A few years ago I bought the Veritas dovetail saw (rip). This is the one with a 9″ plate, pistol grip handle and the black plastic rib on the top. I got inspired and sharpened it. Now it won’t cut properly. It’s hard to start the cut, especially on end grain, and cuts ragged after I get it started. I’m pretty confident I messed it up and suspect the teeth are angled for an overly aggressive cut. Correct me if I’m off base.
I need help fixing it. Advice on how to sharpen, proper angles for dove tail saws, and suggestions for videos to watch would be much appreciated. Thanks.
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There is a device for setting the proper angle (set) for the teeth. You kind of need that or maybe take it in to a saw shop and they can get it back to working condition.
Sorry, I was unclear. My comment about the teeth angle being off was a reference to the rake. I know for a rip saw you hold the file at 90' to the saw plate (the fleam). However, you then have to adjust (twist) the file to get the correct rake.
So what would be the best rake angle for a dovetail saw so that it starts the cut easily?
Lie Nielsen has a couple of good videos on how to sharpen correctly for rip and crosscut. Their dovetail saw is 5° rake, 0° fleam and set is .003” You might get the original setup from Lee Valley tech support. Less rake = less aggressive cut. Assume you are using either the Bacho needle file from Lee Valley or a 4” x slim file?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2lwMDxN8Q4
Also some excellent saw filing info on Blackburn Tools website.
http://blackburntools.com/articles/index.html
Send it out to be put right and don't ever touch file to it again until you have experience sharpening other saws.
When you say send it out, you mean to the original manufacturer? I was unaware anyone provided that service to consumers. Thanks in advance.
I'm pretty sure Lie Nielsen sharpens saws. Their own, at least. I send my saws to Matt Cianci, in Rhode Island. He's the best. He also teaches saw filing, and has a video.
Unless you hit a nail, you can saw a ton of wood before needing to sharpen. I can go a few years between needing to sharpen one. That's not often enough to be really proficient. I can sharpen more than well enough to make a saw meant for rough work function just fine. But my good joinery saws get sent to someone who really knows what they're doing. I have too much else to keep me busy.
Thanks for the info John.
There are sharpening service centers I would think in any urban area. Used to be you could take your handsaw or circular saw blade or just about anything that has a edge ,like kitchen knives, to just about any hardware store and they would send it out to be resharpened and have it back in a few days. I do know of several hardware stores in my area that still do offer that. I know a particularly good place so I take my stuff in myself but there is a high probability that if I took it to the hardware store it would end up going to the same place where I go.