Rakers!?

[Brent Cutshall]

Alright everybody, I need some help with,yes, a saw. Does anyone here know about sharpening log saws with rakers(preferably champion/tuttle teeth)? If so, can y'all tell me what to set for raker height? It's so dern flustrating, yes I said FLUSTRATING! I've done went and spent days setting and re-setting the height from .010 to .025. I do everything else right but all I can get is fine saw dust. I would love to hear from someone who is getting noodles but anything's better than what I've got now. Please help and thank you.

[Jim Davis]

Rakers should be set lower than the crosscutting teeth. Otherwise, they have nothing to rake.

[John Crawford]

Hopefully someone will be along to answer your question.... While you are waiting, at around 22:00 in this Woodwrights Shop episode, Roy discusses rakers:

http://www.pbs.org/video/2365021491/ (http://www.pbs.org/video/2365021491/)

He uses an interesting little jig to help with the sharpening and get the rakers at the right height. Don't know if it will be helpful, but it will keep you entertained!

[Warren Mickley]

As you realize, the raker teeth are set slightly below the crosscut teeth and their job is to plane out the middle of the kerf after scoring. Your rakers probably have a near vertical wall at the edge, making them kind of like scrapers. To cut really efficiently they need to be swaged, bent over so they cut at a more efficient angle, more like a plane. This is done by hammering them over before setting the gauged height. I think if you search for swage, rakers you will find information to help.

[Joe Bailey]

Try this -- a rare instance of something useful created from your tax dollars ...

https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/environment/recreational_trails/publications/fs_publications/pdf/pdf77712508lo.pdf