New saw maintnace

[Dan S]

My first back saw (Veritas carcass saw) was waiting for me on the porch when I got home today. Is there anything I should do to it, before I put it into service?

[wilburpan]

My first back saw (Veritas carcass saw) was waiting for me on the porch when I got home today. Is there anything I should do to it, before I put it into service?

Take it out of the box. The cardboard gets in the way when trying to cut a tenon.

Seriously, the first thing to do is just make some cuts in wood and see how it is before making tweaks. Sometimes new saws have a break-in period, and a saw that seems to cut roughly at first becomes better behaved as you use it.

Of course, a Veritas carcass saw should be nearly ready to go out of the box.

[Dan S]

Take it out of the box. The cardboard gets in the way when trying to cut a tenon.

Seriously, the first thing to do is just make some cuts in wood and see how it is before making tweaks. Sometimes new saws have a break-in period, and a saw that seems to cut roughly at first becomes better behaved as you use it.

Of course, a Veritas carcass saw should be nearly ready to go out of the box.

No wax or anything liked that?

Hopefully the saw will be better behaved when it's sibling shows up. I ordered twins, but someone let the crosscut one wonder off.

[jlloydparks]

Give it a run straight out of the box. At some point put a swipe of beeswax down the toothline and see if it makes life easier. Some people find it does some don't, I like wax in tough woods, in soft ones I find it optional. I also wipe the saw plate down after use and give it a quick once over with Camillia oil or Jojoba oil, just something to keep rust a bay.

[Kari Hultman]

I agree with Wilbur—don't be surprised if your saw is a little grabby when you first use it. New saws get better after they've chewed on a few boards.

[jmaichel]

My first back saw (Veritas carcass saw) was waiting for me on the porch when I got home today. Is there anything I should do to it, before I put it into service?

Cool! I order both carcass saws last weekend so I am curious to see what you think. I also ordered a 2 PAX panel saws.

[RenaissanceWW]

Ditto to everything above. Usually five or six cuts will be enough to cure the grabbiness of the saw and it runs a lot smoother from there. This is just a function of freshly sharpened teeth that created little burrs on the steel. Wax is good to allow the saw to run easier in a cut but for a lot of joinery saws I don't really bother because the cuts are never that deep. At the end of the day I wipe down the blade and toothline to remove any dust with an oily rag that has been saturated with Camelia oil. This will help to keep your saw plate shiny reflective which is so important for watching to keep your cut plumb and square.

[Dyami Plotke]

I'll agree with the mentors and other posters with one added step. Removed the oil from the saw, as per the instructions. I'm not sure what Veritas uses to prevent rust, but the reccomend you remove it before using the saw so I'm sure it can't be good for the wood.

Now, since the oil is off the saw, go cut something and enjoy.