The Rake and Fleam file guide
Set your rake and fleam once, and the guide holds the file at those angles for every stroke on every tooth. Two collets cover needle files and backsaw files, so one guide sharpens everything from a fine dovetail saw to a tenon saw.
- In the box
- Guide body, needle-file collet, backsaw-file collet, handsaw-file collet.
- Materials
- PLA, brass inserts
- Fits
- Bahco needle files and taper files up to a 7" regular taper: saws from 20 ppi down to 3½ ppi
Printed to order and shipped in about a week. All sales final, see returns.
How to use it
Look up your saw’s rake and fleam on our recommended settings page first.
Fit the collet
Use the needle-file collet for saws finer than 15 ppi and the backsaw collet for coarser ones. Bolt it to the guide body.
Clamp the file
Slide the file through the collet so its tip sits past the guide, then tighten the clamp bolt.
Set the rake
Loosen the protractor and turn it until the zero on the vernier lines up with your rake on the main scale. Read whole degrees off the main scale, then fine-tune with the vernier, where the one line that meets a main-scale line gives the fraction. Tighten to lock it.
Set the fleam
Turn the guide to your fleam angle, measured across the saw from square. For rip saws, leave it at 0°.
Hex keys not included
The guide uses metric socket head bolts. You’ll need three hex (Allen) keys, which most metric key sets include: 1.5 mm for the M2 bolts, 2.5 mm for the M3 bolts and 3 mm for the M4 bolts.
Storage
The guide is printed in PLA, which softens at about 55–60 °C (130–140 °F). keep it in a cool, dry location and don't store with the bolts under tension.