Ripping wood by hand, is my saw blunt or am i slow?
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31 October 2017 at 10:16 pm #345486
No worries with the time, i have an unfortunate habit of blocking regular emails as they overwhelm my inbox very quickly, and in doing so also stopped myself getting notifications of the last 2-3 weeks of posts. So it’s my bad more than anything. =/
Thanks for the video. As an idea, could i try resharpening my universal blade as a rip saw? And do you know where i could pick up one of those saw files he uses? I have several full sized files already, but the one he’s using is on a much smaller scale than what i have.
31 October 2017 at 10:18 pm #345488[quote quote=336143]Sounds like your biggest issue is going to be the teeth on that saw. “Universal” as pointed out are not good for ripping. They are designed for stuff like waferboard or plywood were you are cutting both rip and cross in a single stroke. The saw will probably handle cross cuts decent thought.
Also check this video at about 17 minutes for a very useful ripping method for a benchmate or other taller bench. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pL7gjW3ZYcg
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I haven’t watched the whole thing yet, but that in general looks like a goldmine of old school information. I’m more than a little tempted to find the other episodes and watch them too. 🙂
31 October 2017 at 10:21 pm #345489[quote quote=333635]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.
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Great info, and i may invest in something a bit more aggressive since taking so long is tedious and tiring.
As an update it definitely is the saw. I borrowed another saw for some minor cutting i had to do and even though that was also a universal saw it was brand new and went through the wood like a hot knife through butter in comparison! I’m either going to splash out on a new panel saw, or attempt to resharpen the one i have as a ripsaw.
6 November 2017 at 10:54 am #357112Matt,
You won’t be able to resharpen your existing universal saw as it is a hard point saw. The teeth are hardened and unsharpenable. Try getting one of these from Amazon that Paul recommends.
This is resharpenable and you can get Bahco saw files from Amazon too. The saw comes ground for cross-cutting but Paul’s video explains changing to rip cut. Haven’t done mine yet as been practising on a couple of old eBay purchased tenon saws.
8 November 2017 at 12:28 am #358838[quote quote=357112]Matt,
You won’t be able to resharpen your existing universal saw as it is a hard point saw. The teeth are hardened and unsharpenable. Try getting one of these from Amazon that Paul recommends.
This is resharpenable and you can get Bahco saw files from Amazon too. The saw comes ground for cross-cutting but Paul’s video explains changing to rip cut. Haven’t done mine yet as been practising on a couple of old eBay purchased tenon saws.
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Well that truly does suck. I guess since it’s now blunt that that saw is now just so much scrap metal then? On a related note, a friend of mine who works as an antiques dealer came across an old saw and gave it to me as he knew i was taking up woodworking. After looking at it i’ve realised it’s an old S&J made from Sheffield steel, which was a shock. It’s blunt and needs work to restore it but i plan on making a thread about that in the future.
Thanks for the recommendations! 🙂
26 December 2017 at 1:50 pm #418337You can always use the saw plate as a card scraper. Cut it down to size with a hacksaw first, of course.
It depends on what kind of saw you have. What I consider a universal saw would be the ones you buy at the big box stores. These are normally for construction type work and the teeth are usually case hardened and are not conducive for resharpening. It can be done but it’s a lengthy process which would involve grinding and and then re-doing the case hardening. You might consider heading down to the local antique store and pick up a couple of old Diston saws and re-sarpen or re-cut them to your needs. I’ve bought dozens of them from anywhere from 3 to 20 bucks. Reading through the post and some of your responses I’d say you have a saw problem. I ran into a situation where I had to rip a 2X4 stud by hand and it took me about 8-12 minutes. Good luck!
28 March 2018 at 9:16 am #511824I found that if you work from one side for the whole cut,with it straight up on the vise,it can take for ever to rip some woods down.
Paul show his method of starting off with the wood straight,just to cut an inch or so square with the line,then he drops his hand sawing to the line for say 10 strokes then turns the wood round and does the same.
If you can angle the wood so that your not having to drop your hand so much this method is really quick,because your not sawing flat across the whole width.28 March 2018 at 9:20 am #511827Also just grab an old saws for cheap off eBay and Re sharpen the teeth to his progressive rip cut pattern for 7tpi,that will help you a lot.
There’s usually lots of oldish disstons and s&j saws you can get for £10 or under including postsage4 May 2018 at 4:17 pm #539754It sounds like a saw issue for sure. A 36″ rip on 25mm pine is a couple of minute task at most. It doesn’t get any easier than pine. I don’t know what saw you have but lots of the new ones on the market can’t be sharpened with a file. If yours happens to be one that can be sharpened, those files are available on amazon or at most woodworking shops but try to find out if it can be resharpened first. If the teeth are hardened, a file won’t do anything except make noise.
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