Foley Saw Filers and Retoothers

Foley Equipment Near Kansas City, MO

2009-11-09T08:07:00.000-08:00

Hey Guys, I got this email from Craig in KC. Sounds like he wants to unload some nice equipment for cheap. Let me know if you get it!

Hello, I found your sawfiler blog when I was searching about some Foley Belsaw equipment that I inherited. I have a SF1000 filer and an SR1000 retoother. I've got carrier bars and ratchets with them. I am not familiar with these tools but looked over the manuals off of your site. I've also got a trip hammer setter and a 1055 SharpAll with a few attachments. I am wanting to sell all or part of this equipment cheap. I'm near Kansas City Mo. If you could put this info on your site I would very much appreciate it. If you do you can use my gmail address. pepecp7@gmail.com Thanks, Craig

Dimension Needed!

2009-10-31T10:31:00.000-07:00

I lent my 385 retoother to a friend, so I need a little help from someone out there. Pedder in Germany just got a Foley 385 and the rubber drive wheel is kaputz. If someone can throw a caliper on their drivewheel and post a comment on the size (thickness and diameter) he'd be a happy camper. Thanks guys!

Foley Equipment For Sale: Lacenter, WA

2009-06-28T04:21:00.000-07:00

This was posted as a comment earlier this week:

Have Foley Model 387 Saw Filer, Model 52 Power Setter, and Retoother and all Manuals. For Sale best offer. tphoneman@gmail.com located in Lacenter, Washington 98629

Let us know when it sells tphoneman!

Foley Filer For Sale: Decatur, IL

2009-06-17T07:28:00.000-07:00

Josh has a filer for sale in Decatur, IL. Apparently, it was in his basement when he moved into his new house. What luck! If only I could find real estate where they were leaving 20" Moak jointers and Tannewitz bandsaws for the new owners...

Contact him directly at: jor1975 [at] gmail [dot] com.

It looks like a model 200, but I could be wrong. The carrier bars are MIA, but if you read my past posts, you'll see instructions on how to make them.

Also, it looks like the rubber drive wheel which transmits power from the motor to the flywheel has disintegrated. You have a couple of options in that case:

1) Find a new wheel from Foley Belsaw. You'll need to call them directly as these parts are no longer listed online. You might be able to retrofit a rollerblade wheel for this purpose.

2) Make a riser block for the motor to give it a couple inches of clearance off of the flywheel. Then, add a pulley to the driveshaft and get a v-belt from Tractor Supply Co. or the autoparts store. The older models all used pulleys and v-belts.

Someone better snatch this one up. It looks to be in pretty good shape (aside from the drive wheel). It's up to you to haggle with Josh on the price.

Links to Grobet American Pattern Taper Saw Files

2009-06-01T16:48:00.000-07:00

As a public service, I just added links (on the right) to Amazon for all of your taper file needs. The price on these Grobet files seems pretty reasonable, but the shipping will kill you. Consider buying several sizes to make it worth your while.

I think I got the ppi correct for each of these, but if not, leave a comment and I'll get it fixed ASAP.

File Sizes for the Foley Saw Filer

2008-10-21T12:45:00.000-07:00

Here's a quick summary from the Foley manual on which files should be used for different teeth sizes. Note that you should probably use smaller files for the finer teeth if you're going to be sharpening by hand.

6" regular taper: 5-7 ppi
6" slim taper: 8-10 ppi
6" extra slim taper: 11-13 ppi
6" double extra slim taper: 13-16 ppi

For the fine stuff - 13 ppi and up - you can rig up a 5" double extra slim taper in the older Foley machines by using a 1/2" dowel to hold the file. There is just enough clearance to pull it off, but you need to be sure to get the file centered in dowel. I haven't tried this on the newer Foley machines, but where there's a will, there's a way!

Saw Sharpening Services

2008-10-21T12:07:00.000-07:00

Not me...I'm too busy writing my dissertation.

