Proper maintenance of tools and equipment is essential for safe and efficient working. This section includes general points on storage, transport and care of tools, and techniques for sharpening tools in the field. Workshop tasks are described in Toolcare.
Storage and general care
- Keep all tools clean and dry. Carry a rag with you to wipe off the handles in wet weather. Keep edges free from mud, or they will dull very quickly. Clean tools immediately after use. If mud is left to harden, tools will be more difficult to clean and sharpen.
- Oil all metal parts before storing to prevent rust. Ordinary vegetable oil is suitable. Wipe unvarnished wooden handles with linseed oil when new and occasionally thereafter, as this helps keep them supple.
- If handles are rough or splintery, sand them smooth. Nicks in metal handles should be removed by filing.
- Store tools in a dry, well aired building, preferably in racks or on wall brackets. Keep similar tools together.
- Hang bowsaws with the blade tension released.
- Tools and equipment carried inside a passenger vehicle must be in secure containers fixed to the floor. Tools that will not fit into appropriate containers should be carried in a separate vehicle, or stowed securely in a trailer or on a roof rack. Edged tools should be protected with plastic guards, or with sacking or similar. In cars, tools should be transported in a boot, or covered hatchback area, preferably in a strong container.
Sharpening edged tools in the field
Edged tools should go into the field sharp. Major sharpening is a workshop task, and should not be attempted in the field.
- Sharpen tools at least twice a day when in use, or more often as necessary. Sickles and scythes need frequent honing to remain effective. Axes and billhooks should be checked whenever you stop to rest.
- Use the correct whetstone for sharpening each tool. Fine cylindrical (cigar-shaped) stones are used for sickles and scythes. Cylindrical or flat (canoe-shaped) stones can be used for billhooks and slashers. Axes are best sharpened with flat rectangular stones or round stones, fine one side, coarse on the other.
- Stones are fragile, and should be carefully stored and transported in a box or ‘frog’. Broken stones are dangerous and should not be used.
- Always wear a glove on the hand holding the sharpening stone. Place the tool on a firm surface such as a stump, with the edge projecting, or sit down and steady the tool on your knees.
- Moisten the stone with water, then hold it at the same angle as the existing taper of the blade. Avoid the temptation to use a wider angle to get an edge on the blade more quickly. With a combination stone, use the coarse side first to eliminate any flaws and bring to an edge, and then the fine side after to give an even taper and good polish. Sharpen with small circular motions, as this is safer than sweeping the stone along the edge, and is easier for the inexperienced worker.
- Take care to sharpen the hooked part of billhook and slasher blades, as this part of the blade does much of the cutting work.
- On single bevel tools, sharpen the bevelled side only. To finish, remove the burr on the flat side with a few light strokes.
- To check for sharpness, sight along the edge. You should see a uniform taper with no light reflected from the edge itself. Reflected light indicates a dull spot, so keep sharpening until this disappears. Don’t touch the edge to check for sharpness.
Saw maintenance
- Oil blades frequently. When sawing through resinous trees, keep blades clean and free-cutting by dousing them with an oiling mixture of 7 parts paraffin, 2 parts white spirit and 1 part lubricating oil. Wear gloves to protect your hands.
- Change bowsaw blades when they are blunt or have lost their ‘set’. Blunt blades take more effort to use than normal, and produce fine dust rather than crumbs or small chips of wood. Blunt blades are not worth resharpening, and should be removed from the saw and broken in half to avoid re-use. Take the pieces away for safe disposal.
- Blades can lose their set by being trapped in the felling cuts of trees, which gives the impression they are blunt. Reverse the blade in the saw (points into the bow), to make it easy to identify later. The set can be replaced in the workshop by gripping the blade in a vice, and then tweaking each tooth in turn to the correct side using a pair of fencing pliers.
- To change the saw blade, first release the tension. If this is hard to do by hand, put the saw on the ground with the frame upright and the blade pointing away from you, and pull back on the lever, using a metal bar if necessary. Then put your foot on the lever to hold it, and push the saw frame away from you.
- Remove the rivets, position the new blade and then replace the rivets. Retension the blade by pressing the lever against the ground until it closes.
- If a bowsaw blade tends to ‘run’ (cut in a curve), reverse it in the frame. If this is ineffective, adjust the set on the ‘gaining’ side by running a whetstone once lightly along the blade, with the stone held flat against the blade.
- A bowsaw blade must be under high tension to cut straight. Increase the tension by fixing the blade using the inner holes of the pair at each end of the blade. The frame can be ‘opened’ when held in a vice, to increase the blade tension.
