UNADILLA 
SILOS 
T HERE hre good reasons why 
more Unadilla Silos are sold 
each year than any others. 
They cure and keep silage 
better. They keep upright, air¬ 
tight and repel frost. They are 
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are known by their famous safety 
door front ladder. 
This is the time to arrange for 
your Unadilla. Early orders now, 
while our factory is not rushed, 
earn the biggest saving we 
ever offered. 
Write to-day for the big Unadilla 
catalog, early order discounts and 
agency offer for open, territory. 
Unadilla Silo Company 
Box B Unadilla, N.Y. 
Imported Melotte 
with the telf-balancing 
bowl. Positively cannot get 
out of balance therefore can¬ 
not vibrate. Can’t remix 
cream with milk. Runs so 
easily, bowl spins 25 minutes 
after you stop cranking unless 
you apply brake. 
Catalog tells all-WRlTE 
C Til 1 1 ,, /U. S. Bulletin 201 
KsClUlWn. shows that vibration 
of the bowl causes cream waste/ 
SO days’ free trial — then, if 
satsfied, only $7.60 and a few 
easy payments -- and — the 
wonderful Belgium Melotte Sep* 
aratcr is youre. 
Catalog FREE 
Send today for free separator book 
containing full description. Don’t 
buy any separator until you have 
found out all about the Melotte and 
details of our 16 year guarantee. 
MELOTTE 2843 d«& so’IbCWcago I 
OIL LIGHT BEATS 
ELECTRIC OR GAS 
BURNS 94% AIR 
A new oil lamp that gives an amaz¬ 
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The inventor, R. M. Johnson, 642 N. 
Broad St., Philadelphia, is offering to send 
a lamp on 10 days’ FREE trial, or even 
to give one FREE to the first user in each 
locality who will help him introduce it. 
Write him to-day for full particulars. 
Also ask him to explain how you can get 
the agency, and without experience or 
money make $250 to $500 per month. 
Samples Free-with lowest whole¬ 
sale prices. We expect much higher 
later. We can save you money on best BUY 
seed. We bought early big stocks on NOW 
Our prices amazingly low. Don’t 
your seeds until you write for our prices and sam- 
Clover, Alfalfa, Timothy, Sweet Clover or .an* 
needed. Our big Seed Guide Free, j 
American Field Seed Co., Dept. 115 , Chicago, HI. 
EARN $11010 $250 MONTHLY , Traffic Inspector. PosL 
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course., or money refunded. Excellent opportunities. 
Write for Free Booklet G-84. 
Stand. Business Training Institute, Buffalo, N. Y. 
HIDES, FURS, WOOL, TALLOW— Best prices; 
write for latest Quotations. 
KEYSTONE HIDE CO., 
American Agriculturist, December 22, 1923 
How To Sharpen and Set a Drag Saw 
The First of a Series of Three A rticles on Filing and Setting Saws at Home 
B EFORE one can sharpen a crosscut saw 
well he must have in mind the desired 
shape of the teeth he is filing so as to get them 
the same shape as made at the factory or some 
other shape definitely suited to the kind of 
work the saw is to do. 
Figure 1 illustrates the work done by the 
cutting teeth and the rakers of a crosscut saw. 
The drawing shows four cutting teeth between 
two rakers or drag teeth. Two of the teeth, 
A and B, are filed so that the points of the 
teeth make a cut like a knife cut at the right 
side of the saw kerf and the other two, C and 
D, at the left. Each raker has two square 
points like a wood chisel. One point draws the 
sawdust or “worms” out in one direction and 
the other in the opposite direction. 
Figures 1, 2 and 3 show three styles of teeth 
filed for general use. Figure 1 shows a style 
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Ftp. / L/jnce Teeth 
PO///T5 RRE DfWWH /A/TO WOOD 
called lance tooth and has four cutting teeth 
between each pair of rakers. Figure 2 shows a 
style called regular tooth. This has no rakers, 
each tooth doing its share of the clearing. 
Figure 3 shows a style called champion tooth 
which has two cutting teeth between each pair 
of rakers. 
A saw to cut well must meet the following 
requirements: 
1. All cutting teeth must be the same length 
so that each tooth will do its share of the 
cutting. 
