Favorite hand/panel saw filing

[Mike Holbrook]

I have been spending a good amount of time restoring and using old hand saws. I find I like panel saws with 24-18" plates and 7-10 ppi. I have a few saws with larger teeth but typically use those for rough work. My backsaws typically have more ppi but I was interested in other peoples ideas about the western panel/hand saw tooth configurations.

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

I mean, all of them, I guess?

10-13 is great of finer finish crosscuts, and I use my 11ish point for the show surface on tenon shoulders.

I have a few 7 points I use for a lot of general work, and I really like my 7 pt rip saw for cutting splitting off tenon cheeks in wider/deeper tenons.

I like the really coarse saws for any sort of ripping or resawing work.

Honestly, I try and work with the coarsest saw I can use, as the work goes quicker. Seems like I hardly ever use my backsaws anymore!

[Chris Griggs]

Depends on intended use. For rough break down of stock I like a 24"-26" saw that is around 7-8ppi, filed with 12 degrees of rake and 20 degrees of fleam.

For a smaller panel saw that is used for near finish cuts I like 20" that is about 9-10ppi, filed with 12-15 degrees of rake and 25 degrees of fleam.

EDIT: This is probably obvious but I was only speaking about xcut saws here.

[Jim Koepke]

This is likely one of those areas that is somewhat different for each user based on their work and physical needs.

For rip cuts, I am pretty much set on my D8 at 6 ppi. I have one coarser, but it just wears me out on a long rip and only saves a few minutes.

For Cross cutting it all depends on what I want the cut to look like when it is done. Most of the time I use my D7 with 10 ppi. If rough lumber is being cut a D7 at about 7 ppi is my choice. I have one cross cut saw at about 5-1/2 ppi that is used for cutting logs and rail road ties where the finished edge is not the primary concern.

For back saws a tooth count in the 15 ppi range is my preference. It may be slower, but why be in a hurry?

jtk

[Mike Holbrook]

I have read a good many posts by people who seem to prefer the 4-6 ppi saws for about everything. I am liking 7 ppi on 24" and smaller saws for bigger jobs, especially ripping, and 8-10 for the small to medium pieces. Backsaws for the very fine work.

[Andrae Covington]

The two panel saws I use the most are a 9ppi crosscut and a 7ppi rip.

[Jim Matthews]

I cut both crosscut and rip teeth with roughly the same fleam, first pass.

If the rip teeth are difficult to drive, and I need to drop the handle low to keep going, I relax the rake some.
If the crosscut teeth are difficult to track straight and cut slow, I add a little more fleam.

I don't see very well, so I use black magic marker as dye. A freshly sharpened tooth is a bright surface after marker is applied.

I'm finding that with what I cut (mostly American cherry) between 8 and 14 tpi gets me the best balance of control and surface finish.
I just cut some Ipe and Angelim Pedra (Lucifer's fence post) and found that having higher TPI made for a better finish, but it was very slow going.

jim
wpt, ma