From: "Brian Ward" 

 Sent: Friday, August 27, 2021 11:01 AM
To: oldtools@g...
Subject: Re: [oldtools] No saw painting here
 : As a side note perhaps related to the "rookie" bit mentioned by Greg:
: I've been plodding through "The Woodworker Volume I" published by LAP, and
I've come across
 : a common theme in the articles about saws. They say that sharpening a saw is
a
 : job "best left to the professionals," saying that the worker shouldn't do
anything more
 : than a touch-up between sharpenings.
:
: To this, of course, I say: "HUMBUG"
:
: I've been considering writing a post on my dumb blog about this statement,
 : but haven't really figured out an angle. It doesn't fit my style much, as I
try to be practical,
 : refraining from posts on, uh, religious and political matters.

While I much appreciate the sentiment and the spirit here I'd only offer a small
comment
 that "Well, there are saws and there are saws."
 And, ditto, "There are situations and there are situations."

 For example  I would certainly trust-and certainly have trusted- myself to
sharpen my beloved 5pt rip saws and my 7pt crosscuts.

 (In these cases 1] all my "training" was gained "second-hand" I.e. by way of
reading and watching videos, primarily because
 I've never been near enough to anyone I could ask for hands-on help or advice;
and 2] in these cases I have
 enough back-up saws to help me get over the initial learning-curve, as well as
to enable me to survive
 the -still- occasionally botched job)

 .nonetheless, I still think it would be money well spent to turn over my
18(+)pt dovetail saws exclusively to the hands of
 a knowledgable, seasoned pro -again, at least were I ever to be lucky enough to
find access to such a wizard.

 (And, again, my past efforts at trying to sharpen such fine -in both senses-
tools have made it more than clear to me the wisdom
 of following such a  path.   And while I readily, and humbly, acknowledge that
there are those here on the Porch who could whip off
 such a job without breaking a sweat, there are also those of us -well, at least
one of us- for whom this is just ain't never
 meant to happen.)

 N
In hot, sticky southern Vermont.