by J.M. Drew St. Paul Publishing Company
1918
The saw is one of the woodworker's most useful tools and is
used for cutting wood either across or with the grain or fibre. The
one used for cutting across the grain is called the cross-cut saw;
the one for cutting with the grain, the rip saw.
It is poor economy to buy a cheap saw; and on the other hand, it
is sometimes unwise to buy the highest priced; as some saws are
made very hard and are intended to be used only by fine
mechanics in dry lumber, and will not stand setting nor rough use.
A good saw for ordinary use is Disston's D 8 with sway back.
There are other saws which are probably as good, but the one
mentioned is a standard saw and will give good service. The sway
back makes it lighter at the point and easier to handle than the
straight back.
The size of saws is given by the length of the blade in inches.
Twenty-six inches is a good length for a cross-cut saw, and
twenty-eight inches for a rip saw. Saws for small work should be
shorter.
should have about eight teeth; for rough work or for sawing large timbers seven or six would be better, and for fine work
nine or ten.
A rip saw for ordinary work should have about five and one-half teeth to the inch; for rough work, more, for fine work
less. The number of teeth per inch is usually stamped on the blade of the saw near the handle.
The filing or sharpening of a saw consists of four operations which should be done in the following order:
First, top-jointing,-which consists in filing off the points of the teeth until they are all the same length and making the
cutting edge of the saw, taken as a whole, either straight or crowning-never hollow. Fig. 1 shows a home-made saw
joinder which is used for holding the file exactly square across the saw care must be taken to have it square or the
teeth will be shorter on one side and the saw will run crooked. A saw should be top jointed every time it is filed.
Second. Setting; which consists in setting or bending the teeth outward, one on one side, the next on the other and
so on till all are set or bent. The object of setting is to make the saw cut wider than the thickness of the blade in order
to allow it to run freely through the timber and not pinch. The amount of set in a saw may be readily seen by holding it
to the light with the back toward the eye, when it will appear as in Fig. 2. Care must be taken not to give the saw too
much set or it will run hard and not cut smoothly. For ordinary work the teeth should be set out about one-third the
thickness of the blade. For dry lumber the saw will require less set, and for green or wet lumber, more.
points to the bottom of the teeth is about right. This we will call the depth of set. Fig. 3 shows one type of saw set in
which the amount of set is regulated by the screw A. Turning the screw in gives the saw less set; turning it out gives
it more. The depth of set is regulated by the screw B. Turning it in will set the teeth nearer the point; turning it out
will set it nearer the blade. The plate or anvil, C has four faces which may be turned to suit the size of the teeth.
points. Great care mast be taken in filing to bring the teeth
to sharp points. If they are not sharp they will not cut and
will prevent those that are sharp from cutting. Be careful
also not to file them after they are sharp as that will
shorten them and then they will not cut. The secret
consists in stopping just when each tooth is filed to a
point. To get the best results from a saw, the teeth should
all be sharp and exactly of the same length and shape.
Fourth. Side Jointing; which consists in running a fine file or
an oil-stone along the sides of the saw to even the teeth
at the sides to prevent scratching. In setting a saw it is
side-jointed they will scratch, making the cut rough and uneven, and the saw will not cut 80 fast as it would were the
teeth in perfect line. When a saw has too much set some of it may be removed by Bide jointing.