I'm curious about the history of handsaws, specifically regarding whether they were always sharpened in a rip style or if that changed over time. I have an old Spear and Jackson saw that's sharpened as a rip saw but has finer teeth (around 8-10 tpi) and it seems to work well for both ripping and cross-cutting. Did handsaws used to be commonly made this way before mass manufacturing became popular?
3 Answers
From what I know, most saws in the past were filed for rip cuts. It's hard to pinpoint exactly when crosscut filing became standard, but it might've been around the 1800s. I've seen some references suggesting that back in the day (like 1750-1770), many saws were indeed sharpened in a rip pattern to maximize versatility, but that changed with the advent of modern manufacturing techniques.
Yeah, it seems like as saw-making evolved, they started to cater more to specific cutting needs, making crosscut saws more prevalent.
I think you might be misinformed about back saws always being sharpened in a rip pattern. A casual look at current models from brands like Lie-Nielsen shows that there are actually many crosscut back saws out there, often referred to as carcass saws. So, while there are definitely rip filed back saws, not all of them are.
Exactly! It's pretty common for tenon and dovetail saws to be rip filed, but you can't generalize that to all back saws.
True, I get your point. I’ve noticed a lot of older saws have that fine rip pattern, so I was wondering if it was a norm back in the day.
Additionally, when we talk about fine teeth, some saws can go much finer than 8-10 tpi, often around 18-22 tpi for detailed work like dovetail joints. Just something to keep in mind if you're looking to refine your cuts even further!
Interesting point! I feel like as manufacturers emerged, especially companies like Disston, they started leaning more towards specialized filing techniques, which shifted the common practices.