On Friday, we raised a celebratory toast to Matt Cianci (theSawWright.com) after sending to press “Set & File: A Practical Guide to Saw Sharpening.” (Chris had a Sierra Nevada pale ale; I had an Aperol spritz.) And though it was nine years in the making, we think it is worth the wait.
In an economy of words and many color photos (the book is 88 pages of straightforward instruction), Matt shows you the basics of saw maintenance and restoration for Western-style saws, from the necessary tools to how decide on the type of work needed, then how to properly sharpen crosscut and rip, with no mystery or hard-to-make jigs or unicorn oil. It’s much easier that you might think. Oh – and the book is funny, which was to me a delightful surprise. (Saw sharpening doesn’t seem like ripe ground for humor, but Matt is a funny guy!)
the Table of Contents
The hardcover book (and a pdf thereof ) will be available in about six weeks from us, and we hope shortly thereafter through our retailers (likely by summer for overseas retailers). It features a gray cloth cover over 98 pt. boards, #70-pound matte coated paper, and a sewn binding. Like a good saw “Set & File” is made to last. And like all Lost Art Press books, it is produced and printed entirely in the United States.
Below are a few screenshots of some of my favorite pages:
Megan is finishing Matt Cianci’s book “Set & File: A Practical Guide to Saw Sharpening,” and I’m polishing “The American Peasant.” Both books will go to the printer within the month, and then we will turn to our next publishing projects.
Here’s what is coming up.
Megan is (still) working on her Dutch tool chest book, and she’ll also take the reins on Jim Tolpin and George Walker’s next book, “Good Eye.” Their early drafts have convinced me this will be their best book. For this book, George and Jim are deconstructing pieces of furniture to show their underlying patterns and language.
Also in the works: Kale and I just began filming a long-form video on building and using a Roman workbench.
And I will dive into the next issue of “The Stick Chair Journal.” I have been working on the second issue off and on, and I promise it will be out before the end of 2024. The delay on “The Stick Chair Journal” has not been due to a lack of enthusiasm. Quite the opposite. My list of stories for the second (and third) issues grows every week.
Mostly, I have been stalled by our 11-month-long restoration of the Anthe building, our new fulfillment center. Finally, work on the Anthe building is winding down. This week we’re repairing the basement stairs and waterproofing the second-floor doors over the loading dock. These little projects are much easier to tackle than say: pay for a new roof, sunlight, gutter and reconstruction of the rear masonry wall.
Aside from the Anthe building, one of the obstacles to the next issue of “The Stick Chair Journal” is which chair plan we will publish in issue two. I have seven designs I’ve been working on:
Comb-back with a plywood arm and comb Settle/Settee The Shortback Irish writing chair Peasant chair The Stout Lad chair (a chair for larger body types) Hobbit chair
I want to build them all. And given enough time, I will. Since writing “The Stick Chair Book” (a free download), I have been moving chair-by-chair to a particular chair form in my mind. The two chairs on my bench right now (shown above) are a significant step forward to that chair – both in form and the natural dye I’m cooking up.
Or maybe I’m just fooling myself and “that chair” will always be on the horizon.
When saw sharpener Tom Law died, there were a lot of people who thought: Now what? Who will sharpen our saws and teach others?
Fortunately, there was a new generation of saw makers and sharpeners who have put in the hours to get to the point where sharpening saws is as easy as tying their shoes. But there aren’t many of them. I wouldn’t want them all to go on a cruise ship, which could sink and forever alter the craft.
So one of our goals here at Lost Art Press is to produce a book on saw sharpening that will preserve these skills for future generations. And after looking and listening and lots of sawing, I knew there was one person for the job, Matt Cianci.
Matt is the kind of no-BS saw sharpener that Tom Law was. He is not interested in esoteric angles and metallurgy. He is a time-served sharpener, who has filed thousands of saws and works like an automatic machine when he does it.
Evaluating set without measuring. So simple.
He is interested in making saw sharpening simple – not complex. And for the last eight years, Matt and I have bandied about a book that he should write. The roadblock to the book turned out to be the images. Matt insists that one of the keys to learning to sharpen is seeing well-filed teeth. Once you know what the goal looks like, it’s easy to get there.
Old books on saw sharpening used drawings. Those are helpful, but not as good as seeing the real thing.
So last weekend I drove 13 hours to Rhode Island to work with Matt to get the images just right. And we are determined to keep at it until the book is published.
Watching Matt work is like watching any highly experienced tradesperson do their job. He can asses a saw in seconds, and then he is immediately jointing, setting and filing the teeth with no wasted motion.
Using your finger to guide the re-toothing process.
I know that he can teach you to file your own saws. And I am excited that this book is going to preserve this art for generations to come. We are on track to publish this book in early 2024. Its current title is “Set & File: A Practical Guide to Saw Sharpening.”
The book will cover all the important aspects of sharpening, including finding good saws and sharpening equipment, how to obtain the basic skills for filing, and how to deal with saws with teeth that are nice (but dull), plus how to deal with teeth that have been abused.
Like Matt’s approach to filing, his book will focus on the fundamentals. Filing to get the correct rake, fleam and pitch. After you understand these principles, you will know how to tackle all kinds of saws and all kinds of saw problems.
