Senior keeps hands busy with saws Dover-Foxcroft metalworker still sharpening tools 20 years after retiring

DOVER-FOXCROFT – Elwood Hussey methodically pushed the lever of a grinder up and then down through the well-worn teeth of a circular saw, sharpening their bite.

The 82-year-old man worried little about the fireworks of white stars that shot out around his worn hands each time the greasy grinder connected with the round piece of steel. After all, he has done the same procedure over and over for more than 50 years.

Since he retired from his work in local factories in 1984 where he honed his trade, Hussey has continued sharpening saws for business, industry and individuals in his cluttered workshop adjacent to his home on Bear Hill Road.

It is a trade that is fast vanishing and one that has damaged his hearing.

“I do it to have something to do,” Hussey, a quiet and unassuming man, said during a recent interview. “It gives me something to do with my hands.”

Hussey said he became interested in saw sharpening when he began work decades ago at a Dover-Foxcroft spool factory. Because the saws continually needed sharpening, he made it a point to learn more about the trade. He also saw it as an opportunity to move on to something different, he explained. Having to stand all day long with one foot on the treadle of a spool machine was not to his liking.

“I used to hang out with the old fellas and watch them file saws – that’s how I learned,” Hussey recalled. Few appear to be interested in continuing the trade today, he said. He guessed that was because of the cheap, imported saw blades that now are available as replacements. He also noted that there is less call for the service because many of the sawmills have closed.

“There are days I’m busy, and there are days when I don’t do nothing in the shop,” the gray-haired man said.

On his busy days, Hussey can be found sharpening carpenter saws, handsaws and knives or dabbling in wood- and metalworking. A radio keeps him company in his small workshop where the dusty shelves and cupboards are covered with tools, grinding equipment and his creations, including a hand-carved bobsled drawn by horses, a metal swing and a wooden replica of his house. Photographs of his family are displayed behind a glass trophy case that also holds trophies he won from long-ago bowling tournaments.

“I like being out here working with my hands,” Hussey remarked. “I feel better having something to do.”

Hussey said he intends to stay busy, a fact he attributes to his good health. Stacking wood and growing a garden also helps him stay in top shape. He used to walk two miles a day, but a knee joint problem fouled up that activity.

“You have to stay active,” he explained. “I feel better if I have something to do. That’s why I’m still filing saws.”