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Lesser Known Tool for ?????? You'll have to look

4K views 9 replies 4 participants last post by  soundguy 
#1 ·

Does anyone recognize this unique item ??? I'll give you a hint, it NOT from France and is NOT usually used by a lady, however it DID come from my much older brothers shop.

Here's the back side of it...looks like the three thumbscrews are leveling adjustments at first glance.

Hmmmm....Stearns and Co. in New York....We had to admit being around the thing it's used on our whole lives neither of us had ever used it.

Ok, ok I cheated you all out of a good clue....it's made to hold a file (one size smaller than this one). So take a look at the next picture...

AHA !!!! It's intended use has to do with a circular blade like this of any size.

Of course it can't be held correctly with one hand while posing for a picture, but you can see it is a circular saw side dresser. I know a lot of you knew what it was, but I'm betting a lot more didn't. After filing and setting the teeth on a non-carbide toothed blade, to even up the kerf taken by the blades set, the sides of the teeth are worked down to uniform width on each side. The three thumbscrews adjust for the amount wanted removed. With the blade mounted on the arbor the dresser is then used in the direction of the teeth to file the edges to a uniform width.

If you've been around sawmill lumber much, you're aware of the tooth marks left in the lumber and you can see the repetitive tooth mark or marks left by uneven teeth from a blade that has not been side dressed. Those deeper tooth marks require much more planing to remove. Typically the side dressing is done after a fresh sharpening and setting of the teeth before its put back to use. Of course on buzz saws like Sugarmaker and myself use for wood cutting, side dressing is not required...unless you want really pretty end cuts on the firewood......
 
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#4 ·
soundguy said:
do longbow saws like lumberjack 2 man teams use have to be set and dressed like that?
They do in fact have to be set by hand, but I'm not sure that this tool is to be used for side dressing anything but circular saws. I don't recall Dad ever side dressing either crosscuts OR circular saws anyway. I do have his favorite 7' crosscut hanging across my fireplace...4 cuts and a drag makes a good saw instead of the 2 cuts and a drag (according to the old man). Though there are some that prefer the latter.

On a side note, most circular saws you see doing duty as a buzz saw have so badly misshapen teeth and needing rounding up and a good gumming so bad that side dressing them wouldn't help a bit any way. When you find one correctly gummed, sharpened and set you will notice it immediately...and if sawing bigger stuff will sing through swiftly and smoothly.
 
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