each line to establish the spacing.

I do this. As long as the paper is tight, there is a big benefit to doing this - it makes it very easy to get a taper saw file to bite exactly where you want it to, because it eases through the paper into the metal.

Going on a bare saw plate with no paper and a new file is kind of tough, and doing things like sawing with a hacksaw blade leave a little to be desired for accuracy.

I used to pull all of my saws (japanese saws), but now I'm going with a combination, and most of the western saws I'm using are panel saws and carpenter's saws. It took me about two saws of cutting teeth in bare to realize that it is easier to joint a saw several times and reshape the teeth that are there unless they are coney island freak show bad or with some missing.

When you cut new teeth into a file or do a major reshaping, especially on an old saw that might be hard, just resign yourself to using the file and throwing it out when you're done.

Can you post a picture of the teeth so we can see how bad they are? Might help people give you an opinion.

Time and effort-wise, it's probably taken me about an hour and a half to reshape ugly teeth and then file them sharp on an 8 point crosscut saw. It's kind of relaxing.

[Bob Easton]

Another trick: To keep that folded over piece of paper from wandering around on its own, use rubber cement. It is light tack and easily removed, but strong enough for holding all sorts of patterns in place. Get it at the stationery store in brush-on form, or an art supply store for aerosol form.

[Shawn Albe]

Anyone used this service or know of a reliable one?

You might try Mark Harrell at Bad Axe Toolworks. He did restoration before starting BATW and still offers those services, including retoothing. I have one of his new backsaws and it is insanely sharp.

[Dave Cav]

You might try Mark Harrell at Bad Axe Toolworks. He did restoration before starting BATW and still offers those services, including retoothing. I have one of his new backsaws and it is insanely sharp.

I had Mark retooth and file an old Sandvik backsaw into a carcase saw. He did a nice job.

[Brian Kent]

In a previous thread on re-toothing someone was using a threaded rod next to the blade as a guide.