1885.] HAND SAWS. 463 



dared to. Hard saw blades stay sharp longer than soft ones, and of 

 course they are harder to file. Most of the boys won't \my a hard 

 blade ; they don't know how to set them without breaking out the 

 teeth, so they say a hard blade is " no good," and swap it off. Half 

 the carpenters set a saw at the bottom of the teeth ; they set out the 

 whole tooth, and we have seen the bend extending into the blade. 

 This plays the mischief. If the saw is not very soft, the tooth breaks 

 out. If it does not break out, it strains the blade and makes it 

 liable to break. Set only the points of teeth. For high-tempered 

 saws, the spring set is good, but we believe the " hammer set " is the 

 only perfect set known. MorriUs' " perfect " set is the set for the 

 craft, but when we set a saw for a delicate cut let the saw be either 

 hand, band, or circular, we go to a little anvil with a corner bevelled 

 off ; have a little cone to lay the saw upon, and fasten by a thumb 

 nut when in the right position. You can now revolve the saw upon 

 the cone, and set each tooth with a little hammer as in turn they 

 pass over the bevelled corner. This cone business of course applies 

 only to circular saws ; half the time we do not iise the cone, but it 

 is a " good thing for strangers." Strike a very light blow upon the 

 end of the tooth ; strike at an angle of 6 degrees with the saw, and 

 always toward the centre of the saw. We file the saw before setting ; 

 other methods require filing last, as setting dulls them. Strike just 

 hard enough to upset the tooth slightly. In very hard saws, this is 

 what prevents them from breaking. The tooth changing form ever 

 so slightly, relieves itself from the severe strain caused hy binding 

 over the short corner of the anvil, and it " takes a set," as it were, at 

 the same time, which prevents it from springing back a particle. 

 When the teeth spring back as in case of spring-set, their truth is 

 greatly impaired. For a 6 -inch circular saw, having teeth |-inch 

 deep, we should not let them project over the corner of the anvil 

 more than ^ of an inch. 



Hand saws are no exception to the same rule, and work much 

 better when the set is all in ends of the teeth. Sometimes we hear 

 a man say that the set all works out of his saw. Just tell him to 

 put the set where it belongs — in ends of the teeth, and it will stay 

 where he puts it. Don't set a saw too much. It is waste of time, 

 saw and lumber. When you see a chap cutting up lumber with a 

 saw cutting a kerf ^ of an inch wide, you had better set him to work 

 learning to file and set a saw. A sharp saw with ground back needs 

 very little set. Eight out of ten users of saws can't file them. 

 There is no other tool used by wood-workers which has such a fuss 

 made over it in regard to being kept in order. Lots of men can 

 put a saw in the clamps, rub a flat file over the ends of the teetli 

 and then file them up sharp, but there their knowledge ends ; they 



