Saw Terminology - What Is...?

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What Is The Back (Saw)?

The 'Back' in the term Back (Saw) or the back of the saw refers to the top length of the saw blade.

With dovetail, tenon, gents and other specialist saws this usually refers to a steel or brass spine running along the top of the blade.



What Is The Front (Saw)?

The Front refers to the bottom length of the saw blade; the length of the blade with the teeth.



What Is The Toe (Saw)?

The Toe refers to the furthest end of the saw blade where the tip of the blade is.



What Is the Heel (Saw)?

The Heel refers to the part of the saw blade nearest to the handle.



What Are The Teeth (Saw)?

The Saw Teeth are the series of sharp points on the bottom edge of the saw blade ('Front').



What Is The Gullet (Saw)?

The Gullet is the gap or the valley between each saw tooth.



What Is TPI? What Does TPI Mean (Saw)?

TPI = Teeth Per Inch.

Saws are usually measured by the number of teeth there are in an inch.

The fewer the teeth per inch the rougher the cut, the more teeth per inch the finer the cut.



What Is The Kerf (Saw)?

The Kerf is how far the teeth are splayed outwards, basically the width of the cut.

For most saws a Kerf which is wider than the thickness of the blade is needed.

The Kerf allows the saw to flow through the cut piece of wood because the Kerf on the teeth is wider than the thickness of the blade.

Without this Kerf, the saw is likely to jam (Bind).



What Is The Rake (Saw)?

The Rake is the angle of the teeth when looking at the saw from the side.



What Is Binding (Saw)?

Binding - There are different meanings for the word 'Binding', in terms of the woodwork 'Binding' word, it means when a tool gets jammed in the wood. It is a term often used with a saw when sawing.



rip saw teeth

What Are Rip Teeth (Saw)?

Rip Teeth are a series of sharp teeth specially designed to allow a saw to cut with the grain down the length of wood.

The rip teeth setup are effectively a series of chisels. The teeth work by rapidly chipping out a series of grooves.

Due to the design of rip teeth setup, rip teeth are not suited to cut across the grain.

The teeth angle on a saw with rip tooth configuration are set at an angle between 60 - 90 degrees.

See also What Is A Rip Saw?



What Are Crosscut Teeth (Saw)?

crosscut saw teeth

Crosscut Teeth are a series of sharp teeth specially designed to allow a saw to cut across the grain of a piece of wood.

The crosscut teeth setup are effectively a series of knives. The teeth work by rapidly cutting and severing the wood fibres with the sharp points.

The teeth on a crosscut saw have an angle of 75 degrees on the front side of the tooth. The teeth are also bevelled on both sides of the tooth in order to give the teeth points a super sharp point.

The final part of a crosscut tooth setup is the teeth are set where each tooth is splayed outwards (Kerf) to give the thickness of cut. This is achieved with the use of a sawset tool.

See also What Is A Crosscut Saw?



What Are Universal Teeth (Saw)?

Universal Teeth are a series of sharp teeth specially designed to allow a saw to cut along the grain (rip) and across the grain (crosscut).

The universal tooth setup is a good all-round tooth setup however it may not necessarily be a master of one or the other.












Disclaimer

(i) This review/article may give warning(s) / advisory notes / cautions / guidelines given in good faith, any such information should not be solely relied upon and seen as the exhaustive list of warnings / advisory notes / cautions / guidelines. Refer to good safety practices for the safety of you and others. Refer to good practices for the good health of your tool and property.
(ii) The details here are given in good faith, the details are constantly growing and evolving, there is scope for error and shouldn't be fully relied upon, please confirm any details for yourself by performing additional research from reliable sources.




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