Progress on John’s saw

John finished his saw today. The ‘before-and-after’ is remarkable and this first sharpening lesson stood him in good stead for the larger tenon saw he bought from Tony Murland at the Ally Pally Show. The 10″saw shown at left now has a reshaped handle as you can see. All the hard corners are reconciled and reshaped to a silky smooth profile that fits the hand nicely and all the rust has been fully removed.

The handle shape is critical really. I find better balance in the saw and the more elegant lines improve the way it moves in the hand. Here is the finished saw, which is sharpened but still needs setting. Pretty good for a first restoration project, but more than that, I liked the control John had and the steady hand he used to file the teeth consistently.

I think buying an old saw like this one is ideal for learning to sharpen saws and in my experience, most new woodworkers seem to be quite successful in sharpening when they follow the methods I teach for sharpening saws.