Replies

1. 
   domermatt | Dec 28, 2004 02:12am | #1

   Harold Payson wrote a book entitled "Keeping the Cutting Edge: Setting and Sharpening Hand and Power Saws". He does an excellent job describing the process. It's really something better done with pictures to help visualize how to hold the file for the different strokes.

   So I would assume you are sharpening it to use the saw. You must definitely be a galoot in that case. We need more people who aren't afraid to say I don't care if it's been obsolete for 100 years, I want to do it this way!!

   When people 100 years from now see my work, they'll know I cared. --Matt Mulka
2. 
   UncleDunc | Dec 28, 2004 05:44am | #2

   Here's a Google search string you might find helpful. If that's not enough hits, remove the -chain and -chainsaw elements for more.

   sharpening saw raker -chain -chainsaw

   And here are two of the results that might be helpful. The one from MEN looks fairly thorough. The other one is more like a handful of hints.

   http://www.motherearthnews.com/arc/2159/
   http://handbooks.btcv.org.uk/handbooks/content/section/1737

3. 
   DavidxDoud | Dec 28, 2004 06:10am | #3

   click here - 13664.2 

    

    

   "there's enough for everyone"
4. 
   Harryd | Jan 02, 2005 05:34am | #4

     I remember my dad sharpening his crosscut saw in the woods with a saw kerf in a stump as a vise, with a wood wedge to bind the saw, and an 8 inch Black Diamond mill file.  He had a saw set from my granddad, who had supported a family with that same saw in the 19- oughts, -teens and early twenties.  In the forties and fifties, Dad and I cut firewood and occasionally pulpwood. 

   It seems that saw sharpening was an easy skill to learn, especially when a dull or improperly set saw drains all one's energy with little to show for it.

    

   HD

1. 
   joinerswork | Jan 02, 2005 11:54pm | #6

   Hello Harry,

   While I don't doubt that your dad was able to "touch up" his saw in the woods, the book I got from the US Forest Service a while back says that a good filer can sharpen a 2- man crosscut in 6-8 hours.  The filer was the highest paid workman in the old lumber camps, and he never went out in the woods.

   Sharpening a 2-man saw is a good deal more involved than filing a handsaw, and requires tools other than a file to be done correctly.  I have my grandad's 6' Simonds saw, and his set of sharpening tools.  One weekend I intend to learn how to use them.  The sharpening tools that is, I have already gotten instruction from my old man on using the saw, "G-d--mmit boy, I don't mind you ridin' the other end of this thing, but do you have to DRAG YOUR FEET?!!"

   Regards,

   Ray

1. 
   billwig | Jan 06, 2005 01:58am | #7

   Does the book from the forewst service tell/show how to sharpen a two man saw?  If yes, is this book still available? Can it be accessed on line?  Thanks bill wig

1. 
   joinerswork | Jan 06, 2005 04:54pm | #8

   Hello Bill,

   I got the books from the US Forest Service website.  It turns out that there is a page where you can search for publications, and some are available online to see or download.  I didn't have much luck there, (probably my ignorance in search technique) and ended up emailing a rep in one of their libraries, who was very helpful.  Anyway, here is what I ended up with:

    

   Crosscut Saw Manual  7771-2508-MTDC

   Crosscut Saws  description sharpening reconditioning  1974-799-638/128

   Tech Tips, July 2002 Crosscut Saw Tooth Setting Tool  0223-2324-MTDC

    

   The first publication listed is the most detailed (30 pages), and both it and the next on listed have good descriptions, with photos, of the sharpening process.

   Here's the website:  http://www.fs.fed.us/eng/t-d.php?link=pubs

   I was in touch with the :

   USDA FS, Miossoula Technology and Development Center

   E-mail:  [email protected]

   Hope this is helpful.

    

   Finding a set of tools to use in sharpening might be the most difficult part.

   Regards,

   Ray

    

5. 
   tms | Jan 02, 2005 08:09am | #5

   Hi Andy,

   I can't tell you how to sharpen your "misery whip" but I can relate a story from my grandfather that might be a cautionary tale. He was a bucker in Tillimook County, Oregon shortly after WWI.

   First, to be precise, a five foot crosscut saw would not be a two man saw.
   The saw has holes for mounting a handle at each end so that the bucker could pull from the opposite end when the first side of the teeth got dull.

   Generally, a bucker owned two saws; one that he carried into the woods, the other he left at the saw shop to be sharpened until he walked out of the woods on payday. When Grandad was a fit, young bucker, he decided that he could make more money by bucking more logs, if his saws would cut faster.
   So he came into camp on payday and asked the sharp shop to lower the raker teeth so that the kives would take a deeper bite. Since the shop had others ahead of him, he stayed in camp for three extra days while he waited.

   The cautionary part of the tale comes when he went back to work in the woods, a week after he came out. In that time he had lost just enough fittness that combined with the lower rakers, he struggled to cut his usual quota of wood, and gave his "misery whip" a few choice new names in the process.

   I still have one of Grandad's old saws. It was last used by my dad about 35 years ago to cut down a cherry tree in the front yard. Bearing witness to that event was enough to instill a healthy respect for my grandfather and for all the men who made their living with their strength of hand. I think that's as close to it as I'll ever get.

   Good luck,
   Tom

   
   

   ---

   Edited 1/2/2005 12:12 am ET by tms

6. 
   Vikingvood | Jan 06, 2005 05:14pm | #9

   Try this link  http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/environment/fspubs/77712508/toc.htm