Different Saw Set on Toe vs Handle?

[Phillip J Allen]

Hi all,

I just re-tooth, set, & sharpened my first hand saw (6PPI). I looks pretty good and cuts well. But I am obviously no expert still. First thing, thanks to Logan's Cabinet Shoppe Videos! I couldn't have done it without you!

So now I am on to sharpening my others saws.

I have a cheapo 16" 11PPI Craftsman backsaw that I pick up at a yard saw for $3 (perfect candidate for experimenting!). Looking at the set I noticed that on the toe half of the blade the saw set is significant (of course I haven't measured it) while the handle half of the blade has virtually no set.

Is this normal?

I am going to sharpen this saw as a 11PPI rip for tenon. What would be the best strategy? File the teeth off and start over since you never want to bend the teeth back? Just set the entire saw the same or leave as is?

thanks,

Phil

[Joshua Byrd]

Is it normal? Not in my experience. I will tell you, however, that being a newbie to saw sharpening, you should keep the factory teeth to help guide you on your sharpening journey. If you joint them all down and refile from scratch, you'll have a very, very steep learning curve ahead of you. That's what I did with my first saw filing candidate, except it had horrible teeth that were all over the place. Sure, it was a British saw, but still... :p

Since you know that you're going to use the same ppi as it already has, you need to determine if the existing set at the toe will be appropriate for your work. If it is, just give the saw a light jointing, sharpen the teeth and set the no-set/low-set teeth to the heavier set. If the set at the toe is too heavy for what you want to do, then you'll probably benefit by jointing the teeth to about halfway down, which will preserve your saw files a bit while still keeping enough of the existing tooth to give you a very good guide as you file. File until the saw is sharp, then joint again, halfway down. Repeat as necessary until you've filed away the set.

[Jim Koepke]

Some folks lessen the set on a saw by squeezing the teeth in a vise.

I would guess the Craftsman saw isn't going to have hard or brittle teeth like some older saws.

One video shows a saw sharpener wrapping the teeth with a couple thicknesses of paper to control how much the set is affected. The tips of the teeth punch through the paper and then the paper on the saw plate limits how much the set is moved.

jtk

[Joshua Byrd]

To further that thought, even if you do break a few teeth by trying to squeeze out some of the set, it's almost the same as filing away the teeth in the first place.

[Kenneth Speed]

I've heard of saws sharpened with more set towards the heel and less at the toe but I've never heard of doing that on a back saw. Similarly some old hand saws have finer teeth at the toe to make it easier to start the cut, I frequently use an old crosscut saw toothed that way when I'm breaking out pieces for a project. Good luck on your sharpening venture!

Ken

[Jim Koepke]

Phil,

Just noticed this is your first post.

WELCOME TO THE CREEK!

What part of the world do you call home?

jtk

[Phillip J Allen]

Thanks for all the replys.

Well I decided to just squash the set from all the teeth in vise, re-shaped them, then re-set & put a bit of a sharpening on them.

No broken teeth! I guess Murphy, the guiding force in my life took a holiday yesterday!

It definately cuts better than it did so I guess I did it right.

I need to get the rest of my tools fixed up soon because in 2 weeks I will begin to build a Mission style wardrobe.

Phil
Lakewood Colorado