Sharpening Handbook

Hand Saws

Side View

End View

Top View

It should be borne in mind that the workman who can saw squarely to a line is at least two hours a week ahead of one who, either because his saws are in bad order or because he has never got out of the bad habit of sawing out of square, cannot do it.

Paul Nooncree Hasluck, in The Handyman’s Handbook (1903)

In The Handyman’s Handbook, Paul N. Hasluck states,

A saw in thoroughly good order is so sharpened that each tooth does a share, and no one tooth more than the others.

Handsaws are sharpened using a number of tools.

Required

Flat, mill file
60° triangular file
Saw set tool

Optional (wooden jigs can be made)

Saw jointer file holder
Rake indicating jig
Fleam indicating jig
Hand saw vise, or some form of clamp-on filing guide

Sharpening steps:

Current day approach

Clean & de-rust the saw blade, then
repair as necessary.
Joint the tops of the teeth.
Set the teeth.
Re-joint the tops of the teeth.
File the teeth to sharpen them.
De-burr the teeth (also called, “dressing” or “stoning”).
Wax the blade.

Historical approach

Clean & de-rust the saw blade, then
repair as necessary.
Joint the tops of the teeth.
File the teeth to sharpen them.
De-burr the teeth (also called, “dressing” or “stoning”).
Set the teeth.
Wax the blade.

General Guidelines
Saw Type	Saw Purpose	Rake ➀	Fleam	Drop	Set ➀ ➁	Comments
Backsaw	Crosscut	-15°	20°	0°	25%	Drop: Older texts recommended a drop of 5°.
	Rip	-10°	0°	0°	25%	Drop: Older texts recommended a drop of 10°.
	Hybrid	-10°	0°	10°	25%	This hybrid approach works well with hard woods.
Compass Saws	(all)	-5°	0°	0°	25%
Hand Saw	Crosscut	-15°	25°	0°	25%	Rake: Higher rake angles make the saw's cutting more aggressive (and faster). For soft, fibrous woods, consider rake = 45° and increase Set. Fleam: With fleam at 10°, a crosscut saw acts more like a modified rip saw. At 45°, it requires more resharpening and is less tolerant of variable grain alignment. For soft, fibrous woods, consider fleam = 30°. In older texts, fleam = drop, and it is common to see both at 10°.
Hand Saw	Rip	-5°	0°	0°	25%	Rake: For general, all-around use, set to -5°. Higher rake angles make the saw's cutting more aggressive (and faster). Fleam: For dense wood with wild grain, increase to 10°. Drop: Older texts recommended a drop of 10°.
Pocket Knife Saw Blades	(all)	-30°	30°	0°	25%	There is no set with these saw blades. As with pole pruner saw blades, a feather-edge file is needed to sharpen this saw blade due to the acute angles between this saw's teeth.
Pole Pruner Saw Blades	(all)	0°	20°	0°	25%	*Feather-Edge File* When sharpening these saws, a typical, 60° triangular file cannot be used as the angle between the teeth is in the 35°-40° range. Instead, a feather-edge file is needed. These files are quite thin and are able to fit into the small space between this saw's teeth.
Pocket Knife Saw Blades	(all)	0°	8°	0°	25%
Veneer Saws	(all)	0°	0°	0°	0%	Use a stone to de-burr, and then bevel the sides of the teeth.

➀ When a saw is to be used for sawing wet planks, especially for crosscutting, consider increasing the kerf by increasing the Set. Also consider setting the Rake angle higher to help clear the sawdust. (These same recommendations do not apply to dried wood.)

➁ Set is expressed as a percentage of the saw blade's thickness, before de-burring the teeth.

Notes & Comments

Another View of Filing Angles

Triangular File Used vs. Saw TPI

Image courtesy Tools for Working Wood

Jointing the Teeth

In The Handyman’s Handbook, Paul N. Hasluck states,

There are always several teeth at the heel and at the point that do little work; those in the middle portion do most, and consequently wear away faster. All saws ... have a consistent tendency to get hollow, and this must be prevented; and the only way to prevent it is to file teeth down by passing a partly worn file along the edges until it touches every tooth.

When jointing the tops of the teeth, a saw jointer makes this easier. However, you could also use one of the jigs in the recommended books below. Engler's and Lie-Nielson's books show this best.

Setting the Teeth

When setting the teeth, a saw set is critical.

If buying one, get one with a pistol-grip, and which accommodates 4-16 TPI. The saw set I use is a Stanley model 42W. It works much better than the models 42 or 432. I have not tried the Stanley model 42S nor the model 42X, nor any of those newer ones available on eBay, so I cannot speak to their abilities.

Only set the top ¹/₂ of the teeth.

Increase Set for saws with coarse teeth. Decrease Set for saws with finer teeth.

For very fine saws, the burr from the filing may give an adequate set. If it does not, you may need to have a second saw set where you have filed down the width of the hammer. This is expecially the case for saws with 15 points per inch or more. Matt Cianci's book, Set & File, shows good pictures of this.

Note: a number of older texts such as The Handyman’s Handbook by Paul N. Hasluck note that the saw’s teeth should be set after filing them. The standard approach today is to set the teeth before filing them.

Filing the Teeth

When filing the teeth, the saw must be held solidly along a straight edge. The goals are to

ensure consistent gullet depth, and
ensure the angles (flame, slope, and rake) cut into the gullets are consistent.

