Saw vise height

[Thomas Wilson]

You can kind of see where the Gramercy folks got their design from.

[Blake M Williams]

I have a large wooden vise at elbow height. I love my Wentworth and raised it a little higher. Even with my magnified swivel lamp, I like to get close to tiny teeth without too much bending over.

[steven c newman]

I remembered seeing an old photo....long ago.....taken at a Train Station. Fellow was just sitting there, with his portable saw vise, one saw in the vise, 3 others laying at his feet. Left armwent over the saw and saw vise, right hand was busy with the file.....

Couple of kids standing there, watching him work. Like he had to get all those saws done before the train departed the station...


I might have to dig around, and see IF I can find it......I think the guy was sitting on a stool....

[Tom Bussey]

Mount the vise on a board and clamp it to your bench. Then find the height your body likes. When you find that, then make your final holder.

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[Thomas Wilson]

Here is my completed saw vise bracket. It is very rigid and I am pleased with the height. The height is 44 1/2 inches above the floor.

SawViseFront.jpgSawViseBack.jpg
I will probably cut off a lot of the clamping board to the left of the saw. I had planned to use a holdfast on the left side and needed to be close to a bench hole. The big C-clamp works just fine and does not need the extra width. That will make the vise easier to store. I will cut off the excess after I have sharpened a saw for the task.

I am still getting up the courage to file a saw. To actually begin, I need to buy the vise, build (overbuild) the bracket, buy all the tools, buy a book, study, think, then put file to saw. Almost there.
SawViseEngineering.jpg
When I am ready, I will file my grandfather's saw. It is a Disston D-23. I also have my father's D-23. It is very similar. One is from Canada, the other from the US.
SawViseGranddaddysSaw.jpg

[mike stenson]

Mine's set up to use holdfasts, at elbow height. Also means I can use clamps on other benches.

[Thomas Wilson]

Looks good, Mike. How do you rate your sharpening? I am guessing because of the Veritas filing guide that you are, like me, relatively new to sharpening. How is it going?

[Jim Matthews]

I would encourage a novice to have a go at this, without too much concern over getting things wrong. If your saw is already dull, you can't really make things worse with a light filing.

Have a listen to instructional videos.
That "singing" sound as the file removes a little metal is instructive.

Start with Rip Cut teeth, there's less to keep aligned.

[Thomas Wilson]

For me it’s like getting into the water for the first time in spring. I have work up to it. I do have a tendency to procrastinate but I am building up the reluctance for entertainment here. I have three practice plates from Lie-Nielsen that are toothed but not sharpened so there is absolutely no risk at all to screwing it up. If even one of them is successful, I will make a kerfing saw.

[steven c newman]

Might start with a BIG toothed Rip saw blade, first. get all the practice on the 4-6ppi blades first, to get a feel as to how to use the file, how to set the saw in the vise, how to set the light to show the teeth the best...get used to using a file....once a rip saw is done...then move on the to "finer" teeth...
BTW: use BOTH hands to hold and guide the file....

[Thomas Wilson]

Thanks Steven. The practice blanks have coarse teeth on one edge about 5-6 tpi and fine teeth on the other, 12-14 tpi. I don’t have them with me in Atlanta to check. The material is fairly thin, like for a dovetail or sash saw. I do not have a supply of yard sale acquisitions like you to rehabilitate. The only two saws I have that need sharpening are the inherited ones. They are both crosscut. I understand that getting the angles right on a crosscut saw is harder.