Author Topic: Buck Saw Sharpening (of the non-chainsaw variety) (Read 4919 times)

catalytic · « **on:** January 29, 2011, 08:23:36 PM »

I'm learning to sharpen this old tuttle/champion tooth Disston buck saw. The saw will be put to work on 100' jack pine and the occasional spruce, poplar, and birch in a remote cabin in Northern Ontario. We have chainsaws up there, but it's not always easy to get access to gasoline there so the oldschool manual alternatives see a fair bit of use. I have a couple of questions:

1. How much lower should the rakers be filed/swaged compared to the teeth given that the saw will be used on mature, fresh cut jack pine? does 0.015" sound about right? Is it best to file the rakers nearly to shape before swaging?
2. Will the saw set shown below work on this saw? If so, can anyone tell me how to adjust it to fit this saw properly? I can't find instructions on doing this in any of the forestry manuals im reading.

Thanks,
Adam

Saw tooth closeup:

The saw:

The saw set:

D._Frederick · « **Reply #1 on:** January 29, 2011, 10:08:00 PM »

The way I seen that type of saw sharpened some sixty years ago, was the teeth were filed then set by placing an (anvil) in back of the tooth and bending the tooth out word with a hammer, the amount of set was checked with a spider. The rakers were set by hammering the tips down, then filed sharp. I don't remember any tool to measure the depth.

I think the tool you show is used to set hand saws.

Jeff · « **Reply #2 on:** January 29, 2011, 10:11:42 PM »

catalytic, this attachment should help you out. Its a PDF of the Forest Service crosscut saw manual

catalytic · « **Reply #3 on:** January 29, 2011, 11:36:01 PM »

Thanks for the replies and the link to the manual guys. I've actually already been using this manual along with a book on sharpening to inform my work on this saw. I'm currently stuck on the rakers -- it seems to take a ton of pounding to get them to swage over noticeably. I would really appreciate any general tips you guys have as well.

AT sawyer · « **Reply #4 on:** February 05, 2011, 12:43:17 PM »

Cut the raker's V deep and thin out to the edges if you're trying to swage the tips. But you'll need a pin gauge to keep them a little higher than final height which you'll finish with a raker gauge. Not all gauges will work on a small saw. Consider this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrYsFlx3OSY

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