straightness of cut

[Mark Baldwin III]

What is an acceptable amount of drift while hand sawing? I just ripped a 30" board with the Penn State saw that I recently rehabbed. The total amount of drift was about .020" to the right, a little more than my pencil line. Should I be trying to tweak the saw a little more, or have I got it just about right?

[Zach Dillinger]

I'd be happy with that, but you could always run a sharpening stone down the side of the saw to remove a touch of set if you want to.

The thing about ripping, as far as I can see, is that the ripped surface is rarely the final surface, you are going to have to run a plane down it. So, 0.020" is nothing to fix with the plane.

[Bruce Page]

I would call that good. .020 is the equivalent thickness of 4 or 5 pieces of typical notebook paper.

[Peter Cobb]

In my book that's almost gloating ;)...
Ripping is a rough job in my shob, I expect to clean it up a bit!
6 thou drift per inch sounds pretty good, as long as you can correct it in a longer rip.
Cheers,
Peter

[Russell Sansom]

While Marv Werner was sharpening my big saws, I did several evaluations of precision. Here's an image where I get within 1/64" of my knife line on a cross cut of some old hard cherry. Understood, this is a different character all together from a rip cut. But it IS a data point.

With practice and focus I could cut this deviation in half, but this is one place where the added precision wouldn't be of any use. Three swipes on the shooting board takes this right down to the cut line.

[Mark Baldwin III]

Cool. Sounds like I'm getting I'm getting a handle on my saw sharpening and saw technique. I have 3 boards that are a little over 6 feet each, and I'm a little less worried about hand ripping them now. I left lots of room with this cut for error. Now it seems that I can start bringing my saw closer to the final dimension of the board.
Russell, that's some nice cutting! I'll have to spend some time over the next few days and see if I can replicate your results in a cross cut.

[lowell holmes]

Sounds like a gloat to me. :)

[Gary Hodgin]

Sounds like gloat to me, too. I think He had me in mind when He made jointer planes.

[Terry Beadle]

If the rip saw has enough set, you should be able to correct the drift and stay on the line ( or cut the line in half if that's your method ). You are probably doing this so ignore the comment... I've made it just in case. Put me with the gloater's !

You can also use a end grain block of rock maple to correct set/drift instead of using a stone.

[george wilson]

A saw should be set so that you can stay on the line as long as you need to,if you have the skill to do it.

[Jim Koepke]

I wouldn't change anything until the saw has made a few cuts. If your technique corrects the drift that is good.

If after a few cuts, the drift is consistent, then a light stoning on or as someone suggested a swipe with a block of wood on the side of the drifting could be in order.

jtk

[Mark Baldwin III]

A saw should be set so that you can stay on the line as long as you need to,if you have the skill to do it.
George, why do I suddenly feel the need to print that statement out and hang it on the wall of my shop?

Jim-I believe I will follow your advice on this one. I have a few more 30" and 40" cuts to make. Over the course of those boards, I'll evaluate what's going on with my technique and with the saw. This is all part of the learning curve for me, as I haven't done any rip cuts this long by hand before. So far, though, I like it more than a table saw.

[george wilson]

I don't know,Mark.:) It wasn't all that profound,just the simple truth. Any tool should be able to perform its function as accurately as the user can guide it,and not go astray in spite of the user's best efforts.

[Mark Baldwin III]

It's just one of those statements that makes you stop and think for a second, and remind yourself that skill comes with practice. Practice is what I need most of, instead of thinking that I can just expertly accomplish task X the first time I try.

[Adam Cherubini]

A saw should be set so that you can stay on the line as long as you need to,if you have the skill to do it.

I agree George. I get the sense that the saw is not responsible for .020 of drift. Saws that don't saw straight can't hold 1/4" in a foot. Saws that consistently loose .020 in 3' and always in the same direction are telling you to fix your technique.

I hasten to add, a technique that maintains a fraction of a pencil line is admirable. And Gary, you didn't mention the thickness of the stock. I can usually hold a line, split it, leave it, fairly consistently. For me, mistakes occur in falling off of square. Of course, that's all my technique.

Adam

[Roy Lindberry]

It's just one of those statements that makes you stop and think for a second, and remind yourself that skill comes with practice. Practice is what I need most of, instead of thinking that I can just expertly accomplish task X the first time I try.

I have this tendency as well...which more often than not leads to disappointment. I watch some professional do something on youtube, and then run out to the shop to try it, expecting it to go just as well. Of course, it doesn't. But then, I figure, I can always blame the tool, right? But that's the profundity of George's statement - I can't just blame the tool.

A good craftsman can do work with a Home Depot special that is superior than what I can do with top of the line setup. It is an interesting thing that I always want the great tools. When I learned to play the saxophone as a kid, I learned on a garage sale piece of junk. But by learning to make that thing sing, I had perfected many techniques that others simply never had to worry about. In then end, having an inferior "tool" made me a much better "craftsman" which became even more apparent when I got a quality instrument.

I guess I'm just reiterating the old adage that tools don't make the craftsman, though they can make his craft much easier.

[Pam Niedermayer]

...A good craftsman can do work with a Home Depot special that is superior than what I can do with top of the line setup. It is an interesting thing that I always want the great tools. When I learned to play the saxophone as a kid, I learned on a garage sale piece of junk. But by learning to make that thing sing, I had perfected many techniques that others simply never had to worry about. In then end, having an inferior "tool" made me a much better "craftsman" which became even more apparent when I got a quality instrument.

I guess I'm just reiterating the old adage that tools don't make the craftsman, though they can make his craft much easier.

I've always said that beginners need better tools than experts. Of course, most experts have the best tools they can afford, regardless of the subject area, because the good tools save time.

And, btw, "old adage" is redundant. :)

Pam