How To Sharpen A Hacksaw On Wood Angle Grinder

How to sharpen a hacksaw Why you need to sharpen a hacksaw and how to determine this moment. Setting the hacksaw teeth and checking their height. Hacksaw sharpening strand.

Tooth setting

Saw setting is the deviation of the tops of the teeth from the plane of the blade. The teeth through one are deflected in different directions: odd in one direction, even in the other.

You need to know that the quality of the wiring has a strong enough effect on the sawing process. Therefore, all the teeth must be bent in different directions alternately by the same amount, otherwise:

  • If some teeth are deflected at a greater angle than others, then they will interfere with the movement of the tool and wear out faster;
  • If the deviation is less than necessary, then the kerf will not allow the blade to move freely.

For setting the saw teeth, a special tool is used. Setting. The simplest layout looks like a small metal plate with a handle. It has a slot, the width of which is slightly larger than the thickness of the hacksaw blade.
Tooth spreading is as follows:

  • The saw is clamped in a vise so that the vise jaws end at the base of the teeth;
  • Then the teeth are alternately placed in the wiring slot and, bending in the middle part, are taken to the side at a given angle;
  • Periodically, the quality of the wiring is checked visually or with a caliper;
  • To check the quality of the setting, the jaws of the vice are pushed apart to the width of the setting and the saw is pulled between them (in this case, excessive bending of any tooth will not allow the blade to move freely between the jaws).

Checking the height of the hacksaw teeth

  • A sheet of paper is laid on a flat and smooth surface and the saw is tightly pressed against it;
  • The profile is clearly printed on paper, and the teeth become clearly visible;
  • If teeth higher than the rest are found, then the saw is clamped in a vice and they are shortened to the desired height using a flat file.

How to determine when a hacksaw needs sharpening?

People with more experience can easily determine this moment by the sound emitted by the instrument during work, as well as by the change in the color of the teeth. Beginners need to focus on the following signs:

  • Hacksaw work becomes hard and requires great physical effort;
  • It becomes very difficult to make a perpendicular cut of wood;
  • It becomes difficult to hold the blade along the mowing line during operation, it begins to deviate in different directions;
  • The hacksaw blade often wedges.

Tooth setting

The teeth deviate from the plane of the blade in a checkerboard pattern, for example, all even ones to the left, all odd ones to the right.
Only very experienced carpenters are able to cut wood saws by eye. This skill comes after several hundred diluted saws. Less experienced craftsmen are better off using a special tool. Wiring.
The simplest version of the tool is a flat plate made of strong metal with a slot, into which the blade fits in, with a minimum clearance.
The saw blade should be clamped in a locksmith’s vice. The teeth should protrude slightly from the jaws. The teeth, one by one, are clamped in the groove of the tool of the plate and bent in the middle. The routing angle must be constantly monitored. First, all even teeth are bent in one direction, then all odd ones in the other. At the end of the wiring, you can spread the sponges to the width of the wiring and stretch the canvas between them. If any of the teeth are bent more than necessary, they will touch the vice. They need to be fixed.

how to sharpen a hacksaw on wood angle grinder

Canvases with hardened teeth are not subject to spreading.

General requirements for sharpening

Two rectangular isosceles triangles and a steel plate 20 × 3 mm are attached on a wood base of 2 × 5 cm in size from a bar with a thickness of 2 cm. A support plate-support made of plywood or OSB with a thickness of one and a half centimeters with dimensions of 15 × 40 cm is attached to the triangles and the same clamp plate is fixed to it from below on hinges. The plates are tightened with screws or studs with wing nuts. If installation at an angle of 45 ° is required, the plates are fixed to the hypotenuses of the support triangles, and if 90 °, then to the legs.

Hacksaw sharpening rules

To sharpen the saw, you will also need several files that differ in section and pitch of the notch. All of them must be serviceable, without knocked down or clogged with dust notch lines. To sharpen a saw on wood, the file must be moved smoothly, with constant pressure and at a constant angle. The working movement of the file is carried out “from itself”. It should be easy to pull on itself, practically without touching the metal surface.

How to determine when it is time to sharpen a hacksaw

An experienced carpenter can tell when the saw is ready to sharpen by:

  • The sound of sawing a tree changes;
  • The teeth change their shade.

