Arbtalk.co.uk | Discussion Forum for Arborists

oh dear..............................I saw a farmer sharpen like that once, he then got his mate to lift him up on a manitou, and took a limb of a tree..........nearly took him, his mate and 4 cars out !!!!!!!!!!

It was great,

Mark

Good quick vid - it doesn't do the file any good but then with no pressure prob doesn't do it much harm either.

Just release any pressure when you draw the file backwards and apply pressure when pushing forwards, it clears the swarf without it damaging the surface you are filing and make the file work more efficiently

what if you don't have a tail gate?

May be just sit on the ground and put it on your knee, and hope we get it right?????????????

Filing on the back stroke!? Quickest way to waste files!!!!!

You have to sit through a tedious video entitled.... you guessed..... ..

sharpening without a tailgate.

I once witnessed a man sharpening a saw like he was playing a violin, had the bar on his shoulder :/, not sure how affective that is haha

Thats what i do and what he was doing . The back stroke was much faster with the file just kissing not trying to bite . Don't think it dulls the file uif its light .

Going back into the distant past and an engineering aprenticeship - the file only cuts on the forward stroke but as long as there is no pressure on the file during the backstroke it won't do much harm - I've not seen many fellow engineers lift the file clear during the backstroke - unless it's the last few finishing cuts and the extra time/care is warranted. Sharpening any tool follows the same principle - little and often, don't let it get too blunt in the first place!