Learning how to Sharpen your Circular Saws

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.