I don’t know the terminology, but the way I understand it there’s something that’s done to the metal of saws that helps them stay sharp longer but makes it impossible to sharpen them. I’m thinking I’d rather be able to sharpen my saws when they get dull, but it seems like most pruning saws now are the other type. Can anyone recommend a source for the type I can sharpen? At the moment I’m particularly looking for a folding saw of a size I can stick in my back pocket. Thanks!
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Saws with hardened steel teeth can still be sharpened with a diamond-type file. Harbor Freight would probably have one without hardened teeth. I think the cheaper the saw, the more likely they did not spend time and money hardening the teeth.
It’s good I didn’t know my saws were not supposed to be sharpened, I have been sharpening all my pruning saws with some success over the years. What I do is lay the saw blade on a flat surface, and rub hard and long on each flat side with a diamond stone. It definitely improves the cut. It might seem like a waste as the whole big blade is being filed down, but you can put more pressure on the teeth side while still keeping the stone completely flat on the blade. My stone is the standard stone size, 3”x8” or so.
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Something like this would be convenient.
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Here’s a video that shows the shape of file I was assuming I’d use.
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In my opinion the best pruning saws in the world are made by Silky.
I have 3-4 of them. In my experience they stay very very sharp for many years.
If they do need to be sharpened it is no problem to use a diamond file. You will probably only need to sharpen the if you use them to cut roots in the dirt or something. I think some of mine are over 10 years old and still very sharp.
I have a silky gomtaro non folding saw with fine teeth. I also have a silky gomboy folding saw that fits in my pocket. Also with fine teeth.
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Are there no quality pruning saws that aren’t impulse-hardened, though (whether made by Silky or anyone else)? Laying aside the questions of whether I’m misguided to want one, where would I find one if I did?
Or maybe I should just ask a more general question: what places sell a broad range of pruning saws, especially places I could call and talk to someone that would be able to tell me about which saws are and aren’t impulse-hardened?
Oesco has a lot of saws.
And a subcategory listed as sharpenable !
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I agree with Ribs. I have a Silky Gomboy that is 8 years old and is just as
sharp as the first day I bought it.
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I replace blades after about 3 weeks of heavy use. I contacted a professional on-line sharpening service and they said the Silky I use could not be sharpened by them, while other blades of similar design could be. I use a gomtaro 300mm rough cut. I spend about $500 a year on blades for my helper and myself and throw away blades that most people would consider pretty sharp.
Time is money. I charge $150 per hour for the two of us and generally have more work than time- pruning every workday about 7 months of the year.
My pruning chain saw is so much cheaper to use, even counting its $550 original cost (the Stihl professional tree topping saw which can be held with one arm and is extremely fast). No problem keeping its chain sharp enough with a file.
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Silky do make some saws that can be sharpened. The UK silky site states whether or not each saw can be sharpened. Silky Fox Hand Saws > Natanoko this is a saw that i use alot as a climbing arborist. If you scroll down you’ll find a symbol of a file and teeth showing that it’s blade can be sharpened. The US Site doesn’t seem to show this. None of their folding saws can be sharpened afraid.
As Alan states, the blades certainly lose their edge. You may think it’s still sharp but get a new one next to it and you’ll be amazed by the difference.
Edit. I bought a file once and sharpened a blade. Sharpening 3 edges per tooth if 330cm blade is a hell of a task and, although it was an improvement, still had nothing on a new blade
I think it is likely that you cut as many branches in 3 weeks as the rest of us cut in 3 years or more.
I don’t think the original poster runs a full time orchard maintenance business as you do.
My Silky blades have dullened quite a bit, I have two identical Silky saws and I can compare head to head. When I sharpened the older one awhile back I could see how it got more like the newer one.
I would never try to sharpen tooth by tooth, that takes too much time. The flat filing I do takes only five minutes. Since all the teeth have the point flush with the edge of the blade you are sharpening all the points that way. Try it on an old blade, nothing to lose 
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It looks like Fanno saws which are made in California might all be sharpenable. Not too long ago I saw that ARS was selling both impulse hardened and sharpenable pruning saws, but I haven’t been able to find that same information again.
If the blade isn’t of the tri-cut design it will be inferior for cutting. Incidentally, the cheaper Chinese blades may be inferior to those manufactured in Japan. I tried the Chinese Silky blades and they had a strong tendency to bind when cutting wood over about 2" in diameter, making them worthless to me.
Looking at the blades I’m surprised Scott claims he can to a fair job of sharpening them with a flat file. I can’t believe he can change the performance that much just by sharpening the very tips of the teethe. It is far less surface area than what can be sharpened when using a flat file for a serrated knife, which does work reasonably well.