In this video, Paul Sellers shows you how you can easily customise a saw set to work on any type of hand saw. To find out more about Paul Sellers and the projects he is involved with visit paulsellers.com
I've sharpened and set my own saws for fifty years and here I sit watching Paul do what I've done for a very long time...I should be bored silly; yet, somehow I'm sitting here enthralled, relaxed and enjoying his presentation...you're an amazing teacher/entertainer Mr Sellers! Thank you for your time!
Absolutely outstanding video. I don’t think anyone deals with the detail in the same way as Paul Sellers. Clear, slow, simple speech where every word can be heard and understood, no gimmicks, no one trying to be a comedian. No meaningless background music, absolutely outstanding photography. My saw setting tool was amongst a handful of tools bought at an auction. It didn’t appear to be working properly so I looked at several saw setting videos without the detail and superb photography like this one and low and behold, thanks to the strip down I learned that the large spring in the plunger assembly was missing. Amazing help, superb video. And like a lot of garage/ workshops in remote rural locations, I have a box of springs that I salvage when dismantling things. I found a spring that fitted. Now all I have to do is learn to use the saw setting tool properly. Thank you so much
Paul, in a world consumed with commercialism, it is a true relief to find someone who does not recommend I buy every tool on the market. Thank you for teaching us a practical way to take what we have and easily modify it to suit our needs better than the original product.
I have an ancient saw set that belonged to my great grandfather (he was a carriage maker and wheelwright). It works great on larger teeth but after seeing this video I think I'll purchase a modern set for my finer saws. I didn't realize you could modify the hammer so easily, thanks Paul.
Thank you for this. I just picked up a dovetail saw on eBay and paid 8 bucks for it. Following the advice in Paul Sellers videos, I reshaped the handle, took out most of the set, made a saw vice, sharpened the teeth, and now I'm going to shop for a saw set so I'm prepared for that eventuality as well. That 8-dollar saw now looks and cuts like a boutique saw. Being a senior on fixed income and in today's economy, it's crucial that I can save money in this way and modify cheepo to make it work like primo. Thanks again Paul.
Paul, you are a phenomenal teacher. Calm and clear and great detailed explanations about why you do what you do. Thank you so much for publishing these. Tell your camera person that he or she does a great job with the angles and focus, too. Thanks again!
Paul, if your reading this comment ive just got to say ive been subscribed to you for a while now and i love your videos if its for new knowledge or to reinforce what bits and pieces i know, i get so engrossed in you videos that i feel like a student in a class room sitting crossed legged on the floor. The detail you go into is great. Envious or you knowledge and experience ive got to say:) keep em comin paul:)
This video was exactly what I needed to see and when I needed to see it. I am trying to learn to make dovetails and my saws are too dull. Making very bad dovetails so far! Thank you very much for the timr you spend to educate people like me! Kevin Cooper St. Louis, Mo area.
Thank you Paul for a wonderful video on a tool that many of us have never used or seen. My late father left one for me and now I know what it is and how to put it to use finally!
Just in the nick of time Paul answers my question, and I didn't even have to ask. I recently picked up a Somax No. 250 saw set at an estate sale for a song. It is in excellent shape but the hammer is far too wide for my needs and you have demonstrated exactly what I need to know. Thanks for these most informative and easy to understand videos. God bless.
Thank you for this video. It has made me examine with more detail my saw sets. Found each one with punches from 1.4mm to 4mm wide. One with a pointed punch. Anvils with degraded chrome coating. So thank you it make it possible to set each for a suitable saw size.
Thanks for the video. I lost my saw set somehow, I hadn't used it for years. I bought a used one on ebay very cheaply thinking it was a steel one, it turned out to be brass, but had the wide plunger which was too wide to sharpen my saw (16tpi) . This was exactly what I needed, thanks.
WOW!! I keep learning from you Paul. I wish I had gotten to spend more time with Grandpa Gatterer who was a Master Cabinet Builder & later made knives for shapers in his retirement.. I'm gonna walk out & get Gramp's old saw set & see what kind it is. = Morris Special circa 1897..
This is very educational for this power tool woodworker! I was always secretly intimidated by the task of setting a saw! This is easy! Will definitely be buying set tool and following with you and your videos! Thanks so much. You are a good educator!! Regards Chris Pine
i was just going through a bunch of free side of the road after a garage sale box of tools and found three of thees last week and now i know what they are thanks. now i can set the free side of the road saws i got .thanks for the vids
Thanks, this was a very interesting video. I was looking at one of my saw sets. I just noticed it only has a center plunger to set the tooth. No outer plunger to grip the saw blade.
