Can't even saw a straight line

[Mike Burns]

I feel like a dunce. I purchased a frame saw and have been practicing a litltle bit with it, just making cross cuts. I have yet to make a good, straight cut. The blade always turns and leads to the left. What am I doing wrong? Seems like I've got good tension on the blade and it looks like everything is lined up when I start my cuts, but I'm not sure. Any pointers would be appreciated.

Mike

[Mike Wenzloff]

Hi Mike,

Don't feel like a dunce--a frame saw, depending on the blade used, can be easy or difficult to use well.

Chances are the set on the blade is a bit much. This will allow enough slop for that relatively narrow blade to turn the kerf pretty easy.

This assumes the blade itself is not turning in the frame...

Check the resultant kerf. Saw part way through the board. Look at the kerf width in relation to the thickness of the blade. Is there much gap? If so, remove some of the set by stoning the blade. Use either an actual stone sharpening stone or a DMT diamond plate.

Lay the blade flat on your bench--remove it from the frame first. Make sure which direction the front of the teeth point. Lay the stone on the blade so it covers the teeth. Lightly slide the stone from the back to the front of the blade, turn it over and do it on the second side.

Remount the blade, cut another kerf. Keep doing this until the kerf allows easy sawing but doesn't wobble in the kerf. Make sure to take test cuts in softer woods like Cherry and Poplar or Pine, as well as say Red Oak.

After a pass or two on each side, see if it is easier to follow the line. The narrow blade of a frame saw will always require attention to the cut.

For crosscutting especially, I prefer handsaws because the blade width does make less concentration necessary if it is properly sharpened and set.

Take care, Mike

[Deirdre Saoirse Moen]

If it ALWAYS turns to the left, you might want to run it on a stone once or twice more on the left and see if that helps.

[Dave Anderson NH]

Sawing veneer with a frame saw is a difficult task for one person. We often forget that originally in the 18th century frame saws were most often used with a person at each end. Cuts were also done slowly and a board a foot wide and two feet long might take the 2 man team 15 minutes or more to make. Today we tend to rush. One suggestion which might help is to start at each corner and saw them first before connecting the corner cuts. Once started straight, a sawn line "wants" to stay straight. How well this technique works depends upon how carefully you do the corners.

[harry strasil]

Being old school, I am confused. Is it a bow saw, a turning bow saw Mike is using, its definately not a frame saw or a Veneer saw as they are for Ripping only and its virtually impossible to crosscut with them.

Confused

[Mike Wenzloff]

Hi Harry--I took it to mean a saw much like a bucking saw...probably wrong...Mike

[harry strasil]

These are what I know as frame, bow and turning bow saws.

This is a Frame Saw,
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v81/irnsrgn/wood/frameripsaw.jpg


This is a Bow Saw,
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v81/irnsrgn/wood/bowsaw2.jpg


This is a Turning Bow Saw,
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v81/irnsrgn/wood/bowsaw3.jpg

[Mike Burns]

Harry, Thanks for confirming that I'm a dunce. :-) It's actually a turning bow saw made by WH Putch. Right now it has a wide 5 tpi blade installed, but I also have a 9tpi blade for it. It well also accomodate a thinner blade.

[harry strasil]

Not Dunce, just uninformed. Bow saws do have a frame and are sometimes called frame saws by modern people.


http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=35432