Tenon Saw tpi

UKworkshop.co.uk

Help Support UKworkshop.co.uk:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

scooby

Established Member
Joined
23 Mar 2006
Messages
1,136
Reaction score
412
Location
Greater Manchester
Just enquiring what on what tpi you have on your tenon saws. I think Veritas is 9 and LN is 10 but I'm not sure of other brands. I'm considering retoothing my tenon saw to a lower tpi (currently at 12, was thinking of 10).
I have a smaller 14tpi back saw for finer cuts.

Any advice (even if its 'dont bother') welcomed.
 
Scooby, my 16” Wenzloff tenon saw is 10 tpi. This is a large saw with a deep plate, and intended for larger work. It is not comfortable to use on most furniture-sized pieces. For the more common, say 2-3” wide and 3/4-1” deep tenons I prefer a 14” Gramercy tenon saw with 12 tpi. It does not cut as fast, but it cuts fast enough, and the finish is a little better.

Size of saw and its intended use should determine the teeth size.

Regards from Perth

Derek
 
Thanks Derek.
Its a veritas, I'm sure you'll know, the dimensions are similar to the Wenzloff. I got the 12tpi crosscut, as it was second hand at a decent price. It needed sharpening, so I left it at 12 and filed it rip and its been fine ever since, a tad slow though. I've been using some pretty resinous scots pine lately and its really been struggling to remove the waste, thats what got me thinking of lowering the tpi.

Before I decide, I think I'll refile a more aggressive rake. That probably wont help with waste removal but I didn't go overboard when I first sharpened it to rip so it'd definitely benefit from a tune up.
 
Is the difference between 10 & 12 worth bothering about?

I have several cross cut tenons, but last year I found a nice saw looking for a home and took pity on it. I filed it as a rip. I hardly use the cross cuts now.
 
You need a rip saw with fairly aggressive rake teeth for tenons. A crosscut saw would be too slow. The Veritas dovetail saws I have have 14 degrees of rake, with is very relaxed. They are designed to start easily. Their 14 tpi translates to slightly larger teeth with a slightly coarser cut than the average 15 tpi dovetail saw. Overall, they are still slower in the cut. I prefer 5 degrees and under.

Regards from Perth

Derek
 
lurker":3p6i24o2 said:
Is the difference between 10 & 12 worth bothering about?

I questioning the same thing, hence why I posted here before I started filing teeth off.

As standard, the veritas rip tenon has nearly the same rake as the rip (around 15 deg) , which is a bit unusual. I didnt change the rake much when I filed it rip. Next time I sharpen it, i'll make the rake more aggressive.

The smaller 14tpi saw, I tried it at a zero rake and found it be a bit grabby so I think its at about 5 (as Derek said) at the moment. Seems a good medium between being difficult to start and speed of cut.
Thanks for the help guys.
 
scooby":184uffnw said:
The smaller 14tpi saw, I tried it at a zero rake and found it be a bit grabby so I think its at about 5 (as Derek said) at the moment. Seems a good medium between being difficult to start and speed of cut.
Have you tried changing the rake along the length of the saw? Have a less aggressive rake near the toe then change to a more aggressive rake a little way back. Easy to start the cut at the toe of the saw then fast to cut for most of the blade's length.
 
Back
Top