Hand saw sharpening is thing of the past.

[Mark42]

I called the local hardware store to see if they still do saw sharpening. Owner said that the last two guys that did it for them have passed away. He hasn't been able to find a replacement service.<br /><br />I looked online and see that Sears, Depot, Lowes, etc have hand saws for as little as $10. At these prices, it is cheaper to throw away the saw and buy another. <br /><br />I have three hand saws that are good quality and all need sharpening. So I'm going to be learning how to sharpen a saw.<br /><br />I bet a lot of people will be tossing out their fathers or grandfathers saws because they are dull for a nice shiney new one from Home Depot with a nice plastic handle for $10. <br /><br />It's a shame, to me hand tools are to be kept and handed down from generation to generation. I really cherrish the few hand tools I have from my Grandfathers.

 

[treedancer]

Re: Hand saw sharpening is thing of the past.

I don’t believe so especially if you get into some of the older ones that were made in the early part of the twentieth century. The better ones had some rather elaborate woodwork on the handles and the steel was not as tinny as the new ones. Plus they are rather collectable.

 

[JB]

Re: Hand saw sharpening is thing of the past.

I remember reading an illustrated article on how to sharpen your saw. It was a long time ago, but it included how to set the angle of the teeth and how to get the teeth all at exactly the same level. I did it at the time and grandpa's old handsaw was as good as (maybe better than ) new. My grandson has that saw now. It is a Disston.<br /><br />Could have been Popular mechanics or one of those handyman mags.<br /><br />Have you tried to Google up saw sharpening?

 

[ufm82]

Re: Hand saw sharpening is thing of the past.

It's a sign of the times. Anything that has to do with time, labor and hard work is going away, to be replaced with quick, fast, easy and cheap. Back when a saw was $30 for a good one and it cost $10 to have it sharpened, why not? Now they make them so cheap that they are disposable. AND, people now throw away stuff that's "old" because they believe it has no value. <br /><br /> I have a 9 year old 27" TV at the house. Digital, PIP, etc. All the toys except it's not HD compatible. Fine for the kids and for video games. The green went out and now everything is bright red/blue/purple. The picture is clear as cystal but obviously unwatchable. Get it fixed? I can buy a new TV exactly the same now for under $150. It would cost me more to fix the one I have than it would to simply buy the new one. <br /><br /> It's bittersweet for certain. Parts of our culture disappear everyday as we "progress". <br /><br /> 2-strokes won't be around forever either...<br /><br />UFM82

 

[heycods]

Re: Hand saw sharpening is thing of the past.

I sharpen my own saws, circular and hand. Its a little time consuming. Unless its a collector or your in a bind its not worth the trouble .I dontwant to go into it here . I could show you , but to type it out, but it would take till dinner at my rate of typing. If you need a saw buy a cheepie and throw it away, or make knifes out of it when dull. lwr

 

[alden135]

Re: Hand saw sharpening is thing of the past.

You get what you pay for with a $10 saw.

 

[KaGee]

Re: Hand saw sharpening is thing of the past.

I think the problem lays in the quality of steel these days. Blades don't keep an edge as long.

 

[Kenneth Brown]

Re: Hand saw sharpening is thing of the past.

I was cleaning out my deceased grandfathers stuff a few weeks ago. There was a Craftsman jig to sharpen circular blades. It blew my mind, I didn'y know folks did that. Hand saws either. I do sharpen my chain saws though, save lots of money that way.

 

[all thumbs]

Re: Hand saw sharpening is thing of the past.

I can remember taking saws, scissors, hedge trimmers, and knives to be sharpened. If the saw was past sharpening he could cut a whole new set of teeth in it. Used what looked like a giant hand press.

 

[18rabbit]

Re: Hand saw sharpening is thing of the past.

A quality 10-in circular saw blade has an MSRP over $100, street price in the $70-$80. They're not something that often gets tossed when sharpening is needed.

 

[Chief101]

Re: Hand saw sharpening is thing of the past.

There are a couple of sharpeners here, tho I don't know that they do handsaws anymore. I sharpen my own when necessary.

 

[one more cast]

Re: Hand saw sharpening is thing of the past.

I have a couple of saw sets out in the garage but never really played around with them.My dad always sharpened his own tools.

 

[woodrat]

Re: Hand saw sharpening is thing of the past.

I had hand saws sharpened at a shop in Portland once but that was about 10 years ago. When I went back recently, that shop was gone. <br /><br />I sharpen the bands for my sawmill, but have an expensive whiz bang auto sharpener to do that with. Still, it took a couple of years to really get the hang of shaping the stone and setting it up right.<br /><br />Life really got easier when I spent a grand on a setter that does two teeth at a time. Now I can set a 13' long band in about two minutes or so.

 

[bigbad4cyl]

Re: Hand saw sharpening is thing of the past.

try an ice skate sharpening shop

 

[Ron G]

Re: Hand saw sharpening is thing of the past.

I have 20 something handsaws and planes dating back to the late 1800's amongest a whole shop of other things i have no clue on what they are,but on the saws the handles are beautiful there engraved and carved.it's a shame theres nobody that can sharpen or rework these priceless treasures.luckly all of mine are in excellent condition after each time they were used they were cleaned and waxed,reminds of some more work i need to out in the shop.

 

[bomar76]

Re: Hand saw sharpening is thing of the past.

Yeah, our locsl button hook factory is closing next year and the buggy whip plant has 200 laid off workers.....what's the world coming to?

 

[tommays]

Re: Hand saw sharpening is thing of the past.

my friend sharpens everything at his shop when he is not makeing 1000 dollar drills for surgeons to do knee inplants<br /><br /><br />a lot of the NEW circular saw blades have tooth profiles that limit there abilty to be resharpend compared to older ones that did not cut as well<br /><br />tommays

 

[KilroyJC]

Re: Hand saw sharpening is thing of the past.

Mark - I think there's a place up in Hackensack that still does that - the last guy in JC that did sharpening got closed down when they widened 1&9.<br /><br />You might try going over to Cowtown on rodeo night - I'd betcha somone there knows where to get your saws & scissors sharpened!

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: Hand saw sharpening is thing of the past.

What happened to the old guy who drove the streets and sharpened things... saws, skates, knives oh wait.... that's when I lived in Brooklyn, NY over 40+ years ago.

 

[deputydawg]

Re: Hand saw sharpening is thing of the past.

Still a man here that comes to town every few months. He pulls a trailer that looks like a train caboose, lived in the trailer most of the year and sharpens things. <br /><br />My uncle learned how many years ago and started as a hobby. By word of mouth he started doing some for money. He then took sharpening orders in his electronics store and made a small profit from it. He is dead now so I never learned how myself. <br /><br />Learn how and put your name in with the hardware stores. Probably wouldn't stay very busy sharpening, but might be enough money coming in to gas the boat once or twice a year.