Thank you all for the kind words!
Hi Chas--trust me, they all go out supposedly marked fragile...
Master Hancock--nice turn of words there
Classic is a good term though. This design was on the JH Noble saws, Disston used a slightly modified version [or vice versa] on a couple models. I'm sort of partial to the Kenyon/Seaton period. At least for now.
Hi BB.
Progressive pitch is fairly easy to layout. Getting a nice blend into the nominal isn't any easier/harder than the other if doing so by hand. And besides. I doubt the saw above would win any awards for perfectly blended teeth. But creating it is incredibly easy.
But we also use a retoother. I don't have variable pitch geared bars. I have stopped it about 6" form the end before and hand cut variable pitch in. But in use assuming the other geometrical aspects are equal, the method I use actually creates an easier to start saw and nearly assures if the toe is withdrawn into the cut, it won't bind--the most common cause of damaged toe areas on long western saws.
Hi Jonathan,
This is what I wrote this morning on another forum:
In theory, breasting on a saw cuts faster. This is true for a person who is use to sawing and has good sawing habits. However, most people actually arc their arm when sawing in a high-low pattern. The hand starts out is a high position and as the stroke proceeds, the arm swings down in an arc. In this case, breasting presents the teeth to the wood in a consistent tooth angle. This is not the best habit.
For someone who has good sawing habits, because of the arc of the blade--the breasting--the rear portion of the saw blade presents the teeth so the rake is actually relaxed--leans back further. This slows the cutting action and makes it smoother more or less in time with one slowing the stroke, getting ready to begin the back stroke. The saw won't try to "grab" the wood towards the end of the stroke as one is slowing down.
Take care, Mike
