436 THE YOUNG FAKMER's MANUAL. 



RAKE OF SAWS. 



674-^. Saws are hung in a gate working up and down, not 

 only for sawing logs, but for sawing out boat-knees, sleigh-run 

 ners, felloes for wheels, wagon thills, scrolls, and other circular 

 work, and they are always dressed to cut only when they descend. 

 If the material be forced on to the saw when it is ascending, 

 unless it should be very heavy, the material with the carriage 

 will be jerked up and down in a most frightful manner. To 

 avoid this difficulty the saw is hung with a rake, (see TECHNI 

 CALITIES, Par. 602,) in order to allow the material to be brought 

 up to the saw with facility when it is ascending. 



675. I knew a mechanic once who got up a little saw for saw 

 ing out felloes and sleigh-runners, and not understanding this 

 principle, he hung his saw without any rake. He could not 

 make it operate with any degree of satisfaction until he hung the 

 saw with a rake. 



676. The amount of rake which should be given to a saw, 

 should be equal, usually, to the greatest amount of feed, measuring 

 from the tooth which is found at the upper side of the timber 

 when the crank is down. Many sawyers hang their saws with 

 out any rake. 



677. To ascertain the amount of rake, set the crank up, and 

 suspend a plumb, P, Fig. 186, with a small line from the upper 

 tooth, and lean the saw forward as far as is desirable, as shown 

 in the figure, and fasten it there. 



678. Rake, in saws which work horizontally, is something 

 which is seldom recognized or even thought of. But when a 

 drag or a butting saw is attached to a pitman, and it is filed to 

 saw only one way, if the cutting edge is not exactly parallel 

 with a line cutting the centre of the pitman, it may or may not 

 be hung with a rake. If the farthest end falls below a parallel 

 line cutting the centre of the pitman, it will have a rake just in 

 proportion to the distance it falls below a parallel line. 



RANGING SAWS 



679. Is a very important consideration where a carriage or 



