Recommendation? Feather Files

Grease · Oct 1, 2018

Little off topic, but we don't really have a "Saws" subforum...

I'm looking for a good feather file for sharpening my Silky saws. Silky makes one, but $30 for a file seems awfully steep. Can't find any others in local stores and everything else I see online is from brands I've never heard of.

Anyone have a brand of files they trust for axe & saw sharpening?

Moonw · Oct 1, 2018

Pferd makes good files (that's what I use when I buy a new one), not sure how much they cost in US though.

Square_peg · Oct 1, 2018

Which Silky do you want to sharpen? I think the lazer hardened Gomboys and Bigboys would be too hard for this file. Those can still be sharpened with Dremel abrasives.

Grease · Oct 2, 2018

Square_peg said:
Which Silky do you want to sharpen? I think the lazer hardened Gomboys and Bigboys would be too hard for this file. Those can still be sharpened with Dremel abrasives.

I'm assuming that's why the Silky one appears to be a feather file shaped diamond sharpener, not a traditional file...

Well, maybe I'll just spring for that one and review it here if it works. Lord knows, $30 for a sharpener is better than buying a new $20 blade every year.

Steve Tall · Oct 2, 2018

I suspect that the Silky file is hardened steel/alloy, not diamond abrasives.

From a Silky site, saying that some of their blades are impulse hardened, and some of their blades are sharpenable (not impulse hardened):

Impulse Hardening - Using a special high frequency heating technique, teeth are heated instantly and hardened. Because of this localized heating process only the teeth of the blade are heated and hardened. The remainder of the blade is unchanged and still retains its normal flexibility. The hardened teeth are harder than an ordinary file and stay sharp about three times longer than non-hardened teeth.

Sharpenable - Because impulse-hardening is not applied, the blades marked with this symbol can be sharpened with a file.

Note on same page: German "acorn":

FPA-ANERKANNT FPA - approved in Germany.

From another Silky site, a listing of the Silky saws that are sharpenable:

Steve Tall · Oct 2, 2018

Photos supposedly showing the Silky file:

Ernest DuBois · Oct 2, 2018

These files you show above Steve are used on the non-hardened saws as you indicate and while the impulse hardened blades are intended to be disposable I have found you can extend their life by using the diamond version of this file or the feather file but because these are expensive and still wear fairly quickly on the hardened steel I will only file the top facet of the tooth and not the front and back as a means to economize.

Square_peg · Oct 3, 2018

There is a fellow in our trails club who is a saw filer and former machinist. He sharpens Silky saws with a dremel, grinding only the top bevel. Something like this:

https://forums.woodnet.net/showthread.php?tid=7332576&page=2

"After thinking a bit about the shape of the teeth and examining one of my japanese saws, instead of going to all the trouble to anneal, file, then rehardening a saw plate that is going to warp, and probably wont hold an edge very long, I would learn to use a Dremel tool with a thin abrasive disc to "touch-up" the teeth..All that you need to grind is the very tip of each tooth..The thin abrasive disc should allow you to get between each tooth so that you can restore the cutting tip fairly easily..I would "attack" the back side of each tooth.Just touch it lightly to remove a tiny amount..You wont grind enough to build up enough heat to draw the temper...
Definitely worth a try and if successful, you should be able to restore the cutting edge several times before the saw is used up."