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Anyone use tooth set pliers?

Randy Anderson

Randy Anderson

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I've seen a tool that's used to reset the tooth offset on saw blades that might be worth trying. They're not expensive and are used on hand saws but can't find anyone using them on bandsaw blades. Not sure if my 1/2" 3 TPI blade would fit against the anvil piece or if the steel would respond to make it work. Any experience or advice appreciated.
 
I believe those tools can be found with different tooth range configurations .. and then there's more "universal" ones that you can adjust the anvil for the tooth pitch - a 3 TPI bandsaw blade, might be similar to some rip cut handsaws.. Then there's the ones like the one on my ancient (but "like new") foley-belsaw sharp-all that are used for circular saws (I cant remember the last time I ever used a non-carbide saw blade, though) but an anvil set like that might also work (place blade on anvil, and there's a metal striker that you then rap with a hammer to set the tooth) but having used a cheapie version of the hand operated handsaw tooth setter, I don't see why it could not work for a bandsaw blade (assuming you could find a tool in the right tooth pitch range)
 
Well if I can remember when I get home tonight I will dig out my saw sat and try I. I really dont think you need one for a bandsaw. I do joint the teeth and that seems to sharpen it and make it cut much better.
 
I bought a hand saw set from Lee Valley years ago and used it a couple of times on 3 TPI 1/2” bandsaw blades for my 14” import saw. Worked well once and the second time not so well, so never did it since. I think I went for too much set. Was a bit tricky to do. I was using the bandsaw only for bowl blanks and processing fresh wood into spindle material and drying.
 
Mike, that's what I'm thinking. Most of my bandsaw time is roughing out large blanks of green wood so thinking if for a few $ I could get another life or so out of one then might be worth trying. I've had ones where the inside set was obviously not right but the outside set was OK and they still felt sharp enough. If doesn't work out I have other handsaws that could use some work as well. thx.
 
I just played with mine on a 3 tpi 1/2" blade. Really hard gat it centered on the tooth. Then of course you have to do every third tooth and then flip it and do the other direction. Not worth the hassle. Rotate the blade backwards by hand and hold an oil stone up against the front of the teeth to make them all the same height and take off the dull tip. Doesnt take much and really improves the cut. I tried sharpening the gullet of each tooth which took as much time as trying to set the teeth. This made the blade very aggressive and would be great for cutting green wood. I think the reason was each tooth had a slightly different height. It left a chattering surface that would not be good for resawing but wont matter for cutting bowl blanks. After this test I jointed the blade by running it backward with my oil stone against the teeth. It now cut extremely smooth which is great for resawing but the blade now cut a lot slower. My conclusion after spending a half day playing and cutting a lot of wood is for most of our turning needs simply jointing the blade will improve sharpness enough to get a lot of life out of the blade. If you need the best blade for resawing grind the gullet, then joint and then set the teeth. Setting the teeth will help the blade track a straight line but all this work is very time consuming. My blade has 452 teeth so not a simple task. The best bet of course is to buy a resaw blade and never use it for anything else. Then get a blade for green wood turning and touch it up occasionally by jointing it when you notice your having to force the cut.
 
I find that carbide tipped teeth blades are worth the cost as they last so much longer.
 
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