Stoned saw... tracks straight.

[Peter Pedisich]

I have a 12" Gramercy carcase saw that I purchased over the summer, but from the beginning it never tracked straight. The cut gradually arcs over to the right, and I've seen the more experienced and knowledgable folks here recommend taking a stone with 1-3 light passes on the side it pulls to to reduce the set just enough.
Last night I got out my round axe stone (since my frustration with my almost $200 saw not cutting as straight as my $11 Disston Keystone K1 overcame my fear of messing it up) and with 6 light passes - it must have been off quite a bit) it makes 90 degree cuts!

Thanks for the advice, guys!

[Chris Griggs]

That's interesting. When I get stoned I tend to move in less of a straight line :D.



Seriously though, if you ever have an issue with anything from TFWW, just call them. Joel's service is 2nd to none!

Also, may not have been that far off, even just a couple over set teeth can cause a saw to wander, and if your taking light passes with the stone it can definitely take a number of them to get the extra set out. Always, good to error on the side of light pressure and few passes though when dialing in the set. Glad your saw in working well now.

[Ron Bontz]

Interesting. What is "stoning a saw"? I was stoned several times in my younger days and I am pretty sure I couldn't saw a straight line if my life depended on it. I did eat a lot of twinkies though.:D

[Mark Baldwin III]

Interesting. What is "stoning a saw"? This is my take on it: http://milwaukeemonastery.blogspot.com/2012/01/stoning-saw.html purdy simple

[Ron Bontz]

Ah. Thank you. So basically you are dulling or rather flattening the teeth that are further out than the others. Yes?

[Ryan Mooney]

Not so really dulling just removing a smidge of the set. The extra set pulls the saw towards that side (would be amusing to take a junker and over set one side just as a demo.. I've never done that, but then again I usually have enough trouble getting it right without intentionally screwing up :rolleyes:).

I use a fairly long stone (6"? 8"? ?maybe? I'd have to measure) so that it mostly hits the high teeth and evens out the set on the side. It shouldn't dull the teeth as you are removing metal from the sides so its basically also sharpening in a way.

I usually stone both sides 1-2 light passes after sharpening to remove ~most of the burrs, I believe that that is a fairly common practice, but it does remove some set so you have to take that into account.

[Curt Putnam]

Same problem - different cause & solution:

My cuts have gradually pulled right too. Solved the problem by changing my grip. Now I curl my pinkie on the inside rather than wrapping it around the tote. Cuts straight now.

[Mark Baldwin III]

Not so really dulling just removing a smidge of the set. The extra set pulls the saw towards that side (would be amusing to take a junker and over set one side just as a demo.. I've never done that, but then again I usually have enough trouble getting it right without intentionally screwing up :rolleyes:).

My D-8 needs to be re-set. I don't think it would be to difficult to run through the process and take some pictures tonight after work or over the weekend.

[Jim Koepke]

Same problem - different cause & solution:

My cuts have gradually pulled right too. Solved the problem by changing my grip. Now I curl my pinkie on the inside rather than wrapping it around the tote. Cuts straight now.

Just goes to show that one has to pay attention to many different aspects of the process.

If your pinky was throwing off the cut consistently stoning may have been able to correct the error. Of course, then the saw would not have been able to cut straight for anyone else or if you had a band aid on your pinky.

jtk