"Baron" wrote in message
...
Hi Ed,

Ed Huntress Inscribed thus:

Methinks running a blade in *that* kind of backwards might be useful
for sharpening a conventionally dull blade??

Uh....if you're the type who likes to use crankcase drippings for
cutting oil on a lathe, you might want to give it a try. g

In fact, if you still use steel blades on a table saw (most of my
blades are steel, and more than 30 years old), you may know that
setting a blade to run backwards and then raising it carefully into an
(old, worn-out, please) sharpening stone is a common way of jointing
the blade before sharpening it.

Please explain your terminology jointing ? its not a description
I've heard before.

Sure. It's the first step in sharpening many kinds of cutting blades,
particularly sawblades of many types. It refers to the process of getting
the peaks of all teeth set to the same level, so that, after sharpening,
they'll all cut the same -- or as close to that as you can get them.

Here's a Google magazine reprint that describes it and illustrates what I
was talking about:

http://tinyurl.com/62jrl2p

For straight handsaws, you typically use a fine-toothed mill file, unless
you have one of those rock-hard Sandvik saws, which requires an abrasive
stone.

"Jointing" also applies to setting the peaks of the teeth on the *sides*, as
well. These vary as a result of unevenness that results when you set the
teeth by bending them over, with your saw-set or punch and anvil jig. For
the cleanest cut and for the longest blade life, you joint the blade on it's
periphery (for a circular saw) or its top (for a straight saw) and on both
sides.

However, you usually joint the sides AFTER sharpening the blade. You just
want to touch the sides to cut the peaks down. It's less important on the
sides to have them all uniform; you just don't want any sticking out, which
will tear whatever you're cutting.

If you're serious about this, it's worth getting a good article or even a
book on sharpening. The old Maine boatbuilder, Dynamite Payson, wrote a slim
little volume on the subject that is excellent.

http://www.instantboats.com/sashaps.htm

A carefully jointed, set, and sharpened steel sawblade will cut cleaner than
all but the very best and most expensive carbide blades. For a while. g If
you get good at it, it goes pretty quickly.

--
Ed Huntress

Thanks:

--
Best Regards:
Baron.