Saw tooth sizing and saw files
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So I have had a couple of large saws sitting in the back of my garage for a while as they are in no condition to be used, I am just trying to decide what to do with them.
Sharpening is not a problem it’s more a question of tooth sizing, they are both in the 24 – 26 inch range and current sharpened to about 5 tpi (which seems massive). I don’t have a Panel saw and have been using a hardpoint saw for anything my tennon saw cannot handle. What Tpi would you guys recommend for that length of saw if it was my only available saw, I was thinking around 10 tpi? And also what size saw file would I need as my current one seems pretty small compared to the tooth size?
Thanks in advance, Matt
21 April 2017 at 2:11 am #311342It depends on what you are cutting.
At 5tpi, your saws were probably rip saws originally.
For crosscutting I used 7 or 8 Tpi saws for larger modern framing members ( beams, rafters, etc) and 9 or 10 tpi for smaller scantlings. ( nominal 1″ material) a general rule is you want as large as possible and still have 6 or more teeth in the cut, keeping in mind that wet wood will clog smaller teeth more easily.
Smaller teeth get you a smoother cut, so For the sorts of projects you see in this website, 10 tpi would be fine.
Keep in mind that most American makers used POINTs per inch (ppi), which counts all the sawpioints in a single inch and is one number higher than the teeth per inch.
If you see a Disston saw with a 10 stamped in its heel (10 point), it is 9 teeth per inch.
21 April 2017 at 2:19 am #311343As to file sizes, you want a file that is larger than twice the size of the tooth, so that all three sides of the file give fresh filing as you rotate the file. Smaller teeth will require finer taper files so the base of the gullet stays small. Larger teeth need a larger gullet to avoid stresses than can break teeth.
Lee Valley has size suggestions for their Bahco files here:
I love this place more and more, quick replies with very comprehensive information 😀
And such a nice community on the internet in this day and age is fairly rare.Thanks for that info Larry (and the quick response), strangely enough both saws seem to have been sharpened for cross cutting at some point, trying to crosscut at 5 tpi was a surprise after using a lovely sharp Tenon saw (12 tpi).
Incidentally I also found another saw plate last night which appears to have been cut down previously, the proportions on the blase seem very strange (to my very limited experience). On closer inspection it seems someone may have cut the toe of the blade of at some point.
This has a kink about 4 inches in from the end of the blade, almost as if someone has put the blade into the cut and then rolled the top of the saw over. As the blade was free I’m not too worried about paying to get it fixed. I have tried the bending the blade method Paul shows for fixing saws but the kink / bend is too localized for that. However i was wondering if there was any point clamping it between 2 thick pieces of wood and trying to cut off the bottom of the blade and start again. I was thinking that the wood would stop the blade flexing as I saw much like when saw sharpening and currently the saw is useless. It will be interesting to see what you guys think.
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