A saw vice like the Gramercy Tools 14" Saw Vise is very good for this, but it can also be made from wood (e.g., a 2x4).

There are jigs in the recommended books below. Engler's and Lie-Nielson's books show the options best.

For the triangular file, use the specified size based on the saw's teeth per inch (TPI) as shown in the lower picture to the right.

De-Burring the Teeth

De-burring the teeth is also known as dressing the teeth, or stoning the teeth.

Again, to quote Paul N. Hasluck from The Handyman’s Handbook,

After a file has been sharpened, it should be carefully laid flat on its side and the teeth rubbed down with a whetstone or smooth file to remove any feather edge that may be left by the file in sharpening. This gives a larger and better cutting edge to the saw. If the points only of the teeth are allowed to do the work, the action is a scratching and not a cutting one.

When de-burring the teeth, be sure to use a hard stone or file to even out the amount of set and create a consistent cutting by the saw.

Repairing Saws

The Handyman’s Handbook by Paul N. Hasluck offers instruction on repairing a number of issues which may be seen:

Straightening a buckled blade, and
Straightening a buckled tenon saw (i.e., the back reinforcement)

I will not try to restate what he has outlined, the book does a great job.

French Veneer Saws

French veneer saws have a variable rake towards the center, and only have a bevel on one side. Best to have a professional re-sharpen these.

Pole Pruner
with Saw Blade

Saw Blades on Pole Pruners

Saw blades on pole pruners also need to be sharpened to work as expected. The saw blade is sharpened following the instructions for a crosscut hand saw.

Tool Kit

Lee Valley sells three tools / jigs which are worth investigating:

A set of saw sharpening files in a roll which makes it easy to keep them organized. The Bahco files seem good.
A saw file holder which has alignment marks to make holding the files at the correct fleam angle much easier.
A jointer & edger which makes jointing the tops of the teeth much easier and more consistent.

Other Notes

Blackburn Tools' web page, Saw Tooth Geometry, has good visuals to explain Drop (which they call, Slope), Fleam, and Rake.

More Information

Books & Papers

Set & File: A Practical Guide to Saw Sharpening, a book by Matt Cianci (AKA, the Saw Wright) and published by Lost Art Press, June 2024. Matt addresses the fundamentals of maintaining backsaws and handsaws: how to file and joint your saws with the correct rake, fleam and pitch to keep them sharp for cutting. He also addresses how to deal with saw teeth which are in good shape but dull, and how to successfully fix teeth which have been abused.
Matt's book is one of the first I've seen which not only explains the process well, but also shows the necessary activities in well-done pictures.
If you are only going to get one book for sharpening hand saws, get this one.

Other recommended books and papers are listed below alphabetically, not by preference.

Art of Saw Filing, Scientifically Treated and Explained on Philosophical Principles, an ebook version of the book published in 1871 by H. W. Holly.
The Complete Guide to Sharpening, a book by Leonard Lee.
Disston Saw, Tool and File Manual, an ebook version of the manual published in 1939 by Disston Saw. Disston Saw were the premier handsaw makers at that time. This is a really good overview.
Elements of Saw Tooth Design, 2009. Joel Moskowitz at Tools for Working Wood published this on his blog under the title, Everything you have ever wanted to know about saw tooth design. He later added another blog posting on historical saws titled, Sherlock: The Saw Tooth Detective.
Everything you have ever wanted to know about saw tooth design. Really nice diagrams about the terms used for the process. This is another good overview.
The Handyman's Book, a book by Paul N. Hasluck. My copy is the 1903 edition and is quite useful.
How to Make Custom Saw Handles. Good article at Lee Valley Tools.
How to Sharpen Every Blade in Your Workshop, a book by Don Geary.

Keeping the Cutting Edge: Setting and Sharpening Hand and Power Saws, a book by Harold H. Payson.
New Design Saw Set No. 42SS, a pamphlet from Stanley Tools on the saw sets number 42 & 43.
Saw Filing and Management of Saws, an ebook version of the book published in 1901 by Robert Grimshaw. As noted on the opening page, this is "A practical treatise on filing, gumming, swaging, hammering, and the brazing of band saws, the speed, work, and power to run circular saws, etc.etc. A handy volume for all who have charge of saws as it deals with the proper shape and pitches of teeth of all kinds and gives many useful things and rules for gumming, setting, and filing."
Saw Filing--A Beginner's Primer, a web page at Vintage Saw
Saw Sharpening 101 (PDF), an article written by Matt Cianci (AKA, the Saw Wright) and published in Popular Woodworking Magazine, December 2014, ages 36-39.
Saw Sharpening Basics (PDF), a very good document published by Blackburn Tools.
Saw Tooth Geometry, a web page at Blackburn Tools
Sharpening, a book by Nick Engler
Sharpening, a book by Thomas Lie-Nielsen

Videos & Presentations

Getting Started with Western Saws (Vimeo video). This video from Lee Valley is a great overview of various saw types.
How to Sharpen Your Saws (YouTube video). Mike Updegraff with Mortise & Tenon Magazine walks through the sharpening of hand saws. It is easy to get lost in the specialized terminology, but Mike gives a dead simple explanation that will be hard to forget.

Web Sites

Blackburn Tools' web page, Saw Tooth Geometry, has good visuals to explain Drop (which they call, Slope), Fleam, and Rake.