Sawing Side On
- This topic has 3 replies, 3 voices, and was last updated 3 years, 2 months ago by
.
-
Posts
-
I know when to pick up the cross cut and when to pick up the rip cut saws, but which do I use when I am sawing down the edge of a piece of timber? So, not across the grain nor along it, but from the thinnest edge down to thinnest edge? I think it’s rip but I’m not sure.
EDIT: I’ve attached a pic; the red line is the saw cut.
"Sawdust? I think you'll find that's man-glitter."
Think of wood as a bundle of straws that run parallel to each other along the height of the standing tree. In your picture, the length is (presumably) taken along the height of the tree, so those straws are running along the length of the wood. Any cut that tries to go between the straws rather than across them is a rip cut. So, the cut you show with the red line is a rip cut and is what would often be called re-sawing.
The reason why cross-cut saws are filed as they are is to give them a knife-like quality that will sever the fibers (cut the straws) ahead of raking out the dust. If you look carefully at a cross cut saw, you’ll see that the fleam angle brings the tooth to a point at the front. A rip saw tooth, though, doesn’t come to a point, it comes to an edge like a chisel. A chisel edge works well for cutting along the straws.
Did you end up getting a 12-point tenon saw? If that is now filed rip, one solution to this query is to saw everything with that saw, but knife anything that goes across the grain, even if it is at an angle. Anything running with the grain needn’t be knifed, although a gauge line is handy for other reasons. Your red line is “along the grain” because it is running along the bundle of straws.
Hi Ed, thanks for the information and for clarifying. The straw analogy was very helpful.
I did buy a veritas tenon saw at 12 TPI but I kept it at a crosscut because I also purchased a rip cut veritas ‘carcass’ saw which, if early experience is anything to go by, is very sharp!
"Sawdust? I think you'll find that's man-glitter."
Think of wood as a bundle of straws that run parallel to each other along the height of the standing tree. In your picture, the length is (presumably) taken along the height of the tree, so those straws are running along the length of the wood. Any cut that tries to go between the straws rather than across them is a rip cut. So, the cut you show with the red line is a rip cut and is what would often be called re-sawing.
The reason why cross-cut saws are filed as they are is to give them a knife-like quality that will sever the fibers (cut the straws) ahead of raking out the dust. If you look carefully at a cross cut saw, you’ll see that the fleam angle brings the tooth to a point at the front. A rip saw tooth, though, doesn’t come to a point, it comes to an edge like a chisel. A chisel edge works well for cutting along the straws.
Did you end up getting a 12-point tenon saw? If that is now filed rip, one solution to this query is to saw everything with that saw, but knife anything that goes across the grain, even if it is at an angle. Anything running with the grain needn’t be knifed, although a gauge line is handy for other reasons. Your red line is “along the grain” because it is running along the bundle of straws.
Beautifully put.
As far as the grain and your saw are concerned, the edge you want to cut in the image is the same as the face.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
