Reply To: Ripping wood by hand, is my saw blunt or am i slow?
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Hi Matt,
Universal saws do go dull despite mean looking teeth. Also, most often the teeth are cut ‘hybrid’ neither rip nor crosscut. Not ideal solution if alternative saw choice is possible.
I came to this appreciation after ripping 8/4 red oak (8 foot lengths) for the first time. I also had the wide opening at the beginning of the cut and wandering around. It was a huge effort, not much fun.
After a few trips down boards, I retired them and went with a ‘nice” panel saw I have but was reluctant to thrash on my first saw fest as I had not tackled sharpening my saws (no files for the task at that point).
Since then I’ve gotten a specific rip saw, 4.5 tpi 22″, for primary resizing a plank to get project components. I use this saw to work on sharpening process following Paul’s various videos on the topic. Huge difference (the saw was dull on purchase and just a bad experience before sharpening). It’s awesome now, a real treat.
Check out Paul’s videos on rip saw sharpening. He covers off rake and easing the rake to make starting cuts easier. There’s also a crosscut sharpening video. An aggressive rake makes the saw tooth look like a right angle triangle, an eased rake makes the saw tooth look like an isosceles triangle.
It’s a challenge for me to get a cut started in a board if it is flat on the bench as its so important to get the cut straight across of the top of the board (and can’t readily see the progress). I take the time to get that first inch of cut straight. When the board is flat, I’m more successful if I come down the top side of the panel just a touch then move the saw cut across the top of the board to the other side, then flip the board repeat by bringing the cut down the new top side of the panel.
It’s often said to saw on the waste side. For these kinds of ripping efforts I mark my final line, then I put a marking gauge line on the waste side of that line, run a ultra fine sharpie marker down the gauge line and I saw on that line, ideally removing it as I go. It makes it quite easy to spot wandering saw and easier to correct, and reduces amount of planing to the final line.
- This reply was modified 6 years, 11 months ago by jamestrang.