Thread: Hand Rip saw

There are a great variety of Japanese pull saws, possibly what you are after, try www.carbatec.com.au
Why is a chainsaw innapropriate, noise?, consider electric or a sabre saw.

thanks Iain i appreciate the reply , yep cutting is often indoors in a studio I share with other artists or in a back yard with long suffering neighbors starring over the fence asking "if I'll be making that noise for much longer?"
Smaller stuff I can run through the Triton it just that when the timber is 12+ inches thick it's a bit of a load on the poor thing (lets face it, Tritons are a bit on the light side, but it will fit in the back of my Peugeot 205GTI (with the maxi extension table!!)).
A big Band saw and a private studio is what is really wanted , but until I'm rich and famous etc.
Well I was hopping to find a 26-30 inch push saw but in its absence from the market, its out to carbatec I go for a little nippon ripper.

12" thick is a drama, even a 12" table saw won't handle that as they are only about a 5" cut, while out at Carbatec have a look at their Bandsaws, and even a trip to Hafco in Dandenong, only about another 10 minutes away.
A chainsaw sounds li9ke the best option for that thickness.
Aaahhh, the joys of having no neighbours, although the only one I have has his calfs in my paddock this morning after they did a break and enter last night.

Ripping 12"+ thick by hand That's seriously hard work, even with a sharp saw. I'd mark it out and grab the saw out of the workcentre and cut from both sides. That'll leave about 6" in the middle, still a fair slog.

Mick

Try a more specialised tool shop like Total Tools, most hardware shops like bunnings & mitre 10 mainly stock non-resharpenable saws, Total Tools have some (presumably) "premium" saws that are resharpenable & available in several tooth styles, they may not stock a rip but could possibly enquire with the supplier as to availability.

The ones I have in mind are Spear & Jackson I think.

As I undersand it, a saw filed for ripping will be shapened at right angles across the teeth, so the teeth are like a series of tiny chisels (as distinct from tiny alternating knives in the case of a crosscut).

It will still require some degree of set so the saw doesn't jam in the cut, even more so when breaking down green wood.

Gread info at the Vintage Saws site, where this image comes from:


12" deep is very deep ripping to be done by hand, is it practical to cut from either side with a circular saw & finish the cut by running a hand saw down the kerf?

If you are set ( groan) on the hand saw idea, maybe consider either buying a new resharpenable hand saw or try garage sales/markets for a good secondhand one & have it sharpened rip by a saw doctor.

You could even read the info on the Vintage Saw site, buy a file & refile the teeth yourself, fairly easy with a coarse pattern like you require.


Good luck...........cheers..................Sean

thanks all , great advice all round.
Will from now on cut what can on the triton, rip the bit it misses in the middle with pull saw, I thought that an electric chainsaw might be ok for lighter stuff and pretty quiet, thoughts anyone?
Still going to try and pick up old saw and tune it up for the job as often I find a hand tool is quicker to just pick up and use than setting up a power tool and associated safety equipment for a one off cut.

Originally Posted by Ian Wells

Will from now on cut what can on the triton, rip the bit it misses in the middle with pull saw, I thought that an electric chainsaw might be ok for lighter stuff and pretty quiet, thoughts anyone?
Still going to try and pick up old saw and tune it up for the job as often I find a hand tool is quicker to just pick up and use than setting up a power tool and associated safety equipment for a one off cut.

Ian
on the matter of electric chain saws, I've got a Makita with a 16" bar, it's much quieter (i.e. neighbour friendly) than the equivalent petrol version and has enough power to cut green timber at full bar depth, provided the chain is kept sharp.
The biggest thing is that chain saws come with cross cut chains, if you intend doing any serious ripping (and 12" is serious) you really should use a ripping chain — but I don't know where to get one.
and don't forget the safety equipment and some method to hold the work while cuttinmg (Triton super jaws work for me)


ian

Ian,
an electric chainsaw would work, but they're not precision tools and it would leave a pretty rough finish, don't know if this is acceptable.

Mick

Cleaning up scrappy timber is like meditation to me , a big old wooden fore plane with an old Scottish iron that I picked up at a junk sale is supper quick , faster and safer/gentler than my electric plane and nice curls rather than dust. Off to talk to a man now about ripping chains for electric saws.
Ta!

I use electric chain saws with no complaints from neighbours; no engine noise, but not silent either - most of the noise is from the cutting itself.

I've successsfully cut logs lengthwise into bowl blanks with a crosscut chain. Key is angle of attack. If too shallow, long fibres get wrapped around the drive sprocket, and must be removed frequently. Greater than about 45 degrees seems to work OK (up to 10 inches so far). There seems to be some dispute as to whether this is really a ripping cut, but let's not go there. According to my imperfect understanding, you can regrind a crosscut into ripping chisels (straight across) if there's enough metal to remove, but likely only once. A real ripping chain will sustain more sharpening.

Finish will definitely be inferior. A belt sander can fix this, but they're not silent either.

Joe

Ian,
anytime you want to do some meditation in the rainforest just bring your planes and I'll provide the means for you to reach nirvana.

Mick

:d :u :d :u :d :u :d :u

Originally Posted by Ian Wells

thanks all , great advice all round.
Will from now on cut what can on the triton, rip the bit it misses in the middle with pull saw, I thought that an electric chainsaw might be ok for lighter stuff and pretty quiet, thoughts anyone?

If you want to make straight long rip cuts with a chainsaw you should really use a chainsaw mill. eg See this thread.
http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com...ad.php?t=43925

Chainsaws also waste a lot of wood when they cut so you need to be really sure you want the wood. I use it to break stuff up to a point where I can use a TS or BS.

Rip chain (looks like this - see last entry on this page) - is only really needed with bars of 24" and longer. However, smaller chainsaws will benefit from using low profile chains.

Cheers

Hi Ian,

If I were you I would look to ebay for a Rip saw, bit of a lottery I know but more will come up there than anywhere else. Or if you are lucky a local market may have one every now and then. I have a bit of a thing about saws (see attached if it works) You can usually find quite a few of the things at a swap meet like I have.

There are a couple of dealers in Australia who have saws but I don't think they have any rips at the momenthttp://www.hansbrunnertools.gil.com.au/Users-1group.htm

Most of the rips I have have also been sharpened crosscut by previous owners, I just havnt got around to changing the config back to rip yet which is not difficult and does not really take that long.

Also worth a try is Tony Derret at [email protected] Tony's a great bloke and his prices are ok

Good luck
Steve