Crosscut Saw Thread

One last post to finish the story on this saw. After I finished setting the teeth and re-assembled the saw I took it out for some test cuts. I found it pulled very easily but didn't cut nearly as aggressively as my 48" taper ground saw. I wasn't sure if it was because of my filing, the wide set (.018") or the weight of the saw - this saw is about 200 grams lighter than my same length taper ground saw. I started by messing with the weight because that was easiest. I added a heavy (400g) homemade auxiliary handle gave it another test cut. World of difference! It cut much better. Here's the saw with that extra handle.

Saw1.jpg


But I still wanted better so I took it back in the shop and reset the cutters to .015" of set. I finally got to test that today. It really cuts well for a small saw now. I took some video (3 minutes), see below.

Funny thing in watching the video. Several times I'm glancing off in the woods looking for where my old dog went. Later in the video she walks right through the frame behind me and I don't even notice! :D
As she's passing I glance off into the woods again.

I'm in a top bind because the log is elevated. So I set some wedges to keep the kerf from closing on my saw.

[video=youtube;INDDAv02qjI]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INDDAv02qjI[/video]

Here's a picture of a few noodles from the cut I made. Not huge but not bad for a little saw with small gullets in dry wood.

Noodles%202.jpg


And here's a nice clean finished cut with an old dog looking on. Note that part of the log had been cut during previous testing.

Finished%20cut.jpg
 
Cool video. I definitely chuckled when the dog walked behind you. Didn't matter I knew it was going to happen. It is a clean looking cut.
 
Thanks. I did. It actually wasn't that bad taking it from .018" down to .015". And I did find I'd had a little bit of spring-back after wrenching the set originally. It varied from 0 to .003". It was all hammer and anvil work this time.
 
i just realized, i have a saw, i thought it was a little off, i filed the teeth to a pointed blade like i thought they were 'sposed to be, on my way home today i realized that saw was a ripsaw, oops, well if you were wondering how ripsaws take a crosscut set, they take it easily. well, it cuts good for a fine toothed saw
 
Yep. A ripsaw is a whole different animal. I hope you didn't mess up an old Disston thumbhole saw!
 
I'd like to prove a point here, I have 2 36" one-mans. one top of the line, the other not so much. http://imgur.com/a/WrwI7
the fancy caw has a blade not cut from a continuous sheet, you can tell from the radius cut into the saw near the D handle, this is purely aesthetic. also, it has nice, big brass hardware. along with that, it has nice wood in the guard. The other saw has none of these. but it retains all the function. the "cheap" saw, i dont like callin it that. this saw still has nice steel, it's solid. it cuts comparably well, in fact, it's, in my opinion, functionally better because it has starting teeth, although i never use them. My point being, in the old days, if you were low cost, you got rid of the frills like brass, a one piece handle, start stamping blades out continuous-tooth stock. you sacrificed looks before function. take that to todays products and it's the opposite. they try to incorporate gimmicks and other things into the products. guess i went off there but there is a lesson to be learned from these saws.
 
Nice looking saws, PK.

With old saws you can never be quite sure what's been done with them over the years. Were they cut down from larger saws? Do they have replacement handles? Have they had teeth repaired? Hardware replaced? It's hard to be sure.

In general I'll look for a taper ground saw rather than one punched from flat stock. It's a sign of a higher end saw. For larger double buck saws it's nice to find a crescent grind as well but that's not as important as the taper grind. Flat stock saws tend to be a little light and need some extra size or weight added to get them cutting good.
 
Both of phantomknives' saws are old stock and good blades. Possibly a Disston on the left and an Atkins on the right given the tooth patterns. I find that the blade steel was the last thing to go regarding saw quality. The makers cut corners with handle wood and hardware first as the crosscut saw era came to an end (most noticeable today with riveted plywood handles on some German saws). Nowadays it's all cheap. Either of yours will cut well if filed properly.
 
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so i was setting this perf lance today
wGXp3Rv.jpg

and i love this tool, but i think i have carpel tunnel now. what happens next might hurt a little bit
yg9W6Ce.jpg

thats the 5th tooth. there's something wrong with this saw. that sawset has never broken any teeth before, also when i was doing a little testing, one came off it and as i was filing another one fell right off. the other two were off when i got it. right now im thinkin i steal some of the teeth near the handles to fix this.

its a shame it happened to this saw. now i have to get the dremel and welder

lookin over it some more and there are 3-4 short teeth. im quickly not liking this saw
 
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Those saw sets are made for using with carpenters saws. Crosscut saws should be set by peening or wrenching. Have you learned the procedures for sharpening and tuning a crosscut saw? If not I would caution you to do so before causing anymore damage to that saw.
 
i know all the right ways. i'v tried to use that sawset on smaller saws but it doesnt work for jack. it doesnt matter now. all the teeth are set. it may be for a finer toothed saw but definitely not a carpentry saw., the thing is massive.

all but that last tooth are a result of prior damage. i ran the saw over a soft piece of wood, basically balsa at that point and i found the tip of the tooth in the cut. the other one, i tapped it with my file and it fell right off. i admit this last one was my fault but there is definitely an issue with the saw's temper
 
phantomknives said:
. . .
wGXp3Rv.jpg

. . .
Click to expand...
Is there a name on that?

Sorry, I can't help about the brittle teeth. I once met an older guy that did sharpening. He said he didn't like to work on older saws because the teeth tended to break when set, but didn't say why. If you go on some of the woodworking forums, folks are always restoring old saws.

IDK :confused:


Bob
 
naw, no name but its a real common saw around here, they come in all different lengths but always the same set up. all i know is its made in philly. i'v seen other saws with the etch on'm
 
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