THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 423 



deeper than they were originally made. This will keep the teeth 

 of a good length, and a saw will never need to be gummed. 

 Never file with an old worn-out file ; because, although the teeth 

 may be filed to a point, the spaces will not be deepened ; and in 

 a short time it will cost far more to gum a saw than it would to 

 keep the teeth of a suitable length by filing them. If the teeth 

 are filed very fleaming, or diagonally, it will be necessary to file 

 about every seventh tooth square across, and a little shorter than 

 the others. When all the teeth are filed fleaming, if they are 

 filed at an angle of about ten or fifteen degrees with the face of 

 the te'eth, they will remove the core or dust as fast as they cut. 



646. After filing, set the points of the teeth a very little. 

 The least possible set, and have a saw work easily, will cause it 

 to run the truest and the best. If a saw is kept as sharp as it 

 ought to be, it will seldom need any more set when cutting soft 

 wood, than it will when cutting hard wood. "When a saw cuts 

 a jagged, rough, uneven cut, it is a sign that the saw is not set 

 true, or that the set has been taken out of some of the teeth. 



647. When the whole tooth is set, the set is very liable to be 

 taken out by allowing the saw to be pinched between the ends 

 of a log when it is nearly sawed in two. This may be the cause 

 of its running. Perhaps a few teeth are a trifle shorter on one 

 side than on the other, made so either by filing or dulling. In 

 this case the teeth should be jointed and filed of an equal length. 

 If the set is out and the saw runs towards the top end of the log, 

 give the teeth on the opposite side a little more set. In sawing 

 logs for staves, spokes, and shingles, it is important that the saw 

 run true, else there is danger of sawing one side of the log too 

 short. 



HANDLING A CROSSCUT SAW 



648. Kequires the exercise of a little activity and agility, else 

 the work will be rendered laborious. The hands of the sawer 

 should merely hang loosely on the handles, allowing the handle 

 freedom to play up and down, as the saw adjusts itself in its pas 

 sage through the log. After a saw has entered a log sufficiently 



18* 



