Bad Axe DIY Maintenance & Saw Sharpening Kit

Looking for a vise with an 18" wingspan to sharpen your own saws? Now you can get into your own saw maintenance and sharpening system with one of our kits, or make your own with the free download below for less than $100 in materials and about 2-3 hours of your time.

Here's what you can do with your Bad Axe Maintenance & Saw Sharpening System (BAMS3):

• NOTE: this saw maintenance & sharpening system is designed for working with backsaws equipped with the traditional folded sawback only, and NOT for saws manufactured with the plate glued into a slit milled along the underside of the sawback.
  
  Virtually all backsaws made before the mid-1990's and other makers that use the traditional folded sawback, such as Bad Axe, may be used with this system.
  
  
• A brief description regarding how to use the BAMS3: most people have a mechanics vise in their shop, and as much as we all like big iron, a dedicated saw vise often times just gets in the way. This five-piece system lined with cork rubber is designed for use in a mechanics vise through a clever use of angle iron extending the jaws of your mechanics vise, two flat iron pieces to trap a sawplate when sharpening, and a sawback lifter with which to lift, shift or remove the traditional folded sawback of a vintage (or Bad Axe) backsaw.
  
  

• Lift up, reposition, and/or laterally adjust the traditional folded sawback of your vintage (or Bad Axe) back saw: Using the two 18" angle iron, you can insert your backsaw, secure the plate, and literally pry the sawback off the spine of the plate, a useful feature when seeking to equalize plate depth below the back, remove the sawback altogether to scrape off accumulated rust along the spine, or when sharpening the sawplate itself.
  
  
• Sharpen the sawplate vibration-free. With the sawback removed, you may resharpen the sawplate clamped into the cork rubber-lined flat irons vith practically NO vibration whatsoever. When the plate is trapped in the flat irons, which are in turn clamped inside the angle iron, you will experience a rock-solid meeting of file on tooth with no annoying buzz or vibration as you pass your file through the gullet, extending the life of your file and enhancing the feel of the way your file bites into the metal.
  
  

• Tighten up your saw handle: You read that right. Know how your tool handles get loose in the wintertime when the cold dry air shrinks wood fiber, creating air gaps where metal meets wood? Simply clamp your backsaw in the BAMS3, give the toe end of your sawback an assertive tap with a light mallet, and the back will shift toward the back wall of the handle mortise receiving your plate & back assembly, closing up the air-gap--and voila--no more loose handle! Now you don't have to ruin your brass fasteners or split your handle by torquing the fasteners like The Hulk.
  
  
• Disassemble your backsaw completely: Since this sytem allows you to easily remove the sawback, you may now completely disassemble your vintage backsaw, scrape off rust and maintain all components separately. 
  Look at it this way--if you can completly disassemble the 14-some-odd pieces of a vintge Bailey jack plane, you can disassembled the components of a backsaw.

Here's what comes in the kit:

 

Don't want to buy the kit? Then simply download the article I wrote for Furniture & Cabinetmaking Magazine which describes in detail how you can source the materials and make your own for less than $100!