CHAPTER II
HOW TO GRIND AND SHARPEN TOOLS
Care of Tools.—Dull tools indicate the character of the workman. In an experience of over forty years, I have never known a good workman to keep poorly sharpened tools. While it is true that the capacity to sharpen tools can be acquired only by practice, correct habits at the start will materially assist. In doing this part of the artisan's work, it should be understood that there is a right as well as a wrong way.
There is a principle involved in the sharpening of every tool, which should be observed. A skilled artisan knows that there is a particular way to grind the bits of each plane; that the manner of setting a saw not only contributes to its usefulness, but will materially add to the life of the saw; that a chisel cannot be made to do good work unless its cutting edge is square and at the right working angle.
First Requisite.—A beginner should never attempt a piece of work until he learns how the different tools should be sharpened, or at least learn the principle involved. Practice will make perfect.
Saws.—As the saw is such an important part of the kit, I shall devote some space to the subject. First, as to setting the saw. The object of this is to make the teeth cut a wider kerf than the thickness of the blade, and thereby cause the saw to travel freely. A great many so-called "saw sets" are found in the market, many of them built on wrong principles, as will be shown, and these are incapable of setting accurately.
Fig. 10. Fig.10a.
How to Set.—To set a saw accurately, that is, to drive out each tooth the same distance, is the first requirement, and the second is to bend out the whole tooth, and not the point only.