saws

[paulc]

I have bought two stanley jet cut saws and find that when cutting across the grain they perform alright but along the grain they tend to drift off course can anyone recommend a good make of saw for accurate work especially along the grain , also how often should one have a saw sharpened and what are 'hardpoint' saws, thanks a million.

 

[Aragorn]

Hi Paulc
Stanley Jet cuts are really crosscut saws and are fine to use for a while. Once they're blunt that's it - buy a new one. You can't sharpen hardpoint saws.
For the last 10 years or so, this is what I've used because they are cheap. I pick up an equivalent saw for £6.99 and buy a new one every 8-10 months (I don't use it an awful lot - most of my cutting tools have tails!)
Finally - to cut well along the grain (ripping) you need a dedicated rip cut saw.
Alf will be along in a minute to tell you all the joys of saws... (steadily on her way to 2000 posts :wink: BTW Alf: TFAYWP)

 

[Alf]

Finally - to cut well along the grain (ripping) you need a dedicated rip cut saw.
Alf will be along in a minute to tell you all the joys of saws... (steadily on her way to 2000 posts :wink: BTW Alf: TFAYWP)

Ahh, the joy of saws... Even persons claiming to be saw doctors don't seem to know the difference between rip and x-cut teeth these days, so not to worry. Paul, have a gander at this page (scroll down to the section entitled "How Rip Teeth Cut") which may help to explain why it's worth having the right tooth type. Or then again, it might not... Anyway, trust us, it does make a difference, and as far as I'm aware there's no such animal as a hardpoint western rip saw. So either you need to take a punt at 30-40-50 quids worth of brand new "old fashioned" western rip saw, a Japanese saw or something secondhand. Modern western rip saws are all universally ghastly as far as I can see - 18" of ripping and your hands will probably be blisters for a start. Japanese rips I have no experience of, so I defer to those who have. Secondhand, you might have a fighting chance. Usually the saws in the best condition are rips, 'cos latterly they got used less and less in favour of machinery while the cross-cuts still got hammered. You could try *bay (feel free to pick my brains via PM before you bid if you like - everyone else seems to :roll: :wink: ), one of the dealers or if you're really brave I might have one, er, spare myself. From *bay or a dealer you'll almost certainly have to get it sharpened don't forget.

So Aragorn, "TFAYWP"? :? "Typing Furiously Alf Yields Wotten Posts"?

Cheers, Alf

 

[Adam]

Thanks for Asking - Your Welcome Peeps? Maybe.? :shock:

 

[Neil]

'Typing Furiously At Your Word Processor'?

 

[Anonymous]

Aww come on. I thought everyone knew that TFAYWP stands for

'Time For Another Yew Woodworking Project'

and thus refers to one who needs to get that pile of Ash (or Yew) in the corner of the shop made into something beautiful.

Cheers

Tony

 

[Chris Knight]

Totally Foobarred After Yesterday's Wicked Publunch

 

[Adam]

Totally Foobarred After Yesterday's Wicked Publunch

Sounds uncomfortable :wink:

A

 

[Aragorn]

Ah ha! All your ideas for TFAYWP are much better than what it actually stands for!
Maybe I'll keep you waiting a wee bit longer to see what else comes up :wink:

 

[Alf]

Maybe I'll keep you waiting a wee bit longer to see what else comes up :wink:

Lost the will to live, huh? :evil: :wink:

 

[Aragorn]

Oh well. To save a dramatic anticlimax, it stands for Thanks for all your wonderful posts.

Wasn't there something about saws in this thread? :wink:

 

[Chris Knight]

Aragorn,

That's a great acronym and so totally deserved by Alf.

Good grief -was that sycophantic or not? It is however true..

 

[Alf]

Aww, stoppit Heck, I've got to get my head through quite a narrow door to get out of this room you know... :roll: :lol:

Now surely someone could step up and extoll the virtues of Japanese rip saws? (veering dangerously on topic :shock: )

Cheers, Alf

 

[Anonymous]

The rip side of my Ryobi is wonderful! Hard-point teeth, so no resharpening, but the blade is designed to be replacable - it gets blunt/damaged/whatever, you sling the blade and get a new one.
(Ryobi has both a rip and a crosscut side to the blade). I don't own a dedicated Japanese rip saw.

They do tend to be more expensive than the cheapo European style hardpoints (a la Jet Cut) - I'd say 20 notes would get you a reasonable one.

 

[Anonymous]

I find the rip teeth on my Dozuki (double edged) to be a little to few per inch for my liking. It works well on thick boards of say 1"+ but on thinner stuff I end up using the crosscut teeth to rip

T

 

[Bean]

Its also worth checking if the saw is ment to be used upon Hardwood, i purchased one wich was a softwood saw and lost some teeth cutting an old piece of mahogany

Bean

 

[Anonymous]

must admit I only use my handsaws to rip on stuff that's too thick for my tailed beasts - that's over 68mm. In that stuff, don't need to worry about too few tpi. I always flatten/straighten and square with a #7 or #6 anyway afterwards

 

[paulc]

Cheers for the saw info , sadly there seems to be a distinct lack of handtools and dedicated rip saws in Dublin old fashioned or otherwise , there are some japanese saws but i'm cuttin along a three inch board of iroko and cant afford them anyway, a guy in one shop told me that a 'jack plus 7t 8p saw would do the job, its only a few quid but would i be wasting my money ?

 

[Chris Knight]

A Jack hardpoint will do the job fine. It's just hard work. Iroko is rather abrasive having minute particles of silica in the wood (like many tropical woods). The Jack will not be bothered by this - an old saw might be. You should be able to cut a couple of hundred feet with the Jack in 3 inch Iroko.

 

[Alf]

there seems to be a distinct lack of handtools and dedicated rip saws in Dublin

Guess what city won't ever be graced by my presence...? :shock: :wink:

The Jack will take a while, but for a non-saw sharpener it's probably the best compromise - as Chris rightly says, Iroko can be a swine for blunting edges.

Cheers, Alf