On 4 Sep 2005 08:49:19 -0700, wrote:

Recently I acquired two hand miter saws. The acquisitions were about a
month apart. The first is a Millers Falls. I got it all cleaned up and
I even had the saw professionally sharpened. The second is a Stanley.
I did not sharpen the Stanley saw. Both saws have the Disston trademark
on the brass bolts that hold the handles to the blades. The saws look
similar but are not interchangeable from miter box to miter box. The
saws are 26 inches long. The saw with the Stanley is not as wide as the
Millers Falls saw.

When I cut a board, the Stanley operates smoothly. The same board in
the Millers Falls (this is the newly sharpened blade) requires a lot of
effort and is very jerky, in short, a pain to use. I've looked at the
teeth on both. They are both 11 points to the inch. The set appears
to be the same on both blades.

Can anyone here offer any advice as to what the problem is? I'm really
thinking that there is something subtle in the sharpening that is
causing the problem but I don't know what it might be. Before I go
back to the sharpener I'd like to have some idea of what I'd like done
different. Maybe the problem is in the boxes themselves?


I still keep a Stanley that I bought in the early 70's because the
common wisdom was, "These Rockwell electrical miter boxes ain't never
gonna catch on".

I kept it because:

1. It was useful in situations where you needed to cut a few
pieces inside and its powered cousin would have trashed the room.

2. I couldn't sell it for anything, because those electrical
miter boxes actually did catch on.


If you sent it to a saw sharpening service you may well have been
hosed by your good intentions.

Used properly, the saws do not require more than tune up filing which,
albeit tedious, is better accomplished by someone who will live with
the results.

Machine done sharpening doesn't work for any handsaw with more than
about eight teeth per inch.

A miter box saw is essentially a long backsaw, having 10 or more teeth
per inch, which have a small set to them.

Most commercial outfits screw up the tooth profile and the set.

If they have done their usual job you will have to reform and reset
the teeth - and there are a lot of teeth.


Don't send that Stanley out, and try to get a replacement saw for the
Miller's Falls.



Tom Watson - WoodDorker
tjwatson1ATcomcastDOTnet (email)
http://home.comcast.net/~tjwatson1/ (website)