For those of you who want an expert restoration job on a vintage handsaw, try Mark Harrell in La Crosse, Wisconsin. He was the gentleman who was nice enough to send us instructions on the Burr Retoother a few months ago. Mark also has an ACME saw filer (and he knows how to use it!).

Click here for Mark's website - TechnoPrimitives

Maybe if we send Mark enough business, he will post a tutorial on the ACME, but let's hope he stays too busy with business to have that much free time. If you're in the market for a fully-restored vintage saw, he also sells through ebay.

Click here for Mark's saws on ebay

Instruction Manual for the Burr Retoother

2008-08-06T04:36:00.001-07:00

Sawfilers of the world - Unite! I say there's no reason to pay $20 to some hack on ebay for a photocopy of a manual to a machine that you bought at auction for $30. So, let's keep those manuals rolling in. We've already made this website the world's largest library of handsaw sharpening machine operator's manuals (it only took 2, so don't be that impressed).

I'd like to thank Mark in Wisconsin for sending us the manual for the Burr Retoother. You'll find it in the list of manuals on the side of the screen. It's not the most detailed manual you'll ever read, but hey, it should get you started in the right direction.

And to give credit where credit is due, the two Foley sawfiler manuals are from OWWM.com with an attribution to Andy Sargent.

ACME Sawfilers and Saw Sharpening Equipment Manuals

2008-08-04T10:45:00.000-07:00

I don't know how many of these things are in existence, but they are HUGE. I almost bought one at an auction last year, but I couldn't bring myself to the thought of carrying it out to the truck. It must weigh a couple hundred pounds.

Anyway, I just got an email from a fellow sawfiler in Wisconsin who just bought one of these. He's looking for the manual or any advice on how to use it. If you've got one, let us know how this thing works! It would be great if someone could send me the manual so I could post it up here for all to read.

Foley 200 Saw Filer Sighting!

2008-07-13T04:59:00.000-07:00

Sorry, no pics, but I did see one. Kind of like finding Saskwatch. I knew it existed, but no one has ever seen one in person!

For those of you looking for the manual for this machine, no worries, we've got you covered. It is somewhat of a hybrid between the old Foley 387 / F-61 and the new 387 / SF-1000 models.

The feed mechanism is exactly the same as on the newer machines, so read that manual for how to adjust the 'jointing guide' and feed rate. It also has the same spring loaded file holder as the new machines.

The angle adjustment for fleam (when you're sharpening a crosscut saw) is the same as the old 387 and F-61. The old machines have you line up the angle with the left hand side of the bar (see the manual). The new machines have a pointer in the middle of the bar. The Foley 200 has you line it up on the left. I'll post pics if you're confused. Post a comment if you want to see what I'm talking about.

My impression of the model 200 is that it is a bit of a Minotaur. Half man, half bull. It has the head of the SF-1000 on the body of the F-61. It will do the job, but it has the worst of both machines.

The best part about the new 387 and SF-1000 is that they're balanced with the motor in the back so that they won't fall off your bench if you take your hand off of them for 10 seconds.

The best part of the old F-61 and 387 is that you can rig them up to run 5" files if you want to sharpen very fine teeth. That's a bit tricker with the new spring-loaded file holders.

I still wanted to buy this machine but I had to leave the auction because the auctioneer was soooo slow. It even had 5 carrier bars! What a find.

So, if you were the lucky winner this sawfiler at the auction in Maybee, Michigan, let us know what you think.

Another Manual is Here! Foley 392 Power Setter

2008-06-24T13:09:00.000-07:00

Many thanks to Jim in Dallas who sent me this manual for the Foley 392 Power Setter.

I had a request for the Foley Model 200 manual. Foley had two model 200 machines. The old model 200 was a key copying machine. The newer model 200 was a saw filer. While I haven't used the model 200 saw filer, it looks a lot like the SF-1000 / newer 387. The manual for that is linked at the right. I'm guessing that Foley discontinued the name 'model 200' due to confusion of the two.

I'll write up the difference between the old & new filers soon, but as far as I can tell, there were essentially two different machines (old vs. new or grey vs. green) with six different model names (old: F-4, F-5, F-61, 387; new: 387, 200, SF-1000).

