Nowadays, saws are sharpened only rarely and by few
woodworkers, but the question still tends to arise of how to do it. Sharpening
circular saw blade is becoming a forgotten craft and fewer
people can even do this. Sharpening one's own saw is vital and one should not
be buying replacements can really bring out the skill and self-confidence to
any woodworker. The ability to maintain the sharpness on one’s saw blade
allowed saws to retain their usefulness, no matter how long the resided in the
woodworker’s toolbox. Today's mass produced, plastic handled and Teflon-coated
disposable saws are a poor comparison to the quality saw for they are designed
to be simply thrown away as soon as they get blunt.
Some woodworkers likes to touch up chipped teeth with a
small, flat diamond hone. If you try that, make sure you maintain the original
angles and surfaces, and don’t round over the cutting edges. Once in a while
you’ll find missing teeth. If the manufacturer can replace the saws, expect
that it is expensive. So unless that blade cost a lot in the first place,
you’re probably better off to toss it and buy a new one.
Jointing the Teeth.
Sharpening the teeth of a non-carbide-tipped circular saw
blade is usually done like this. Install the blade in a
commercial saw-setting jig following the manufacturer’s instructions.
After installing the jointing head on the jig, butting its file up against
the saw teeth. Tighten the thumbscrew until the teeth strain against the
file. Jointing the teeth so they are all the same length, clamp the jig
in a bench vise and rotate the circular saw
blade against the file clockwise. After each rotation, tighten the
thumbscrew slightly and repeat until the tip of each tooth has been filed flat.
Sharpening the Teeth.
After the saw teeth have been jointed and set, file them
using a commercial saw-sharpening jig.
Mount the jig to a workbench and install the blade loosely on the jig so the
blade turns. Using the manufacturer’s instructions, rotate the triangular file
in the file holder and adjust the guide arm to match the required pitch and
angle of the saw teeth. Starting with a tooth that is pointing to the right,
file the cutting edge by sliding the file holder along the top of the jig.
Rotate the circular saw blade counterclockwise, skipping one tooth, and
repeat. Sharpen all the right-pointing teeth the same way. Adjust the
triangular file and the guide arm to work on the left-pointing teeth and repeat,
sharpening all the teeth you skipped.
