Misery loves company

[imagineero]

We did a job on Friday that was mostly yard clearance in preparation for demolition guys to come in and do their thing. Down the back we found a rusty misery whip, a bit over 6' long. I don't think it's anything old, just something that by the look of it saw almost no use then never got looked after. I don't think it's anything high quality either - it just seems so flimsy and poorly made. The customer said to take it home and I couldn't resist. I'm going to hit it with a wire wheel, a few licks with a file and then take it for a spin on the next falling job I get which has plenty of room for things to go wrong ;-)

Did I do ok? Any tips on sharpening? The teeth seem to have very little set. It has quite a bit of rocker (maybe 2~3"). I know nothing about these, sharpening or using. I'd like to drop a tree with one just the once for the experience.

Shaun

 

[northmanlogging]

I've only sharpened a few of em so take this with a grain of inexperience...

First make sure its not bent or dinged, you can usually tap them straight with a small hammer and anvil.

Then file all the teeth level, you can and should probably avoid this step because it involves special tools.

Next working from one side of the blade sharpen all teeth facing you pushing fill up and away, unless you like rusty pieces of metal stuck in your fingers...

Flip it over and do the other side.

Now there are two ways to finish the rakers Either file them a bit lower than the teeth or use a small hammer and give them a little tap to set them at a more agresive angle, I would cation against setting the rakers to deep because then yer saw will probably get stuck and be very hard to push and pull.

There are many tools needed to properly sharpen a misery whip, spider set gauge, combination raker and set, Files, hammers, and good saw vice, but most can be fudged to make em work

 

[imagineero]

So I can't just have at it with an angle grinder?

I figured it would be one of those specialised sklills. Apart form being rusty, this one doesn't look to have ever been sharpened, and is not very blunt so I think I'll do as little as possible. Just touch up the teeth and leave everything else alone and then have a go. If it doesn't bite then maybe have a go at filing the rakers a little lower. Any idea on how much set it ought to have? Is getting bound up in the cut a sign that it needs more set?


Shaun

 

[redprospector]

I've cleaned up a few of these. Rather than a wire wheel, I would recommend a "random orbit" sander. I've got an old Simonds that was almost as rusty as yours, and the brand stamp survived. Wrap a wooden dowel with emory cloth to clean up the gullets. When you file it, I would recommend that you just "touch it up" and dress the rust off of the edges. Use a fine cut file, grind the teeth off the edges of the file, and that's when you'll find out just how hard it is to follow what's already there free hand. I would just clean up the rakers with emory cloth until you determine if they need to be set deeper or not.
Looking at the pic's I think that if you just clean it up, and can follow the angles with a file it should at least cut. I won't guarrantee how well, but it should cut. Do not try to adjust the set without at least a spyder to guage it with.

Andy

 

[northmanlogging]

raker depth is determined by the wood being cut, hard woods less depth, soft woods more depth. The range is somewhere between .005"-.030". The US forest service released a pdf on sharping them up I'll see if I can find it again...

 

[slowp]

Google Saws That Sing. Philbert has posted all the crosscut stuff he could find in the Chainsaw Forum.

The Forest Service stuff is all on line=free.

 

[northmanlogging]

hear bee that link http://www.fs.fed.us/eng/pubs/pdfpubs/pdf77712508/pdf77712508dpi72.pdf

good luck...

 

[stikine]

http://fsweb.mtdc.wo.fs.fed.us/php/mtdc_search.php

Scroll down to the DVDs and look for "The Crosscut Saw Filer" it's free and has all pdf versions of the older publications plus new videos on sharpening by Warren Miller.

 

[AT sawyer]

Raker depth 0.012", set 0.015" to start, assuming it's flat ground. A little more of both if cutting softwood. It will sing better in dry hardwood though.