Matt Cianci Set & File

 

I think Matt Cianci and I share a bit of our saw addict stories. There was a long period I read every bit  about old anglo-american saws I could find on the internet. This got slower when I startetd making saws with Klaus in 2009. But I love to read about saws. Matt and I „met“ on the net, when he was building replicas of the old saws.

 

Matt Cianci wrote the book Set & File, published by Lost Art Press. LAP doesn‘t ship to individuals in Europe, but www.rubank.se retails them. Costs me 48 € to my doorstep, but as it was late, I got some cute Bahco clamps as a gift.

The book is wonderfully made.

Matt has a light feather and writes easy to read for me. The detailed manuals to review, sharpen and set a saw are just long enough not to miss a detail and short enough not to bore anybody. If you follow Matts advise and practice, you will end up with sharp saws. From my point of view most important are the detailled clear pictures of the teeth in different stadium. Never saw better picures.

 

I do details differently: I never raise the file on the back stroke. But the important parts are just my taste: Light and look from above, not from the side. Stand while sharpening.

On down fact for european readers: The books is in some parts directed to North American readers. 

Old good hand saws are rare as hens teeth to get in my part of the world as are the Stanley 42x saw sets, wich Matt recommends strongly. I have one myself, but it cost a fortune to get and I‘m not a big fan of it. I like the old Eclipse 77 much more. But since Brexit, they are hard to get, too. The new eclipse 77 made by Spear & Jackson are usable, though.

Same about saw vises. Matt uses a Gramercy, wich I had and sold. Cast iron or wood for me. But I do most of my work on blades of 0.020“ (0,5mm) and thinner.

It is an inreresting book to read for me, writen by a real saw expert. 

For German Reader: I heared there are plans to translate the book to German.