1907. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
821 
THE SAW AND ITS SUFFERINGS. 
The diagram shows the result of a des¬ 
perate attempt to cut a 20-penny spike 
in two with an ordinary bucksaw. This 
nail was in a piece of old timber being 
worked up for firewood, and the ama¬ 
teur sawyer doing the job said it seemed 
to go pretty hard, but he thought he had 
struck a knot. The instant a saw touches 
iron there is a peculiar sound, which one 
with experience will recognize as far 
away as he can hear it—a danger signal 
that even a greenhorn should notice in¬ 
stantly the second time. No man can 
do a first-class job with a poor saw or one 
out of condition, yet saws in perfec; or¬ 
der are seldom seen except in the kits 
of cabinet makers, where exact work is 
necessary. In sawing a board, the cut 
edges may spring together, pinching the 
saw. Stop the instant this is noted and 
put in a little wedge. There is a temp¬ 
tation to push the saw through, but this 
will kill the set, and in most cases the 
saw will catch at the tip end and a bend 
that can never be taken out will result. 
The writer has just been looking at a 
saw that has been used by a dozen peo¬ 
ple. It has one long crook and two short 
ones, the one at the heel evidently being 
caused by a right-hand twist to loosen it 
from a pinchy place. If force is needed 
to make a saw cut, something is wrong. 
A sharp saw with proper set needs but 
little bearing on. Saws for wood work 
arc made of softer steel than chisels and 
knives. A hard pine or hemlock knot will 
kill the keen edge, and the life of a good 
saw may be increased by keeping it off 
from the worst of these knots. 
Probably the saw suffers, most of all, 
from incompetent filing, yet anyone with 
common sense, an “eye for mechanics,” 
and the ability to use a file with exactness 
can learn to put an ordinary saw in or¬ 
der. There are two general classes of 
hand saws for wood work, lengthwise 
or rip saws, and those cutting across the 
grain. In the former the teeth are filed 
square across the blade, the front or cut¬ 
ting edge of the tooth being formed very 
nearly at a right angle to the base of the 
saw. For cutting across the grain the 
teeth are all beveled, the amount depend¬ 
ing on the character of work to be done, 
more bevel and set for soft wood, and 
less for hard. If possible get hold of a 
new saw of the same class as the one 
needing repairs, and note carefully the 
bevel and angle at which the teeth stand. 
This is important, for if filed too “hook¬ 
ing,” the saw will jump or take hold too 
hard. To put a dull saw in order the 
first thing is to make the teeth of the 
same length. To do this hold the saw 
firmly in a long clamp and draw a long 
fine flat file lengthwise over the teeth un¬ 
til every one is touched. Next comes the 
setting, which consists in bending out 
about one-third of each tooth. A bucksaw 
for soft and green wood requires a 
strong set, while a handsaw for dry lum¬ 
ber needs much less. There are many 
devices for setting. Some men are skilful 
enough to do an accurate job by striking 
each tooth with a hammer and punch, but 
an amateur needs one of the commercial 
sets that can be adjusted so that he can¬ 
not go wrong. Then with a three-cor¬ 
nered file bring each tooth to a point, ob¬ 
serving the proper bevel. Do not give a 
stroke more than is necessary, or the 
tooth will be shortened. As stated be¬ 
fore, there is no use attempting this job 
unless one has a good eye, a steady hand, 
and can use a file with exactness. After 
filing, it is a good plan to lay the saw 
on a flat surface and joint the sides of 
the teeth by drawing a fine file or flat 
whetstone over them. This removes the 
feather edge and makes the saw cut more 
smoothly. If a good job has been done, 
the teeth will be of the same height, and 
on looking lengthwise of the blade the 
space between the points of the teeth 
will look like a trough smooth enough to 
carry water. With a handsaw thus filed 
it is possible to cut exactly to the edge 
of a line as fine as that made by the point 
of a jackknife. Last and most important 
of all, never file a saw in the house or 
back kitchen. The filer is so intent on 
his work that he is oblivious to the hor¬ 
rible noise he is making, but it is hard to 
imagine anything more exasperating than 
this to the other members of the family. 
_ w. w. H. 
Substituted Varieties. —A great deal is 
said about the poor quality of the Ben Davis 
apple, and probably justly, but what are the 
fruit growers to do, when they buy superior 
varieties of apple trees, like Greening, Bald¬ 
wins, Winesap and Grimes, take good care of 
them, prune and cultivate, only to#be dis¬ 
appointed when they begin to bear fruit, to 
find they have only Ben Davis? I have 
bought trees from two prominent reliable 
(supposed to be) nurserymen labeled what 
was ordered (good varieties), but when they 
came to bear have onlv Ben Davis. I would 
like to hear from other fruit growers on this 
subject. j. p. b. 
Dutchess Co., N. Y. 
Three Horse Hitch. —F. N., page 717, 
can make a three-horse hitch that will have 
an even centre draft by making a double 
pole to his wagon on the principle of a pair 
of thills of a buggy. Have the crossbar 
strong and long, so that it reaches past the 
centre of the outside horses.- The wiiililetrecs 
should be fastened to the cross-bar by. a clevis 
and long ring, so the whiflletrees can have 
a good swing. Then hitch the tugs of the 
inside horse to the inside ends of the outside 
whiflletrees; the inside tugs of the outside 
horses to the inside whiffletree. The tugs 
on the inside will be crossed, which dispenses 
with an evener. With whiflletrees with a 
good swing the horses soon learn to draw 
even and are able to get over to the side on 
narrow roads. With this hitch all horses 
pull alike, and one close to the load The 
neck yoke is made of two short ones; the 
yoke strap of the inside horse goes through 
both rings of the inside .ends of the yokes. 
The lines can be arranged very easily. This 
makes a good hitch with no side draft, and 
all horses have plenty of room. M. b. 
New York. 
When you write advertisers mention The 
It. N.-Y. and you’ll get a quick reply and 
“a square deal.” See guarantee, page H. 
Clark’s Reversible 
Bush & Bog Plow 
Cuts a track 5 ft. wide, 
1 ft. deep. Will plow a 
new cut forest, liis double 
action Cutaway Harrow 
keeps land true, moves 
1800 tons of earth, cuts 30 
. - . - acres per day. 
DOUBLE ACTION^ JOINTED POLE CUTA 
co \\ W\ SEND FOR ‘-' 
gfl, Ml h CIRCULARSTOTHE 
N0 cutaway 
[?° RE HARROW 
■<C USE co. 
E 0R 0 HIGGANUM - 
PLOW. *^ai^-/s^^C0NN.U.S.A. 
Jointed Pole takes all weight off Horses 
and keeps their heels away from the Disks. 
His Rev. Disk Plow cuts a 
furrow 5 to 10 in. deep, 11 in. 
wide. All Clark’s machines 
will kill witch-grass, wild 
mustard, charlock, hard- 
hack, sunflower, milk wood, 
thistle or any foul plant. 
_ Send for circulars to the 
CUTAWAY HARROW CO.. 39 Main St.. Hlaaanum. Conn. 
The Value of a 
Telephone 
An unconnected telephone instrument has only a limited dollars- 
• to* i 
and-cents value; a telephone connected with your neighbors, your 
doctor, your markets, has a value unlimited—for it may be the 
means of saving your property from destruction by fire, your family 
from serious illness, your products from a drop in prices. But 
a telephone upon which you cannot depend in emergen- / 
cies is worse than valueless. Buy and use only 
Use 
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