How To Sharpen A Hand Saw With A File Step-by-step - WD Tools

Our other sites:

Read more

• What Is A File?
• How Do Files Work?
• A Brief History Of Files
• What Are The Basic Parts Of A File?
• How Are Files Made?
• What Are Files Made Of?
• What Are Files Coated With?
• What Is Hardness?
• Why Should You Have A Handle On A File?
• What Are The Different Types Of File Handle?
• What Are The Basic Parts Of A File Handle?
• What Are The Important Characteristics Of Files?
• What Is A File's Cross Section?
• What Are Saw Files?
• What Are Machinist's Files?
• What Is A File's Profile?
• What Is A File's Cut?
• What Is A File's Coarseness?
• What Effect Do Cut And Coarseness Have On Filing?
• What Is A Swiss Pattern File?
• What Is An American Pattern File?
• How Did Bastard Files Get Their Name?
• Are American And Swiss Pattern Files Interchangeable?
• What Is A File's Size?
• Buying A Set Of Files Vs Buying Individually
• Are There Any Alternatives To Files?
• What Are The Different Types Of File?
• What Is A Mill File?
• What Are Taper Saw And Double Ended Saw Files?
• What Is A Crosscut File?
• What Are Cant Saw And Web Saw Files?
• What Is A Chainsaw File?
• What Is An Auger Bit File?
• What Are Hand And Flat Files?
• What Is A Handy File?
• What Is A Warding File?
• What Are Pillar Equalling And Square Edge Joint Files?
• What Is A Square File?
• What Is A Three Square File?
• What Are Half Round Ring And Marking Files?
• What Are Knife, Pippin And Auriform Files?
• What Is A Round File?
• What Is A Veneer Knife File?
• What Are Chequering And Thread Restoring Files?
• What Are Crochet And Round Edge Joint Files?
• What Are Slitting And Slotting Files?
• What Is A Barrette File?
• What Are Crossing And Oval Files?
• What Is A Fret End Dressing File?
• What Is An Ignition Point File?
• What Is A Long Angle Lathe File?
• What Are Needle And Escapement Files?
• What Is A Japanese Carving File?
• What Are Aluminium Files And Lead Float Files?
• What Is A Millenicut File?
• What Is A Vixen File?
• What Is A Flexible File?
• What Is A Diamond File?
• What Is A Rasp?
• What Is A Rasp's Coarseness?
• What Are The Different Types Of Rasp?
• What Is A Horse Rasp?
• What Are Rifflers?
• Choosing A File Overview
• Choosing A File Material
• Choosing A File Shaping
• Choosing A File Sharpening
• What Is A Filing Block?
• What Are The Different Filing Techniques?
• What Is Cross Filing?
• What Is Lathe Filing?
• What Is Draw Filing?
• What Is Chattering?
• How To Sharpen Blades With A File?
• How To Sharpen A Hand Saw With A File Choosing The Right Files?
• How To Sharpen A Hand Saw With A File Step By Step
• How To Sharpen A Chainsaw With A File?
• How To Sharpen An Auger Bit With A File?
• How To Create A Bevelled Edge With A File?
• How To Create Round Corners And Convex Surfaces With A File?
• How To Square A Round Hole With Files?
• How To Clone A Key With A Pippin File?
• How To File Your Nails?
• How To Chequer A Gun Handle With A File?
• How To Jimp Or Serrate A Knife Blade?
• How To Create Decorative Patterns With Files?
• How To Dress Guitar Frets With A File?
• How To Care For A Horses Hooves With A Horse Rasp?
• What Is Hot Rasping?
• Maintenance And Care Files
• How To Clean A File?
• How To Replace Parts For A File?
• How To Sharpen A File?
• How To Store A File Correctly?
• Can A File Really Get You Out Of Prison?
• Files Glossary

Home » files » How to sharpen a hand saw with a file step-by-step How to sharpen a hand saw with a file step-by-step Chris 6th August 2021 How to sharpen a hand saw with a file: step by step

Now that you have chosen the right size files and identified the type of saw that you’ll be sharpening, you are ready to make a start.

See Latest prices

How do you sharpen rip cut teeth with files?

This is the simpler of the two saw sharpening processes, as all of the teeth on the saw can be filed in the same way.

Step 1 - Secure Saw Blade

Clamp your saw blade in a vice with the teeth pointing upwards. Don’t forget to use a file block!

 

Make sure the teeth are as low down as they can be without being blocked by the edge of the vice. This will help to reduce unwanted vibrations in the saw blade as you’re filing.

Step 2 - Level Off Teeth

Run your mill file all the way across the top of the teeth of your saw, applying light pressure.

 

This will create a series of flat spots which will shine when the light hits them. By the time you’re done sharpening, all of these spots should be the same size.

Step 3 - Sharpening

You’ll need to switch over to your taper saw file. With your dominant hand, hold the handle with your thumb angled towards the point of the file. Grip the point of the file with the thumb and forefinger of your non-dominant hand.

Use just two strokes of the file in the gap between each of the teeth. Using the same number of strokes each time will give you consistent, neat teeth.

When filing, be sure to keep the file level. If someone was watching you with the saw end on, they should be able to see a perfect T shape.

 

You also need to make sure the file is level with the saw blade.

Step 4 - Evening Out

If any of your teeth still have a wide flat spot on the top, file the back of them (the side pointing towards the handle) until they come to a point.

 

See Latest prices

How do you sharpen a crosscut saw with a file?

The process for sharpening crosscut saws is very similar to the one used to sharpen rip saws. Below we have broken it down in to an easy to read step by step guide.

 

Step 1 & 2 - As Above

Secure your saw in the vice and level off the teeth as described in the above guide to sharpening rip saws.

Step 3 - Mark Cutting Edge

To begin the sharpening process, run a marker along the top of your saw teeth.

 

You’ll need to sharpen alternate teeth, so this will help you to keep a track of your progress and prevent mistakes if you lose concentration. Teeth that have already been filed will have the mark from the pen worn away.

Step 4 - Sharpening

This works in the same way as sharpening rip cut saws. However, instead of holding the file square to the saw blade, the point will need to be tilted 15° away from the handle during your first pass.

Each alternate gap between teeth should be filed twice. Once this is done, the same process should be applied to the remaining gaps, but with the point of the file tilted 15° towards the handle.

Sharpening in this way makes the saw’s teeth point alternately in opposite directions. Looking at the saw end-on should show that there are two rows of points running side by side.

 

Having the teeth set up like this means the saw has a ‘fleam’, which cuts a wider channel (kerf) and therefore prevents the saw from jamming when cutting across the grain.

Step 5 - Gullets

Larger crosscut saws can have deep, arch-shaped gullets that allow material to be pushed out of the kerf when sawing logs.

 

The rounded side of the crosscut file can be used to deepen these if they are starting to look shallow after multiple saw sharpenings.

See Latest prices Previous

How to sharpen a hand saw with a file choosing the right files?

Next

How to sharpen a chainsaw with a file?

Amazon Associate Partners

We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

Email: [email protected]

• About Us

• Terms & Conditions

• Privacy Policy

• Contact Us