A number of signs are also available to the less experienced:

  • Increased material resistance;
  • It is difficult to maintain the perpendicularity of the cut;
  • The blade does not adhere well to the mowing line of the cut, the line is deflected or bent;
  • The blade gets wedged in the wood.

Before sharpening the saw, it is imperative to separate the teeth, that is, to ensure that they are deflected from the plane of the blade at a certain angle. Correctly set teeth guarantee a kerf wide enough to prevent the blade from getting caught in the material. If the teeth are too set, the kerf will be too wide, this will increase the loss of material, the pulling force, and also reduce the accuracy.
If you sharpen the saw correctly on wood, it regains its working qualities.

During sharpening, the following geometrical characteristics of the teeth are restored:

  • Step;
  • Height;
  • Profile angle;
  • Bevel angle of cutting edges.

Requirements for setting the teeth of the hacksaw

Bending the cutters through one on both sides of the blade, observe a certain value, which can be set on a home-made device.

The width of the set depends on the type of wood.

Soft and damp wood requires a higher incline angle than dry wood.

Typically, hand tools work effectively with an average of 0.2-0.3 mm.

In this case, the total value should not exceed the width of the web.

In addition, the bend pattern is the same on each side.

The hacksaw set is checked visually or with a vernier caliper.

Pay attention to the size of the tooth. The height of the incisor is especially important.

Link Height Alignment

All prongs must be the same height.

An uneven edge results in an uneven load and significantly reduces working efficiency.

The grandfather’s way of sharpening

The method of sharpening hand saws with your own hands has not undergone much change since the time of our ancestors.

Below you can see how it was done “on the knees” with the help of a file and pliers:

Purpose and device of the saw

The hand saw is used for sawing various wood materials. It is a blade with teeth at the bottom. On the one hand, the tool is equipped with a handle with which the master holds it during sawing work. The convenience and comfort of working with the saw depends on the quality of the handle.

The number of manufacturers of hacksaws for wood is quite large, but they all differ not only in names, but also in quality. All of them are intended for sawing wood, chipboard, logs, laminate and tree trunks. Hacksaws are subdivided into such types as: classic, circular, bow, as well as with a back and a reward. The thickness of the blade plays an important role when choosing a tool. After all, a thin blade can break during sawing wood, and it is quite difficult for a thick one to work.

Saw set

Sharpening a hacksaw for wood begins with a procedure such as setting teeth. The setting of the hacksaw teeth is performed for such purposes as ensuring the free movement of the blade without jamming. The setting is the bending of the teeth in different directions, alternately, by one amount. This leads to the fact that the kerf width increases, which means that during the sawing process the chip removal process is accelerated.

The amount of tooth spread depends on the thickness of the blade, and is usually 1.5-2 mm. To bend the teeth by the same amount, you will need to use a special device. This device is a metal plate with a special slot. The blade is clamped in a vise so that the links protrude slightly. After that, the process of bending the teeth is carried out. Sharpened teeth must also be bent to the same distance.

Why and when to sharpen

The tool under consideration is subjected to various loads during operation, which leads to dulling of the teeth. If you cut with a saw that has dull teeth, the result will be much less effective than a sharp one. In addition, using a saw with blunted teeth is not recommended for the following reasons:

  • Decreased tool performance. Not only the powers of the master will be spent, but also his time.
  • Decreased accuracy of work. It is impossible to cut wood materials evenly with a blunt-toothed hacksaw, much less to do it neatly.
  • Danger of using the tool. In the course of work, the saw will get stuck, jammed, and come off the mowing line, so such work can be dangerous for the master.

A sharp hacksaw is not only easier to work with, but also much safer. To determine that the time has come for sharpening the saw blade for wood, you should pay attention to the following factors:

  1. The canvas emits a characteristic dull sound. If the master often uses a hacksaw, then it will not be difficult for him to identify such a sound.
  2. The tips of the teeth are rounded.
  3. The saw refuses to perform its task when trying to cut wood.

These factors indicate that it is time to sharpen the hacksaw on wood with your own hands. But before you take up the file, you should determine whether these links are subject to sharpening.