2. The cutting teeth must be filed to a point. 
3. All rakers must be of a uniform length. 
4. The rakers must be of the same length 
shorter than the cutting teeth and the distance 
suited to the kind of 
wood the saw is to be 
used in. 
5. The gullets or 
spaces between teeth 
and rakers must be 
deep enough to house the wood in the saw kerf 
which is loosened by one stroke of the saw. 
If the gullets are too small to carry out all the 
sawdust or “worms” that is loosened by one 
stroke, the first operation in fitting the saw is 
to make larger spaces or gullets between the 
teeth and rakers. This is called gumming the 
saw. This may be accomplished by a round or 
a round back file, which, however, is a slow and 
laborious way. A better way is to grind it 
out with a high speed grinder. An emery 
grinder which is about fit inch thick is well 
suited to the work. To do this, a platform 
needs to be provided so that the saw may be 
placed flat in front of the grinder and fed 
against the grinder 
at about its center. 
The saw should be 
fed against the 
stone very lightly 
because forcing it 
may break the 
grinder or heat the 
blade of the saw so as to draw the temper. 
It is a good way to grind a little in one 
gullet and then move the saw on to the next 
and the next and then go back to finish up the 
first gullet. If a little filing is done in the 
gullets with a round or round-back file each 
time the saw is filed, the teeth can easily be 
kept their proper length without much filing 
at any one time. This is a good practice for 
those who do not have access to an emery 
grinder. 
Figure 4A shows an actual drawing of a saw 
as it had been used. It may be noted that 
drag tooth No. 1 is more than 1-16 inch shorter 
than the cutting teeth and drag tooth No. 2 is 
about 1-32 inch longer than the cutting teeth. 
The points of the 
teeth and rakers 
had been filed 
many times but not 
the gullets so that 
not enough space 
remained in the 
gullets to house 
and carry out the 
saw dust. In fitting the saw, it was gummed 
as shown in Figure 4B with a % inch emery 
grinder. 
The second operation in fitting a cross¬ 
cut saw is that of jointing the saw. This con¬ 
sists of running the side of a flat file lengthwise 
over the points of the saw teeth enough times 
to bring all teeth to a line. When the point is 
filed from a tooth, it leaves a small, smooth 
flu ac rum. daah/hg or a saw ae/VAt r/rrwc 
The srsrs saw Arrc/f nrr/rvo 
By L. M. ROEHL 
shiny surface which may be readily seen by 
placing the saw in front of a window or some 
other place where the light will shine on the 
point of the tooth. 
A tool called the saw jointer or crosscut 
saw fitting tool is very desirable and almost 
necessary for jointing the saw and filing down 
the rakers. Figure 5 shows such a tool in use 
jointing a saw. A flat file is held in the tool at 
a right angle to the side of the saw and run 
over the teeth with forward strokes of the file 
until all the teeth have been touched with the 
file. The teeth, being large, make it difficult 
to hold a file in the hands as is done in fitting 
hand saws. 
The next step after the saw is jointed, that 
is, when all the teeth have been filed down to 
the level of the lowest tooth, is filing down the 
rakers. This operation is illustrated in Figure 
6. The crosscut saw tool is placed on the saw 
so that the points of a raker project up thru 
the slot in the tool and all of the point of the 
raker that ^ticks up thru the slot is filed 
off. Soft wood requires more clearance for 
the rakers than hard wood. For cutting hard¬ 
wood, the rakers are filed down from 1-64 
to 1-40 of an inch shorter than the cutting 
teeth. A hacksaw blade is about 1-40 of an 
inch thick. For softwood from 1-40 to 1-32 of 
an inch is satisfactory. 
When the rakers have been filed down to the 
right distance below 
■ii 
Fig. 5—-Jointing the Saw 
the cutting teeth, they 
need to be filed to a 
point. The filing is 
done on the inside of 
the raker, straight 
across the end. A flat 
file is most satisfac¬ 
tory for this work. 
The rakers should be 
filed so as to have square corners at center as 
shown at C in Figure 4B. 
