Reply To: Rip saw sticks when cross cutting
Welcome! / Forums / General Woodworking Discussions / Tools and Tool Maintenance/Restoration / Rip saw sticks when cross cutting / Reply To: Rip saw sticks when cross cutting
Hi Stephen, how does it jam? That might tell you what is wrong. In any event, when I have sharpened rip saws (and I am not very experienced) I found several sorts of “jamming.” First, even though I am careful, I sometimes do not get a few teeth fully sharp and they catch badly. Second, I try to file my rip saws with the teeth at 90 degrees as Paul and many others recommend (though with the first inch or so a bit more relaxed to help the saw start) Sometimes I go too far and get what I guess would be called “negative” rake. Even a bit of that can cause a tooth to catch badly. Third, your set might be off. If there is too little set, the kerf can be too narrow and the saw can jam as the wood clamps down on it. On the other hand, too much set, say on a particular tooth, can catch. One other thought. Whether or not sharpened well, my saws sometimes jam because of my sawing technique. For example, it can jam if my wrist twists while cutting, or if my saw wanders to the left or right a bit. If you do not generally have those sorts of problems, I wonder it something about your sharpening of this saw pulls the saw off line so it jams in the kerf. For example, if set more on one side than the other, it can pull the saw off line. I do not know, but I wonder if that sort of thing can cause a jam as well as a wandering cut
.