Popular Woodworking 2005-10 № 150, страница 44

Arts & Mysteries

The Secrets to Sawing Fast

The traditional hand saw (when wielded correctly) can size all your stock. Here's a basic primer.

Hand saws were used to make some of the finest furniture ever built. They are very clearly capable of producing accurate cuts. Hand saws require little shop space, and produce little appreciable noise or dust.

These facts conspire to allow work in environments or at hours otherwise inhospitable to modern means. Please don't underestimate the advantage of working outside, late at night, in the living room or kitchen, etc. Likewise, the elimination of the table saw - or even the reduction of its use - frees up precious workshop floor space, allowing room for other tools, workbenches, finishing areas, etc.

So it appears in advantage after advantage that hand saws are effective if not superior tools. Clearly only 220-volt speed stands in their way of becoming the one essential tool in every woodworker's shop.

In this, the fourth article in our Arts and Mysteries series, we'll investigate the secret tricks period woodworkers used to saw quickly. Let's begin by examining basic technique:

How to Rip Efficiently

Ripping at the horse is performed using one or more sawhorses. Boards can be placed across two horses (typically 20" to 24" high), or supported by the broad top of a single horse. Because ripping is defined as sawing along the grain, the cut is started at one end of the board. The cut is started with the finer, heavily raked teeth, at the toe of the rip saw. Using the knuckle of your thumb or forefinger to steady the blade, draw the saw backwards to create a small nick. Use very light strokes for the first cuts. Don't allow the full weight of the saw to rest against the board. These first

Ripping at the horse is surprisingly fast and effective. Here (dressed in the traditional garb I wear at Pennsbury Manor) I'm using the more heavily raked teeth at the toe of the saw to help start the cut.

motions can be very short, using just the fine teeth at the toe.

Once the saw starts cutting, full strokes can be used. The saw should be held more vertical than horizontal, say 45° to 60° with

by Adam Cherubini

Adam makes reproduction furniture using the tools and techniques of the 18th century. He demonstrates his craft at Pennsbury Manor in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, on Historic Trades Days. You can contact him at adam.cherubini@verizon.net.

respect to the board's face. Don't force the saw into the cut as if it's a knife. Let the saw's weight provide the force for the cut. Relax your grip. Focus on placing your effort behind the teeth. These strokes are performed with the arm only. The shoulders must remain fixed, as twisting moves the hand sideways. The hand should move from armpit to full extension, in a nice straight line. In time, this motion will become second nature.

To correct a wayward cut, lower the angle the saw makes with the board. The saw will

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Popular Woodworking October 2005