Saw Sharpening Tip

[Admiral]

Not for nothing, but I'm in the final sharpening pass of a nice 26", 8 pt Disston D-8 which eventually will end up in the S&S (two passes of reshaping the teeth needed to get it properly jointed and formed) and I would have to stop much too frequently to clean the file of the swarf.  I use a brass brush, usually used to buff "bucks" shoes, and while it works well, I started thinking.  And you have a lot of time to think whilst sharpening handsaws.  I remembered reading something, somewhere, by Bob Smalser, who used to hang out here but I've not seen him in a long time.  He suggested putting chalk on the file to prevent the swarf from sticking to the file, and I thought I'd give it a try, dug out a box of chalk tucked away in a drawer, and it really does work, so I thought I'd pass this along, giving Bob his due for the tip.  Just a quick pass over the chalk will do you.  Good for any filing, card scrapers, saws, etc.

[MarkSingleton]

Yup. I keep a piece of chalk in the file rack.
Works wonders.

[daddo]

So now you say I must start thinking while I'm sharpening? I sharpen to get away from thinking.

I remember my Dad putting stuff like chalk on blades- I thought it might have been to let him know if he missed a blade- who'd a thunk?

I'll have to try that.

[Laid-Back]

Not for nothing, but I'm in the final sharpening pass of a nice 26", 8 pt Disston D-8 which eventually will end up in the S&S (two passes of reshaping the teeth needed to get it properly jointed and formed) and I would have to stop much too frequently to clean the file of the swarf.  I use a brass brush, usually used to buff "bucks" shoes, and while it works well, I started thinking.  And you have a lot of time to think whilst sharpening handsaws.  I remembered reading something, somewhere, by Bob Smalser, who used to hang out here but I've not seen him in a long time.  He suggested putting chalk on the file to prevent the swarf from sticking to the file, and I thought I'd give it a try, dug out a box of chalk tucked away in a drawer, and it really does work, so I thought I'd pass this along, giving Bob his due for the tip.  Just a quick pass over the chalk will do you.  Good for any filing, card scrapers, saws, etc.

Also try a piece of soap stone. Was taught this when studying machine and tool. How long ago was that? The same instructor told me to take care of needle files by putting them in an Alka Zelser bottle filled with mineral spirits to prevent them from rusting.

If you remember Alka Zelser in the tall bottles you should be of retirement age by now

[Timberwolf]

Not for nothing, but I'm in the final sharpening pass of a nice 26", 8 pt Disston D-8 which eventually will end up in the S&S (two passes of reshaping the teeth needed to get it properly jointed and formed) and I would have to stop much too frequently to clean the file of the swarf.  I use a brass brush, usually used to buff "bucks" shoes, and while it works well, I started thinking.  And you have a lot of time to think whilst sharpening handsaws.  I remembered reading something, somewhere, by Bob Smalser, who used to hang out here but I've not seen him in a long time.  He suggested putting chalk on the file to prevent the swarf from sticking to the file, and I thought I'd give it a try, dug out a box of chalk tucked away in a drawer, and it really does work, so I thought I'd pass this along, giving Bob his due for the tip.  Just a quick pass over the chalk will do you.  Good for any filing, card scrapers, saws, etc.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
Yep, I remember Bob posting about chalking files...It has been an old machinist trick to stop the pinning for many years..even back as 1947 when I was an apprentice. We also used a "pick" that we made out of tool steel to get out the ones that were really stuck..And a piece of flat, chisel-shaped brass would follow the "serrations" in the file like railroad tracks to "push out" ones the file card didn't get.

But it is good to pass info like that along..it will vanish if we don't...

[Timberwolf]

Also try a piece of soap stone. Was taught this when studying machine and tool. How long ago was that? The same instructor told me to take care of needle files by putting them in an Alka Zelser bottle filled with mineral spirits to prevent them from rusting.

If you remember Alka Zelser in the tall bottles you should be of retirement age by now

............
Oh I remember Alka Seltzer...but do YOU remember Bromo-Seltzer? It was sold in a blue glass bottle with a screw top.......used for indigestion and or headaches like Alka Seltzer.


https://www.glassbottlemarks.com/bromo-s...e-bottles/

[hbmcc]

............
Oh I remember Alka Seltzer...but do YOU remember Bromo-Seltzer? It was sold in a blue glass bottle with a screw top.......used for indigestion and or headaches like Alka Seltzer.


https://www.glassbottlemarks.com/bromo-s...e-bottles/

Used to be part of fiction writing/stories. "Had a Bromo the next morning....." I guess the little 'squirt' in Alka Seltzer ads was too ding-dongy for tough guy stories.

[Joe Bailey]

Used to be part of fiction writing/stories. "Had a Bromo the next morning....." I guess the little 'squirt' in Alka Seltzer ads was too ding-dongy for tough guy stories.

Bromo-Seltzer pre-dates Alka-Seltzer by about 40 years. By the time those pulp/noir authors were using the term "Bromo", it had already passed into the lexicon in the same way we might refer to any facial tissue as a "kleenex."

More importantly though, had Alka-Seltzer been around before about 1930, it probably would still have taken a back seat to Bromo in the hangover department.
Bromides, a family of tranquilizers outlawed decades ago, worked well as a hangover remedy.

[Pedder]

I know the chalk trick for softer material like brass or unhardened steel.
But in 9 years of heavy saw sharpening I yet have to see a clogged saw file.

Just my 0,02€

The funniest thing, I've seen was gent from england, who waxes his saw file.

Cheers
Pedder

[Admiral]

I know the chalk trick for softer material like brass or unhardened steel.
But in 9 years of heavy saw sharpening I yet have to see a clogged saw file.

It was not so much clogged, as that wasn't happening, it just cut down on cleaning up the file.  I think I'm getting some magnetization or something going on......