dovetail saw

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marcros

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I have just received a Pax dovetail saw that i bought of eBay. I needs to be sharpened and set, which the seller did tell me.

I have to confess that I cant quite focus on the teeth and tell how they are filed. If it is a crosscut saw, is it possible to change this to a rip one?

Sorry to sound ignorant, but what purpose does a crosscut dovetail saw, or is it a generic term for a fine toothed saw with a full handle (as opposed to a gents saw)?
 
Very easy to convert a cross-cut saw to a rip-cut - just file the teeth straight across.

There is no point in having cross-cut teeth on a dovetail saw because in cutting dovetails you saw along the grain.

Cheers :wink:

Paul
 
It's quite possible to file a CC saw to rip - in fact it's the easier way round.

I don't think there is much point (that I can think of) for a CC DT saw ... ??

(Paul's beat me to it ...)
 
Dovetail saws always used to be crosscut, smoother cutting action, cleaner finish, speed difference is minimal at 20 tpi and the smoothness increases control and therefore accuracy, which is generally a higher priority than speed.

That said the prevailing 'dovetailing is a ripping operation therefore a rip saw is the appropriate tool' has more momentum than any one man can argue against, so if you prefer a rip filed saw, please ignore the above.

Putting the cat amongst the pigeons - done!
 
marcros":2ml0qkzm said:
If it is a crosscut saw, is it possible to change this to a rip one?

Hi Marcos,

Yes that would be easy. At least on a 20 tpi saw, on wich there is not much metal to be remowd to change from rip to cross cut..

marcros":2ml0qkzm said:
Sorry to sound ignorant, but what purpose does a crosscut dovetail saw, or is it a generic term for a fine toothed saw with a full handle (as opposed to a gents saw)?

I'm not the biggest saw names historian, but I allway thought the terms

dovetail saw
carcass saw
sash saw
tenon saw

are older than the idea of putting fleam to a saw tooth and therefore create a tooth that we view to be crosscut.
In the german saw tradition a cross cut saw has a relaxed rake, but a 0° fleam like any rip cut saw. (This is why I think english saws were superior, BTW.)

Theses terms were ment to describe the lentgh and the pitch of a saw.

I think, that a rip cutting saw is smoother and cleaner on rip cuts than any saw with a noticeable amount of fleam (<5°).

Cheers
Pedder
 
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