WoodnBits Workshop

Test Driving A New Rip Saw On A Mountain Road

 

You know the feeling when you get a new tool but don’t have a reason to use it immediately?  If you’re like me that means you go to the scrapbox, find a willing piece of wood, and apply tool to wood… with no goal other than to play.  I did that with the two new handsaws I just completed but somehow, for saws, this sort of thing doesn’t satisfy in the same way as the scrap box play with a plane, spokeshave, or most other tools.

So, when I realized I was going to need a bunch of thin walnut panels I decided to use my new rip saw.  I didn’t build it for resawing and it may be a bit fine for such things, but…new tool…new task…sometimes a hammer gets used to drive screws.

Frankly, I was surprised at how well this 7 ppi saw worked to cut these panels, each is just shy of 2-feet long.  Took me a couple hours to create this pile.  Had much fun.

Cheers — Larry

larry@woodnbits.com

New Saws At Wood’n Bits

Long ago, far away, Bob Roziaeski of the Logan Cabinet Shoppe made me an offer I couldn’t refuse.  He had a source for saw blanks and for almost nothing relative to the time required, he offered to cut/sharpen teeth to my specs.  When the blades arrived they were gorgeous and I set to work creating handles for them.  I finished the cross-cut saw in short order and it has gotten considerable use, though I’ve been somewhat diverted from my shop lately.

The rip saw, however, is another story.  The handle was roughed out and even attached.  I’ve actually cut a couple boards with it but it sure wasn’t comfortable as the handle hadn’t been carved.  Have I mentioned that square edges on a saw handle aren’t a great idea?

Anyways, I am finally clearing the decks for a new project and the first thing I’ve done after finding my workbench, and moving all the stuff it was under, was to carve that handle.  I now have a great set of hand saws that are oh so sweet.  Both perform beautifully.  Thanks, Bob.  Now I really can sell my table saw.

For those into details, the saws have 24″ blades.  The cross-cut saw is 8 ppi, 15-degrees of rake, and 25-degrees of fleam.  The rip saw is 7 ppi, 4-degrees of rake, and 0-degrees of fleam.  And yes, that’s a fairly high toot-count for the rip saw.  I already have a nice 5 ppi Spear & Jackson and wanted something a bit finer.  Likewise, I have a nice 10 ppi cross-cut saw and wanted something a bit coarser.  One can never have enough saws, ya know.  That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.