I knew that I would need to shape the teeth of some of my saws sooner or later in order to sharpen them properly. I decided to start with the Jackson backsaw that I’d de-rusted earlier, again figuring that I’d only be out $1.99 if I messed it up.

The teeth were at 11 points per inch, but very badly shaped in some parts, especially the tip. So I started with jointing. I don’t have a saw jointer, but you can just use a mill file without a handle. Maybe I ought to buy or make a jointer, though; it’s hard to get a good grip.

I decided to set the rake angle at around 20 degrees, a moderately aggressive cut for a crosscut saw. To make a rake guide, I cut out a chunk of yellow-poplar and drilled a hole in the side (as recommended by most saw-sharpening guides).

It turned out surprisingly well, especially considering that this was my first attempt. The teeth are reasonably uniform, and it certainly looks much better than it used to. It seems that it is important to take only a few strokes at a time with the file, going over the teeth several times until they start to look alike. However, due to the poor initial shape, I did remove a significant amount of steel to get to this stage.

Next up for this saw is setting and creating the fleam angle. Hopefully, I’ll have gotten the handle in decent shape at that point, so I can test it out right away.