I’ve set up two Foley saw filers, an f-16 and a 387 with the intention to start using them. I’m faster by hand but I’ve noticed that after a few saws or after a big frame saw plate that I can feel the strain in my wrist.

This strain is very minor but has made me think of the future, I’d hate to cause any trouble for myself down the road if I can help it. I have foley filers, so why not start to use them? They are very consistent and once setup, you can sit back.

So I dug out a third one lol. I’d like to have my smaller f-16 to be used on smaller saws, smaller teeth. And one 387 for regular full sized saws and to setup another for my large frame saw plates. Different files and file holders are needed and it would be convenient to not have to mess with them too much, and since I have multiple machines, I can more or less set them up for different saw types.

I have one small cart for my f-16 and I have a large cart with a couple retoothers, a setter, and a filer on it. Its about a 3×3 foot cart with wheels. I roll it off to the side and spin it around for whatever I need. But for my latest 387 I needed another stand. I looked up quite a few different options and nothing quite fit. I almost bought a 24x24x38 cart, height is perfect for this but I knew I’d just fill the shelves with junk. So I went to harbor freight and bought this cart instead. I had a couple like it when I was younger as a mechanic.

Now, I’m sure some people may have noticed this cart has a lid that opens and an area to store stuff on top. With a filer on top you can’t access this. And I’m ok with that lol! I remember this top area just repeatedly getting filled with clutter and knew I’d do it again. So I decides to remove the drawer locks so they open when the lid is closed, add blocks inside so that the center of the lid sits solidly and won’t flex or cave in. With the filer on top, 3 small holes in the top to screw the filer through the lid and to the blocks, and some more underneath have made this sit nicely.

It looks nice, has drawers and wheels, fits my area for it perfectly and later on if I want to use a different filer stand, its completely reversible. I left the removed locks and pieces inside the lid. Now I just need to clean this one up get a new drive wheel.

Now that I’m back in the classroom, my shop time is a little more limited and getting sick means I fall behind a bit. I remember when I first started teaching and my team at the time told me about needing immune boosters during the flu season. It didn’t take long to think maybe they were on to something, a class full of little kids with coughs and runny noses… and the younger they are the more hugs you randomly get and the more nose picking!

I hardly got sick in the 4 years I was home with my son, but now I have to be on guard again lol. Over the last couple of weeks we’ve had the Flu go through our little school like crazy.

With my son also at my school I have increased my chances of catching something, I got sick in January, but I also caught the flu a couple weeks ago and the flu was because of my kiddo. Sick for days and him being a little guy, kept crawling into my lap or calling me in the middle of the night to lay down with him, gave me the flu.

Anyways, things have added up in the garage and I’m now working fast to knock out saws. I have 4 joiner saws, 5 frame saw plates, and 11 saw sharpenings to jump on. Everything is started and I’ll start shipping things out Monday. I just boxed up 7 plates yesterday too. Busy times for a small saw shop!

My metal order came in and I started my handles for my joiners saws.

Sometimes after making a saw I get a little sad I don’t get to keep it lol! This joiners saw just got finished up. This and the two panel saws I just finished will go out after the holiday shipping calms down.

I’m about to finish up these two saws. Some before and after pictures getting the teeth punched and set.

I have a couple saws I’m working on and I’m almost done. I cant wait to get done because I have a couple of new saw filers to play with. I have a nice running newer 387 and even though I don’t use it much now, I could see using it more in the future if my hands hurt.

So I don’t need another filer, I got another plus parts in storage already, but I wanted an even older style to go with my other older hand crank retoother. The foley 20000 retoother. found these two filers locally and they even still have the older style carriers used with the 20000. At some point I think there was a third filer in the shop they came from, the f24 has a f16 mount casting and I have some extra springs. Only difference in a 16 and 24 is the front casting, one is longer to accommodate a 24 inch diameter circular saw blade. I dont sharpen those so I’ll keep with the 16. I’m going to swap out a couple things from both machines to make one nice one. The one that is complete has a cracked part that despite a brazed fix looks to have cracked again. But the other machine is just fine.

Now I’ll need a f-61 someday just because lol. It came after the 16 and 24 and before the 387. The long arm that moves is longer than the 16 and 24 and I think the same length as the 387. It looks and runs very much like the first two though. The 387 changed a good bit, it runs on dual guides.

Finally! I’ve wanted one of these for a long time. They are a little pricey and I waited awhile to get one. I know newer ones are cheaper, but these old ones are beasts! I can’t wait to clean it up.

2 joiner saws, a 12 inch dovetail saw and a 20 inch panel saw.

My son and I are at the same school and we are getting used to our new schedule. I’m finding a bit of time to still work on a few saws too. Sharpening a few, making a couple joiner saws and I just toothed some roubo plates.

These are all put together, bit of oil and wax on them, and 3 are so far sharpened. I’m pretty happy with these and should have them ready to ship in plenty of time before first day of school with students next week.