Caress of Steel

In a previous post, I mentioned I had picked up a 2-man crosscut saw at our local auction house.  I finally got around to cleaning it up this past weekend.

The saw was in very good shape.  The handles were sturdy and well-fastened.  The blade did not appear to be too rusty, and the teeth looked to be in good shape.

I sanded the blade first on both sides with 100 grit paper, and then rubbed it with steel wool.  A good coat of WD-40 was rubbed over both sides.  I was happy with the surface.

I then looked at the teeth.  There are a number of tooth patterns for saws.  This saw is set with a champion tooth pattern.  Two triangular teeth are set slightly out of line of one another, while a smaller 2-pronged tooth (known as the raker) is set in line.  The triangular teeth do the cutting, while the raker help to clean the shavings out of the cut.

I checked the height of the rakers.  They should be just below the cutting teeth.  If the rakers are above the level of the triangular cutting teeth, it will be hard to saw.   Luckily for me, all the teeth were in good shape and at the correct level.  I then mounted the saw in a vice, and proceeded to sharpen the teeth with a file.  I still need to check the set of the teeth (i.e., the offset angles between the teeth) to make sure that they are properly aligned.

I'll have to get the wife out soon and give the saw a try.  I am sure we aren't a matched sawing team.  Hopefully using the saw out won't cause a big fight!