Study Nook Gets a Nice Top

I blogged about this built-in desk and cupboard in March, '09. Before that, we had a set of wooden utility shelves from Ikea. The Ikea shelves were very functional but not very attractive and we really needed a spot for Helen to do homework.
We lived with the plywood until last weekend when we went to East Wareham, MA to pick up a piece of Fireslate that we had cast to fit. The nook isn't 100% square so I made a template (including a 2" hole in back left corner for power cords, etc.) out of construction paper and sent it to the folks at Fireslate to have it made. It only took them a couple days and it came out great.

Now the homework area has a really nice, smooth work surface and it matches the rest of the kitchen.
We used Fireslate for our kitchen counter tops as well as our fireplace surround and we love it. We have to treat it with Tung oil every few months but other than that, it's pretty care free. That and it looks great.

Two-Man Saw Sharpening

Each year at our kids' school, there's a Harvest Festival. Last year we started having some events for the older kids: Lumberjack Contests.

One of the key events was the two-man saw competition but in order for it to work, we have to have two saws that are in good shape. So this year I took it upon myself to figure out how to sharpen, set, and generally tune up a two-man saw. I found two very helpful resources: The Crosscut Saw Company web site, and the book The Ax Book by D. Cook. Both were invaluable.

The first thing I did was to build this jig from scrap wood I had lying around the shop:



Then I assembled the tools I'd need:


...from left to right:

1. A file-cleaning brush to keep the bastard file clean
   
2. A wrench to tighten the bolts that clamp the saw blade in the jig
   
3. A small file (didn't use this one much)
   
4. A Stanley saw-set
   
5. A bastard file. This is the one that did most of the work.
   
6. An ax stone to clean up the rust, etc. on the blade. Also, it's used to take the wire burr off or each tooth after filing and before setting.
   

First, I jointed the saw which is just running the file over all the teeth and rakers to make sure they're all at the same height. You have to be careful to keep the file perpendicular to the plane of the blade.

After jointing, I filed each tooth. This was quite time consuming as each tooth has to be filed on both sides at the correct angle. Once I got the hang of it, though, and came up with a system it became kind of enjoyable. Almost meditative, really. This is when I used the ax stone: I'd run it up and down the saw on the flat to take off the wire burr from filing each tooth.



Once the teeth were filed, I worked on getting the rakers square and sharp. The idea is that the teeth slice the wood fibers and then the rakers take out the chips.

The rakers done, I set about setting the teeth. Using the Stanley saw set wasn't the exact right tool, but I was able to get it to work. The right way is to use a hammer and small anvil that's at the correct angle.

I was working on two saws and the steel for each was quite different. One was much more pliable than the other. In fact, one was brittle enough that I broke two teeth off with the saw set.

The Result
Oddly enough, the saw that I didn't think would work well turned out to be the better of the two. The key thing was that the set of the teeth was critical, even though they were plenty sharp. Without the proper set of the teeth, the saw will cut for a bit (about an inch or so) and then start binding up. It also helped to clean off the rust on the blade with the ax stone.

I'll definitely do this again: it was a very gratifying project.