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12 April 2018 at 6:56 pm #522902
So i gave up. I spent well over 3 hours in total of rasping, filing, and using handsaws to correct a wobble in both benches and made no noticeable improvement at all. That’s a silly time investment to result ratio. The benches are 4′ long and about 22″ high and made of 2*4s, there was no realistic way i could clamp them, not at home anyway, which made getting a clean saw cut impossible. And trying to rasp/file a 2*4 to size with hand tools is a ridiculous amount of work.
I think next time i do a project like this i’ll think long and hard to try and get the angles and measurements for the leg cuts right the first time, either that or invest in a belt sander to correct mistakes. I hate “losing” against a problem like this, but at this point this is just holding me back and wasting my time.
5 April 2018 at 8:16 pm #518658No vice and no bench at home yet, so of the options above i guess my best bet would be to clear some wall space and try and clamp the bench into a doorframe somehow. If not, and since they’re destined to be outdoors benches, i could just prep the wood and put em into my garden and blame the wobble on uneven ground…
8 November 2017 at 1:56 am #358897As someone in a similar position i was wondering about getting a tenon saw and what make is classed as quality. From reading here it seems most people don’t even bother with them and generally go for a Veritas dovetail instead?
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! 🙂
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.
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 10:16 pm #345486No 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.
12 October 2017 at 1:19 am #332946[quote quote=332168]@Matt-
I do a lot of hand ripping and resawing, even by this forums standards it seems. I can resaw a 48″ 2X4 (making 1ish x4s) in about 20-25 minutes. Here are the things I would check:1) Is the saw really a rip saw? Crosscuts will be very very slow on the long rip.
2) Is the tpi to high? I use a 3.5 or 4 TPI on the above cuts. 8 or 7 TPI would be quick on 1″ pine.
3) Technique, are you sawing “uphill”, flat or possibly to steep?
4) Probably not the issue here, but is the saw long enough? You generally want atleast double, closer to 2.5, the distance your cutting in length.
5) Your teeth may be sharp but is the rake to shallow? If it is to shallow you wont get much cutting action on the stroke.[/quote]
1) It’s a universal saw. TBH i thought the difference between saw types would be minimal…
2) It’s 8 TPI
3) I’ve got it clamped flat to a workmate bench, and i imagine the angle i’m actually sawing at would be between 45 and 60 degrees. I’ve noticed the saw is moving sideways at the entrace to the cut and giving me a wide cut, and i think that’s because the wood is a little higher than i really want it to be so i have to hunch my shoulder and flare my elbow a little to get full range.
4) It’s 22″ which gives me a full arm motion with each saw.
5) This is probably a bone question, but what does rake mean?12 October 2017 at 1:07 am #332940[quote=332057]I recently purchased 4 Spear & Jackson saws recommended by Paul Sellers.[/quote]
I must have missed that one, what did he recommend?
[quote]I have done some ripping of 2″ red oak and I was able to rip considerably faster than you mentioned you were ripping 1″ pine. Are you sure you are using a rip saw? What type saw are you using?[/quote]
Not a dedicated ripper, just a universal saw i already had when i started. This is it here: http://www.wickes.co.uk/Irwin-Jack-Plus-880-Universal-Handsaw-22in/p/226384
- This reply was modified 6 years, 6 months ago by Matt Cromwell.
10 October 2017 at 11:03 pm #332032I’m still new to this as well, but none of the experienced carpenters i’ve worked with have ever said to remove the pencil line, they’ve always said to cut on the waste side of the line.
1 August 2017 at 1:28 pm #314216Good shouts, both of you. Had a look at Screwfix, the amazon link David gave, and the ebay link Eddy gave, and they all seem to be exactly the same clamps! Just varying slightly in price. After a bit more searching I found an ever so slightly better deal of 4 36″ clamps for £39 (a whole pound cheaper!) and ordered 2.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/162513225724
26 July 2017 at 4:45 pm #314024Yeh, but Harbor Ferry doesn’t exist in the UK. The cramps he recommends over here are from Screwfix and cost £10-£13 each, which doesn’t seem that unreasonable to me.
Are all of your eight the 36″ versions, or did you go for a mix of 24″ and 36″?
26 July 2017 at 2:35 pm #314016Cheers mate, good luck with your product too! I’ve ordered a plane off of Ebay and am just waiting for delivery, and after a bit of research have found some clamps that i’m heading to pick up today. How many clamps did you buy if you don’t mind me asking, and what size? I was thinking five 2′ clamps, and two 3′ clamps as a starter.
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