The next step in fitting the saw is that of 
filing the teeth. Every other tooth is filed 
from one side. The position to hold the file 
depends on the shape and length of point de¬ 
sired. If the saw is to be used in frozen timber 
which has considerable knots, and strength is 
required in the teeth, a rather blunt point is 
desirable. If the saw is to be used in softwood 
where strength of teeth is not so essential, a 
longer point may be 
filed. To obtain a 
long point, the handle 
end of the file is held 
low and to the right or 
left depending on 
which side of the tooth 
is being filed. Full 
light strokes of the 
file are most satisfactory for the work. Files 
cut on the forward stroke only and so the file is 
raised from the saw at each stroke. The point 
which is being filed needs to be watched closely 
at each stroke to see that the point is brought 
over the center of the tooth and that the filing 
stops when the point has been reached. 
The next step in fitting the saw is that of 
setting the teeth. The purpose of the set is 
to make a saw kerf in the wood which is wider 
than the thickness of the blade of the saw so 
that it will not bind in the wood. Wet and 
green wood require more set than hard or dry 
wood. Not more than of an inch of the 
point of each tooth is set. Some practical 
wood filers set less than 3-16 of an inch of the 
points, maintaining that the saws draw easier 
Fig. 6.—Filing Down the 
Rakers 1-64 to 1-32 Ac¬ 
cording to Kind of Wood 
and cut better after the keen point has been 
slightly worn off by use of the saw. Success in 
setting crosscut saws depends largely on the 
kind of tools one has for the work. Best re¬ 
sults are obtained with a hammer set or a 
hammer and setting block. A very satis- 
Fig. 7.—Home-Made Setting Block 
factory setting block may be made from 
an old sadiron or a block of metal. Figure 7 
shows such a block. One corner of the block 
is filed off inch back from the edge on the 
side and down on the edge the thickness of a 
hacksaw blade. The saw is placed flat on the 
metal block in such a position that the point of 
a tooth projects past the shoulder % inch, 3-16 
inch or }4 inch depending on the amount of set 
desired and struck firmly with a light hammer 
at the point indicated in the drawing. 
tooth oven this shouldth itaoi/r,£\ ' Pointhsk 
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ZySSAW S'LAO/: rLAT orv 0C.QCK-K 
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CONSIDER THE LOG AND 
BUZZ SAW 
H. H. LYON 
T HE fuel situation was something worth 
mentioning on many farms last winter. 
Townspeople had trouble in getting coal and 
occasionally they have been as short as a day 
or even a few hours, but in our up-State towns 
I heard of little real discomfort from lack of 
coal. Occasionally some of the residents 
bought wood from farmers for a part of the 
fuel supply and some have quite a reserve on 
hand. On the farm, however, there was 
usually plenty of wood if one could get it out. 
Townsmen seemed to think that that was no 
problem, but in a number of instances it was 
difficult. There was no help to be had except 
by changing work, and there is a lot to do to 
care for the stock and keep business going. 
Not a few farmers were just able to keep a 
short jump ahead on the fuel question. 
We have been saying for some years that a 
farmer who has a gasoline engine can hardly 
afford to be without a buzz saw. I am not 
Sure but that is true unless two or more farmers 
can use one saw. With heavy timber to cut 
into wood fhe buzz saw is, in' some cases, of 
doubtful value. A drag saw is better for such 
wood. If one neighbor can have the drag saw 
and another a buzz saw, and then exchange 
with each other, that may be a better proposi¬ 
tion. I hadn’t thought so much about it until 
recently. I have watched the old-time drag 
saw and thought I would like one. but the more 
recent kinds are worth much more. They 
operate .the same way, but they are made to 
cut faster. Then they have an attachment by 
means of which a lever can be shifted to make 
the device do different things. If in the middle 
the machine is neutral and does no work, yet 
the engine need not be stopped. Swing the 
lever to one side and the sawing begins, or if 
swung to the other side the log is advanced 
slowly without any work on the, part of the 
operator. It is all done by moving the lever 
when once the log or the tree has been placed 
in position. It is worth looking after. Coal is 
to remain high and farmers are likely to use 
wood to a considerable extent for the near 
future at least. We cannot buy much machin¬ 
ery these times, but occasionally something 
will be purchased, and this is something to 
consider. 
A woodlot is a wonderful asset these days. Many of our steep hillsides, now bare, would 
be decidedly more productive bearing timber such as this under careful cutting plans 
LANCASTER, PA. 
