Problems cutting squarely

[Wend]

So, I had another go, applying most of the advice (I didn't cut a mm off of the line, as I didn't want to have plane that mm away, and for the current cuts exact length isn't an issue) to 2 cuts, and the result is much improved! In fact, one of them I don't think I'll have to plane at all.

I changed a lot of variables all at once, but I think that the thing that made the big difference was turning the wood several times. I first made a cut maybe 1cm deep on each side, before completing the cuts, and I think those grooves helped me keep the blade pointing the right way. It also probably helps that I also turned the wood 3 or so more times while completing the cut, so rather than having the full error from one direction, I only had half of it from both directions.

So, it should all be downhill from here, until I get to the point where I need to make tenons that fit my mortices

Thanks again for all the advice!
Wend

 

[Bm101]

Good for you Wend. Glad to hear .

 

[Tasky]

Been following this thread a bit, as I also can't saw straight. I tend to wander out to the right, resulting in a curved face. I changed saws several times, but still the same problem.
However, I find that if I randomly just cut a length off a bit of wood (ie 30" off a 16' length), it will usually be dead straight. I did this just last night, twice in fact - Put the square up just to see and blow me if both cuts weren't square in both directions... bang-on to within at least 1/64th.
No idea what I do or how I do it, though I'm not quite prepared to just go at it with a saw on the cuts that precision...

 

[Andy Kev.]

My cuts tend to drift to the right (although it results in a slope rather than a curve) and so I always ensure that the waste is on the right. One thing that has really helped though is watching the reflection of the edge - at right angles to the cut line - in the saw plate: if the reflected edge is a straight continuation of the real edge, then you're sawing straight. Keeping an eye on that should help you reduce the degree of error.

 

[John15]

It maybe that the set is more on one side than the other. To correct this run a sharpening stone along the teeth on the side your blade is drifting toward and this should correct your cut.

John