Great video on saw sharpening

This afternoon I finished watching “Sharpening your handsaws with Ron Herman” on Shop Class on Demand from Popular Woodworking. It’s an online streaming version of the DVD of the same name. I enjoyed it so much and feel like I learned so much from it that I’m going to order a copy of the DVD to keep when my subscription runs out.

Ron Herman is a traditional housewright in Columbus, OH, and the owner of Antiquity Builders. They specialize in period accurate home building and restoration. Ron uses handsaws extensively on the job site and is an expert in their use and care. He has a very straightforward manner and explains things very clearly. There is nothing fancy about his presentation; it’s just simple, honest and hard-earned knowledge and experience conveyed very clearly and understandably.

He began the video talking about the parts of the saw and the tools used to sharpen one. Then he went through shaping, sharpening and setting the teeth on a rip saw. This was the longest section of the video, since it was the part where he introduced most of the major concepts. I really liked how in addition to the process of shaping and sharpening the teeth, he also went over how to test the run of the saw and diagnose and correct problems. Another thing I really liked was his emphasis on proper body position for comfort and ergonomics. That’s an overlooked aspect with a lot of woodworking videos.

In the second major half of the video, he sharpened a crosscut saw. He did a good job of explaining the angles and showed a simple jig that he uses. I’d been a bit confused on some of the concept of rake and fleam and this section helped clear that up. I liked the close ups of him working on the saw. They really helped reinforce what he was saying. The last little bit of the video talked about setting a saw in a bit more detail and some of the pitfalls people encounter.

This video and Ron’s hand saw tuneup video were big motivators in my ponying up for Shop Class on Demand. They were more than worth the price of admission. I feel like I’ve really learned a lot about saws from Ron and would recommend anyone interested in handsaws to check this video out.

Rich;)

-- Rich;) -"Dada make a big mess?" "Yes Dada made a big mess."