Hand saw - sharpening for pine


Arminius

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You didn't say which Pine, but the fairly standard 25 fleam and 15 rake will work just fine.  If you'd like to add some slope, that will make it cut a little better.  If you are talking about softer Pines, like White Pine without the large grain of Yellow Pine, going to 27 fleam will make it cut easier.  There is no set of hard and fast rules.  Less rake than 15 will cut faster, but might not leave as smooth edges on the cut.  8 pt. saws are not really for fine finish cuts anyway, so If you just want it to cut fast, go more aggressive.  A sharp 8 pt. at 25 and 15 will cut a 2x4 in 6 or 7 strokes anyway, and last longer before needing sharpening than a more aggressive geometry.  It's all a tradeoff.

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Depends on your goal for the finished cut? Are you interested in just quickly breaking down oversized stock or do you want a nice clean cut that can be a little slower? As Tom said, you can't really have both.

You can make finish cuts with an 8 point saw if you want to, but it requires some uncommon geometry. Basically really relaxing the rake and adding more fleam. It's not a "normal" configuration for an 8 point saw but that doesn't mean you can't do it. If a finishing cut is your goal, I'd go to 20 degrees of rake, maybe even a touch more, and at least 30 degrees of fleam. This saw will not cut fast but it will cut clean. Durability of the teeth won't be an issue if it's dedicated to woods like white pine. They're almost like cutting styrofoam.

For just breaking down stock I'd stick with the standard 15 rake and 20-25 fleam. It'll be a splintery cut, but it'll be fast. For rough work the splintering really doesn't matter.

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  8 Point is just at the edge between rip and crosscut, but closer to rip. the degree of fleam is somewhat un important for ripping, and either 25 to 30 degree of fleam is desired for cross cutting, one other factor  not mentioned is the degree of tooth set. Less set for ripping more set for crosscut.

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Depends on your goal for the finished cut? Are you interested in just quickly breaking down oversized stock or do you want a nice clean cut that can be a little slower? As Tom said, you can't really have both.

You can make finish cuts with an 8 point saw if you want to, but it requires some uncommon geometry. Basically really relaxing the rake and adding more fleam. It's not a "normal" configuration for an 8 point saw but that doesn't mean you can't do it. If a finishing cut is your goal, I'd go to 20 degrees of rake, maybe even a touch more, and at least 30 degrees of fleam. This saw will not cut fast but it will cut clean. Durability of the teeth won't be an issue if it's dedicated to woods like white pine. They're almost like cutting styrofoam.

For just breaking down stock I'd stick with the standard 15 rake and 20-25 fleam. It'll be a splintery cut, but it'll be fast. For rough work the splintering really doesn't matter.

 

This saw will be the first crosscut, but with the amount of work I am actually going to be doing with it, I might aim for a somewhat better finish.  Maybe stick with the standard rake but a little more fleam, such as Tom's 27.

 

In part, I am doing this because I am trying to refine my saw-sharpening ability, to start to develop a feel for the effect of changing some of the variables.

 

Thanks to all for the input.

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Adding slope makes the points sharper (pointier), which helps clean up the cuts on soft woods, but shortens time between sharpenings if used on hardwoods.  My saw set up for Cypress siding is a 10 pt.  27,15, and about 10 slope.  Of course, easiest to do with a vise that tilts. 

 

For maintaining fleam angles, I had a strip of thin plywood that gets placed behind the vise with lines on each side for the fleam angle.  Once used to it, you don't even have to think about keeping the file at the right fleam angle.  Even a small variation will show up easily.  I tape it to the vise just low enough to be out of knuckles' way, and prop up the back with something to hold it level.

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