I've recently acquired a Foley saw sharpener, retoother, and tooth setter after some questionable choices. I'm diving into sharpening vintage handsaws, especially those from the 1960s. I'm curious if anyone else has experience with these tools? From what I've seen, the retoother and setter are fantastic and definitely worth figuring out, but the sharpener seems more troublesome than beneficial for me. I usually get better results with a hand file and a small jig. Any advice or experiences would be appreciated!
2 Answers
I totally get the allure! I've seen a few of these around and I always want one, but I don't sharpen or make saws too often. Still, they look very cool! Enjoy your journey into saw sharpening!
I had a similar experience with my 387 sharpener. Once I got it fine-tuned, I enjoyed it for a while, lol! It actually taught me a few tricks I missed while learning to sharpen by hand. After some time, I found I was faster than the 387 and could change angles easily without too much hassle. I have a few sharpeners—one’s just collecting dust right now. I really make use of my retoother; it saves a lot of time and effort. Just be careful with the auto setter, I've had a few mishaps with it skipping teeth, especially on finer blades.
Thanks for the insight! I also own the 387 and it took me a while to get the hang of it, too. I have most of the bars, but only the 8TPI seems to work well for me. Have you noticed any issues with the auto setter causing teeth to break? I've read that some blades are work-hardened and need more steel removed to get proper teeth that aren't brittle.
It's definitely fun, though complicated! If you come across one for a good price, I say grab it!