Hi Paul, I am so happy I found your videos here. I so love the way you teach woodworking without being all fancy with the latest and most expensive equipment. I have wanted to learn woodworking my whole life and now when I am getting closer to retirement age I will take the leap and start slowly to learn. I understand that some tools should be carefully selected and they can last a lifetime if we keep up the maintenance. I am buying tools in second hand shops now both because of the good quality of old tools but also to minimize the shopping hysteria and put a lot of things in landfills. Could you talk a little about the few tools that you would try to find good quality? I imagine saws and planers being something that we should be more careful when selecting. I love the videos showing the "poor man tools" that you make yourself. Do you ever mention some good brands of old second hand tools? I was always told to buy Bacho or Sandvik hand-tools when I lived in Europe for example. Thank you so much!
Hi Ola. Thank you for your kind words of appreciation for Paul. I believe the following link would be useful to you.paulsellers.com/tag/buying-good-tools-cheap/ . Merry Christmas from Team Paul.
Paul you mentioned that the plunger is hardened steel? the sawset that I have the plunger can be easily filled, it's very soft that's the kind of saw I can buy here in the Philippines. I have several saws I need to set.
Paul, thank you for the instructions. I purchased a saw set new from Amazon, made in Taiwan. Seems to be a good one, but I am not able to set any saw. The saw cannot go into the tool far enough to push the teeth, because the wheel to back leaves 1/16" for the saw. I have used a toothpick (1/16") and can almost slide it fully into position. How much distance should there be from the gauge wheel to the backstop? Stay safe! Paul D.
Is the big saw-set perhaps intended for really big toths on buck saws, timber felling saws and resawing saws? All sawtypes that were important untill the chainsaw and bandsaw took their jobs Btw here in sweden you almost only find the type that looks like a modified flat plier with springs and stop screws, any experience with them?
Only thing I would add: as a dentist I'd much rather to this with a hand held tool, in my case my lab drill. I'd think a dremel tool could do it as well. Much more control than on that grinder.
Hello Paul, in trying to fully understand you (I just required the brass Eclipse on Ebay), I was listening specifically to the points/teeth per inch on a saw and corresponding recommended number on the saw set. You explain that when following the guideline of this particularly Eclipse saw set the setting of the saw will be to wide. You recommend that 12 points on the saw set is suitable for most saws from 8 up to 18 points per inch. Carefully paying attention, your explanation around the 4:00 time mark in this video confuse me. Most probably I misunderstand you: here you recommend for a fourteen points per inch tenon saw a setting on the saw set of 8 to 10 points. This seems to be the other direction than you explained earlier. So now I'm confused. Please set me back on trach here. By the way, your videos, blogs, classes etc. are indeed life changing! Many thanks and regards, Richard
Are the hammers interchangeable between the steel and bronze saw sets? I bought a steel one as it has the finer plunger and now Paul is saying he doesn't like the steel ones, so I feel like I made a mistake buying it now. I wish he would have said the steel one wasn't as good in his blog as that is what made me buy the steel one. Ahh well, it was only £10 from ebay.
Hi. My vintage Spear and Jackson Tenon saw is binding after about 10 strokes into the cut. The teeth are sharp and faces smooth. I have never set it. Do you think binding is a side effect of the saw not being set for some time?
Hi Paul, I recently bought a sawset to help me restore some old saws that were lying around. I noticed that the two shoulder parts that rest on the saw teeth have been worn down by decades of saw tooth points - does this affect the setting of saw teeth much? It seems to work fine, but there is a definite rough groove in the bronze where the saw set has been dragged along saw teeth and lowered the shoulders slightly.
Question when buying a saw set on eBay I noticed that it doesn't say if it's a tick plunger or the thin plunger how would you know what you're getting, I'm new to this.
When Paul says how useful something it the price on eBay leaps up. On the video he says that he paid only very few pounds for the saw set, now on eBay they go for up to £30 or so! But I have been buying cheap saws with laser hardened teeth. These are generally very sharp and hard wearing but they are fairly delicate, touch a nail and the teeth break off rendering the saw useless. Although the one short saw which I like, missing two teeth, will get a re-sharpening etc just to see if the remaining blade is suitable for this.
You know somebody loves their job when they don't know what time it is. When people hate their jobs they usually know, down to the second, how long before they are allowed to go home.
I did manage to get a good old brass/bronze Eclipse saw set for £7. It did not work on arrival with the works full of grease and sawdust. When cleaned out it works perfectly. (Kindly believe that I am not one of the Health & Safety Police but please do not wear loose clothing around rotating machinery.)