# How I Sharpen (File) a Crosscut Saw



## AT sawyer (Oct 7, 2009)

Another member suggested I post this video on AS. It's not exactly on-topic for a typical AS forum, but there may be somebody here with one of these old blades hanging on their wall who decides to put a file to it. Although the video focuses on a small one-person saw, the techniques are pretty much universal for jointing, swaging, and setting any size crosscut saw. You'll have to pause it along the way to read all the comments, as YouTube puts a time limit on their videos. Enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrYsFlx3OSY


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## corsair4360 (Oct 7, 2009)

*Sharpening*

Very good, first time I have seen that much detail to describe what I have done many times. Most crosscut saws I have seen are butchered by someone trying to sharpen them. Better tools than I have ever seen to do it also.

15 years ago I was in charge of a Scout Troop we had at a Scout Camp. We needed to cut some logs, chainsaws not permitted when the boys were in the camp. So we were given a two man cross-cut saw. It did not saw worth a darn. So I stopped looked at it and realized that it was sharpened backwards with the rakers way to long. I spent about 2 hours filing it correctly as best I could freehand. We then used the heck out of it, sawing up a bunch of logs for tent platforms. The old timers at the camp could not believe the saw would really cut, they thought it was ruined. They were really surprised I knew how to sharpen one.

They then asked us to demonstrate the saw for the young men before dinner at the chow hall. Of course the boys decided that the two "old" men were really slow and they could easily better our time. Unknown to us, they had timed us. A bunch of them tried in pairs and could not beat the time we made. After that we explained that for a two man saw, one has to pul only and let the saw be pulled away from you. I'm sure with xome experience they could have, but that was not the case in this situation.


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## AT sawyer (Oct 8, 2009)

Poor filing and neglect are what makes a crosscut saw a true "misery whip". They will stay sharp a long time if you keep them out of the dirt and are careful around rocks. 

The biggest mistake kids usually make is riding the saw -- not sawing together. Pulling back on someone's tensed up arms will wear you out in a hurry.


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## belgian (Oct 8, 2009)

I doubt many people will have the tools as shown in the vid. I have a few saws like that and would like to perform a handsharpening just for fun.
Anyone has a good filing technique or a drawing that shows the angles and raker setting ?


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## Greystoke (Oct 8, 2009)

I always wanted to take the time to learn this, just never did. Here is a picture of me using my saw in a logging show:







It was sharp, but I think maybe the rakers were a little short for what we were doing? This saw was given to me by an old logger that had started out in the woods using crosscuts. He also gave me a whole array of sharpening tools(still have them, just not the saw...my ex got it :bangHe also gave me a 30 minute crash-course in saw filing. I competed in the jack and jill with my sister-in-law and she had a hard time pulling it. I also used it in the Mens team handbucking, but still was not fast enough. I noticed that all the people that beat us out had the newer style teeth. Also, wasn't there a difference between the old style falling and bucking saws (like stiffness), because I think this was a falling saw, but I could be wrong? Great thread, and running one of these, even for a short while makes a guy respect the old time loggers a lot!


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## AT sawyer (Oct 8, 2009)

I picked up all my tools on Ebay. I don't really have much of an investment in it (compared to chainsaw gear).

The felling saw shown above may have been a bit narrow for a competition. A good stout bucking saw would have the stiffness for a two-way push-pull with less chance to buckling. The newer saws do cut faster, but are designed for short bursts of extreme effort. Try sawing like that all day and you'd be unconscious before noon. You can run one of those older saws all day and still get a lot of work done.

Warren Miller's "Crosscut Saw Manual" has much more detail on angles and big saw techniques than my slide show. It's available online, just Google it by name.


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## 056 kid (Oct 9, 2009)

Ide like to get some "OG" loggin equiptment,


see how long it takes to whup my ass into pukin,

I know it couldent take too long, 

herd them old timers used to burn about 9000 calories a day.

Ide be #### & bones if I was huffin like that...


Hats off to them old timers..


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## TotalNZ (Oct 9, 2009)

Thats a great vid, I'm probably never going to sharpen a crosscut saw in my life, but i still watched the whole thing.
Ha, misery whip. Thats classic.


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## Mountainman (Oct 9, 2009)

Some of those old timers who pulled the misery whips had so much muscle in their upper bodies, they almost looked like hunchbacks. Not all, but some.

I have a six-foot crosscut saw that my Dad bought from Schafer Bros. for a dollar when they went tits up. When I was about 10 years old (1966 or so), he put the handles on it, and he and I pulled it for a short while, sawing up some wood. Other than that, it has never been used, or filed. It's one of my most prized possessions.


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## slowp (Oct 9, 2009)

056 kid said:


> Ide like to get some "OG" loggin equiptment,
> 
> 
> see how long it takes to whup my ass into pukin,
> ...



Lets buy a bunch of old saws, film an infomercial and start the Misery Whip Workout. I'll volunteer to be the before picture. I don't know whether I'd survive for the After photo. Ah, the Oprah Show awaits!

I have a friend who says he used to sharpen the saws, but would have go through a review if he ever did it again. I might mention this slide show to him.


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## farmer (Oct 23, 2009)

50 some years ago I remember my Mom and Dad bucking a log with a 2 man crosscut. I can't remember if the chainsaw broke but I do remember being suprised you could cut such a big log with a handsaw.


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## parttime (Oct 25, 2009)

slowp said:


> Lets buy a bunch of old saws, film an infomercial and start the Misery Whip Workout. I'll volunteer to be the before picture. I don't know whether I'd survive for the After photo. Ah, the Oprah Show awaits!
> 
> I have a friend who says he used to sharpen the saws, but would have go through a review if he ever did it again. I might mention this slide show to him.



Slowp, I'll supply the old saws, that is if I can get them sharpened. lol I've used the little one on the bottom, cuts great.


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## tramp bushler (Oct 26, 2009)

*good thread*

. I have an old 3 ft peg and raker topping saw . The 2nd tree I ever topped , a Sitka spruce I topped @ 85 ft , it was about 14" thru @ that ht. I limbed and topped with ax and a 4 ' peg and raker hand saw .. There were guys in Ketchikan who could file a misery whip real well . . An old hand logger taught me how to file my True Temper Falling ax in the chisel pattern , it worked great .....


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## PasoRoblesJimmy (Oct 26, 2009)

In the 1950s, my dad and I bucked a lot of firewood with a 6 foot crosscut saw. 
The secret to cutting fast with a crosscut is in 2-men developing a smooth back and forth rhythm. Crosscut saws get you warmed up twice. First, when you cut the firewood; Second, when you burn it.


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