Manual for Foley Automatic Power Setter is Here!

2008-06-23T12:04:00.000-07:00

I've been looking for this manual for a very long time. I have the Foley model 352 automatic power setter. This is the manual for the model 525 or model 52. They look very similar, so let's hope it works. I've installed a permanent link in my list to the right.

The copy isn't the best in the world, but it is a heck of a lot better than what I had before (which was...nothing). If you have any experience with this machine, feel free to leave some tips to help us newbies out!

Foley SR-1000 Retoother Manual is Here!

2008-06-17T23:09:00.000-07:00

I scanned the manual to the Foley Belsaw SR-1000 retoother last night. I've added the link at the right. I have the Foley Retoother model 385, and this manual works just fine.

The manual for the Automatic Power Setter model 52 is on its way to my house. I hope it works for my Foley model 352, they sure do look like the same machine... In any case, it should be posted up here by next week.

We Need Manuals!!!

2008-05-27T08:47:00.000-07:00

Attention to all of you with Foley Saw Sharpening Equipment - there are lots of folks out there in dire need of manuals. I've contacted Foley-Belsaw, but they don't have many of the old manuals on file (because it is oh-so hard to keep a pdf file these days).

Anyway, we're really looking for the manual to the Foley Model 352 power setter. If you've got a copy, let me know. We'd like to get it posted up here so that everyone can read it.

Also, if you want to sell any of your Foley equipment, just post a comment or shoot me an email with your info. I'll let you post for free on this site so that you can connect with folks in your area who are actually interested in these specific machines.

Carrier Bars

2008-04-12T07:08:00.000-07:00

Foley 387 saw filers can be found all over the place these days. Unfortunately, the carrier bars are usually MIA. You can find replacements on ebay, but they cost a small fortune. So, why not make your own? You only need one carrier to do both panel and backsaws.

The dimensions are going to be for straight saws. Foley also made a 'crowned' carrier bar, but that'd be a bit difficult to replicate.

The horizontal bar is 44" long. The critical dimensions are the thickness (1/8") and the width (1"). The last 1" of the ends are cut at an angle for easy insertion into the machine.Pairs of holes are drilled & tapped for the vertical bars at 13.75", 18", 22", and 30.25" from the left side (nominally). The pairs are 1" on center, with the center of the pair at the distances given. For example, the second set of holes is drilled & tapped at 17.5" and 18.5" (not 18").

The vertical bars are also 1/8" thick. They are 1.5" wide and 6.75" long with a 5/16" channel cut through the middle.

In between the vertical and horizontal bar are a pair of spacers that the machine screws go through. The OD is 0.435" and the ID is 0.20", but those aren't critical. The important dimension for the spacers is the length, which is 0.55".

The screws are flathead and use a 1/8" hex head wrench and are countersunk into the vertical bars. The threads are 1/4 - 28 (or finer). The total length of the screw from top to tip is 0.795". That might be a 3/4" screw or a cut-down 1" screw.

For attaching the saw to the carrier, I like the older versions which just use a wing nut. The newer carriers use a cam lock, which is a real PITA in practice.

Below are a couple of pics for the backsaw holder. Saws without a back will use piece that looks almost identical, except that it has a bend on both sides, not just one (i.e., channel iron, not angle iron). Each piece is 1.5" x 1.5" and 1/8" thick. The bend will make it stand up about 1/4"

Feel free to post questions or comments or even links to this page. I'll try to keep it updated with the latest news on these antiquated machines!

Foley Saw Filers

2008-04-06T18:00:00.000-07:00

This is my saw filing blog. I hope that you find it useful! I will add pictures and comments as time permits. If you have questions or comments, please feel free to post them on here. I'm sure others will have the same questions down the road, and it'd be nice to have a record.

I have two Foley 387 filers, one F-61 filer, a pair of Foley 385 retoothers and a Foley 352 tooth setter. We'll see them in use over the next few months.