Crosscutting with an inserted tooth saw

[dave28]

Hoping someone out there can help on this one.
Have just come by an old 24 inch inserted tooth saw blade which I've fitted to a belt driven cast iron saw bench. I had a couple of these saws a few years ago that I used for ripping and pointing stakes and had a larger one in a rack saw. I was always told not to use these type of saws for crosscutting. This 24inch saw runs well and sounds good, it rips well and seems to crosscut without any obvious problems. As well as using it for ripping I'd like to use it for crosscutting logs as it cuts very well and is much easier to sharpen than a normal plate blade. Wondered if anyone has any experience of crosscutting with these saws.Thanks.

 

[Mike Van]

Dave, I'm sure those warnings have to do with the hook angle & swaging of the teeth. If you look at handsaws, the ripsaw will always have more set, larger gullets & steeper hook. The crosscut will have less set, smaller gullets & sometimes very little hook. You don't feed this by hand? I'd be most concerned with the 24" rip blade taking a piece of stock & sucking it right into the blade when crosscutting.

 

[Brmorgan]

One big reason for not using a replaceable-tooth blade for crosscutting is that the operator is generally standing directly in line with the blade during cuts, and if one of those teeth lets go it will do just as much damage as a bullet of equivalent size. I used to know an old guy that took a tooth to the face from an old Scragg saw at the sawmill; it went in one cheek and out the other and did all sorts of nerve and tissue damage. Just something to keep in mind. If you have it well guarded it won't be much of an issue, but those old saws at the sawmills were often sitting wide-open back in the day.

Of course it depends on how the teeth are attached; some are riveted on or held with a set-screw, which should be much better. Many old ones though are held in place with a cam-lock type design where the force of the tooth against the wood is supposed to continually push them tighter into place and hold them there. Those are the type that are prone to letting go, especially if the blade gets a wobble or vibration to it.

 

[dave28]

Thanks very much Mike and Brad. I'm going to take your advice and restrict the inserted tooth saw to ripping only.Might have a go at building a "procut" type CSM then I can use the inserted tooth for resawing boards from it.
Just have to invest in a better quality (tungsten carbide tipped?) crosscut saw for my logs.Never had the cutting quality out of this old plate blade even when fresh from the saw doctor.