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Level 1 Diploma in Carpentry and Joinery

PowerPoint presentation

Handsaws

Unit 113: Maintain and use carpentry and joinery hand tools

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Level 1 Diploma in Carpentry and Joinery

Objectives

3.1 To understand types and uses of handsaws

3.2 To understand why the shape and size of saw teeth are different for different saws

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Level 1 Diploma in Carpentry and Joinery

Types of handsaws

• Coping saws

• Pad saws

• Rip saws

• Crosscut saws

• Tenon saws (can be rip or crosscut)

• Dovetail saws (rip only)

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Level 1 Diploma in Carpentry and Joinery

Coping saws

• The coping saw is used for curved work.

• Fine, flexible blade is tensioned using the turn screw in the handle.

• Can be turned to any position (though the blade will always break if sighting pins are not aligned)

• Unlike ALL other saws, the coping saw is used with two hands on the handle, held straight in front of the body, feet apart.

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Level 1 Diploma in Carpentry and Joinery

Pad saws

• Pad saws have no frame at all, so they can be used for internal curved work when even a coping saw cannot reach the cut required: for example, in the centre of a wide workpiece.

Pad saws

Key hole saw

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Level 1 Diploma in Carpentry and Joinery

Teeth

Parts of a handsaw

Heel Blade

HandleBack

Toe

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Level 1 Diploma in Carpentry and Joinery

Size of handsaws

Handsaws are measured by:

1. Length of the cutting edge of the blade

2. Number of teeth per inch (tpi): the higher the tpi, the finer cut the saw will make (but the slower the work)

3. Thickness of the blade: determines the width of the kerf the saw will cut

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Level 1 Diploma in Carpentry and Joinery

Teeth per inch (TPI)When counting the number of teeth per inch, count the first and last tooth:

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Level 1 Diploma in Carpentry and Joinery

Saw teeth vary in size and shape according to the type of work the saw is designed to do

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Level 1 Diploma in Carpentry and Joinery

Rip sawsRip saw teeth are shaped with chisel-like edges to make a series of chisel cuts that sever the fibres along the grain of the timber.

Crosscut saw teeth are shaped to resemble knife points, each tooth being sharpened at an angle across the blade. Knife points cut cleanly across grain.

Crosscut saws

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Level 1 Diploma in Carpentry and Joinery

WHY are:

Rip saw teeth like Chisels and

Crosscut teeth like Knives?

Because the cell structure of

wood is a series of vessels…

like a bundle of straws.

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Level 1 Diploma in Carpentry and Joinery

Handsaw type, by blade length and tpi (standards)

Saw type Blade length in mm tpi

Rip saw 650 3 to 5

Crosscut saw 450 to 600 6 to 8

Panel saw: crosscut, for clean cutting of manufactured board

500 to 550 8 to 10

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Level 1 Diploma in Carpentry and Joinery

Tenon saws

• Also know as a back saw, for the brass or rolled steel back which holds the blade rigid for a straight cut.

• Thin and short blade also helps ensure a fine, accurate cut.

• Originally designed for cutting the cheeks and shoulders of a tenon, the tenon saw is today used by joiners throughout the workshop (except when cutting large sheets or roughing out work).

• Available in both rip and crosscut.

• 13 to 15 tpi.

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Level 1 Diploma in Carpentry and Joinery

Dovetail saw

Another back saw, but with smaller teeth, for an even finer cut (14 to 20 tpi).

Always set as rip because it is used to cut dovetails – along the grain.