Rip Saw teeth going left and right

[Hristo Asenov]

Hello everyone,

I was thinking of getting a disston saw from an antiques shop and restoring it, but was hesitant about it. The reason is, I noticed that when I looked at the blade straight across, I noticed that the teeth were not straight, ie one tooth was bending left and another was going right. I thought that it might have been because the person using it was putting too much pressure and it was bending the teeth. I decided to try and get it anyways, asking for a reduced price. However the clerk told me that the the saw was manufactured that way since it is a rip saw and the bending helps with making the cut. I'm pretty new to saws, and from what I read online, haven't really heard of that. I was just wondering if it is true or not. The saw was originally going for 12 but I asked for 6, would have gone up to 8. If the geometry of the teeth is correct, I might get it for 10, since there are still problems with it, including rust and chipping on the handle.

[Edward Miller]

Hello everyone,

I was thinking of getting a disston saw from an antiques shop and restoring it, but was hesitant about it. The reason is, I noticed that when I looked at the blade straight across, I noticed that the teeth were not straight, ie one tooth was bending left and another was going right. I thought that it might have been because the person using it was putting too much pressure and it was bending the teeth. I decided to try and get it anyways, asking for a reduced price. However the clerk told me that the the saw was manufactured that way since it is a rip saw and the bending helps with making the cut. I'm pretty new to saws, and from what I read online, haven't really heard of that. I was just wondering if it is true or not. The saw was originally going for 12 but I asked for 6, would have gone up to 8. If the geometry of the teeth is correct, I might get it for 10, since there are still problems with it, including rust and chipping on the handle.

Most saws have set, which may be what you describe--teeth are slightly bent in alternating directions all along the saw. If a saw does not have any set, usually it will bind fairly easily in any deep cut. This should be a fairly slight bend; if some teeth are bent much farther than others, that is a problem.

Try googling "vintage saws," and you'll find Pete Taran's site, which is a wealth of information about saws, including set.

[Zach Dillinger]

It appears that you are describing set, which is very necessary in a saw. It makes the kerf of the saw wider than the saw plate itself. This helps prevent the saw from binding in the cut. Minimal set is idea for a lot of things, but a big rip saw can have a healthy amount. Go here for a great primer on how saw teeth work: http://www.vintagesaws.com/library/primer/sharp.html

EDIT: Looks like Edward Miller beat me to the punch.

[Jim Koepke]

As others have said a few thousandths of an inch with every other tooth going to one side or the other may be the natural set of the teeth.

If you see waves in the saw plate that isn't good.

Some folks who know very little about saws seem to think that setting the teeth is the same as sharpening the teeth. Of course, they also think that if a little is good a whole lot more must be better.

I bought a bunch of new band saw blades recently that had way too much set. One was placed between a pair of steel plates in my big metal vise. After a series of clamping, unclamping and moving the blade the set was much more usable, the kerf was more reasonable and the cut edges were a lot smoother.

jtk

[Judson Green]

Sometimes a image helps. I pilfered these from Google images.

Screenshot_2014-05-09-14-46-28.jpg Screenshot_2014-05-09-14-45-58.jpg

[Hristo Asenov]

okay I think I got it, it was kind of hard for me to imagine the picture shown by Judson Green, but now I see that fleam is really like a bevel that is set on the crosscut saws. I quite recently bought another rip saw, thinking that I made a good purchase because the teeth were all in a straight line, now I am realizing that it is not a good thing and means that the saw needs to be set. Another question I have is do the modern saws you buy at home depot have set in them? I dont think I have seen that in handsaws I have seen in places like home depot. Thanks to Zach, I also found another resource that describes the set in detail: http://www.vintagesaws.com/cgi-bin/f...y/library.html

[Terry Beadle]

One other tip posted by the gurus ( I think http://www.wenzloffandsons.com/) is to take and fold a piece of computer paper on the teeth, then place the papered teeth in a vice and give it a soft clamping force. Not high clamping force, just lite enough to even the teeth on both sides of the blade at one time and the paper allowing the teeth to penetrate. This leaves the teeth set at just a few thou and even.

I have used a piece of end grain hard wood to lightly tap up and down the side of the blade that a saw seems to cut towards. This gets the saw to cut in a true line with out "thinking" as it were. Some thing to try.

Enjoy the saw dust !