How to care for your hand saws so they last a lifetime

I have a rip saw that belonged to my father and it cuts better than anything I could buy today. It cuts better because it has been looked after, not because they made them better then, though they did.

Two things ruin a hand saw: rust, and being set down where it can hit something.

Rust

Steel and humidity. That is the whole problem, and in a garage or a basement you have both.

After every use, wipe the blade down. Your hands leave salt and moisture on it and that is enough to start pitting within a week in summer.

Then a light oil. Any light machine oil works. Some people use paste wax instead, which I prefer on a saw plate because it does not attract dust and it makes the saw glide through the cut. Wax it, buff it off, and it both protects and improves the cut.

Store it hanging, not lying flat in a drawer where it can trap moisture against wood.

If you have a lot of tools in a damp space, put a rust inhibitor in the drawer or a low wattage warmer in the cabinet. Keeping the metal a few degrees above the air temperature stops condensation, which is where most garage rust comes from.

Removing rust that is already there

Light surface rust comes off with fine steel wool and oil. Work along the blade, not across.

For heavier rust, a rust eraser or very fine wet and dry paper with oil as a lubricant, again working lengthways.

Do not use a wire wheel on a grinder. It removes metal, it destroys the etch, and it can heat the plate enough to affect the temper.

And do not obsess over making it shiny. A saw plate with some staining that is smooth to the touch cuts perfectly well. What you are removing is pitting and roughness, not history.

The teeth

A saw that has gone dull does not need throwing away. It needs sharpening, and hand saw sharpening is a skill you can learn in an afternoon.

It needs a saw vice or a way to hold the blade rigid, a triangular file of the right size for the tooth pitch, and patience.

Jointing first, running a flat file along the tops of the teeth so they are all the same height. Then filing each gullet to restore the point. Then setting, which is bending each tooth very slightly alternately left and right so the cut is wider than the plate and the saw does not bind.

That is the short version and there are people who will do it for you for a modest fee if you would rather not learn.

What I would say is that a sharp saw is a different tool from a dull one. People decide hand saws are hard work, and what they mean is that dull hand saws are hard work.

The handle

Wooden handles dry out and the finish fails. Clean it, and put boiled linseed oil on it once a year.

Check the saw nuts are tight. A loose handle makes the saw feel dead in the hand and it will eventually crack around the nuts.

If the handle is cracked, it can be repaired with hide glue and a clamp, and it is worth doing, because the old handles were shaped by people who understood hands.

Handling

Never let a saw plate touch another tool. That is how you get nicks in the teeth.

Do not set it down teeth first on a bench. Hang it or lay it on its side.

A plastic tooth guard, or a length of split garden hose along the teeth, protects it in a tool bag and costs nothing.

And do not lend it to anyone who will cut into a nail with it.

Why bother

A decent hand saw, maintained, outlives the person who buys it. I am sixty-seven and mine is older than I am.

There is also the practical point that a hand saw needs no power, makes no dust cloud, and for one or two cuts is faster than setting up a circular saw. I reach for it more often than people expect.