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- Feb 13, 2017
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- 2,138
In addition to the above, there is the "set" of the saw blade. On a perfectly(?) tuned blade, every other tooth is set off center by a predictable amount to left or right. In essence, the "kerf" being wider than the thickness of the blade... It applies to circular saw blades as well as band saw blades. The "set" steers the blade in one direction or the other. For circular saws, it can be controlled, to an extent, with a fence. For a band-saw, the Mk.1 eyeball is the most usable.
This, of course, is dependant on who sharpened the blade and the care they took to make the set correct. For a band-saw blade, it is very costly as each tooth must be "set" individually. Where you won't find it is on a store bought blade. Those, at best, are machine cut. Adjusting the "set" is a manual adjustment only. Thence the necessity of "steering" a cut, usually manually for a bandsaw.
In reality, proper "setting" will only be seen on commercial blades, such as at sawmills, where it really matters. Or on a "resaw" machine. I recall a metal cutting bandsaw at the mill where I worked that was used to cut a slice off of a 10" square billet. The blade had no "set" when it was new. And got changed when it developed one. The blade was some three inches wide.
I bought my wife a bandsaw for woodworking that I occasionally use to pre-shape metal, with the appropriate blade of course. The fence that came with it was set aside and is now probably lost or modified into something else. I still have, somewhere, my father's saw set. There is (was) a fence for doing band-saw blades. Which I never had the patience to do. Pop did set a carpenter's rip (hand) saw whenever he resharpened one. But that is primarily a lost art these days.
A hacksaw would be a good example. As the blade wears, it starts to cut off-center. Steering..... The older the blade, the more correction needed. Starret blades have a good "set" off the shelf. and are retired to steel stock as they cut to a curve. The opposite would be dime store (or HF) blades, that often cut sideways from the git-go.
The "peg" on a bandsaw is the equivelent of a prop to allow you to use that Mk.1 eyeball to steer the work.
This, of course, is dependant on who sharpened the blade and the care they took to make the set correct. For a band-saw blade, it is very costly as each tooth must be "set" individually. Where you won't find it is on a store bought blade. Those, at best, are machine cut. Adjusting the "set" is a manual adjustment only. Thence the necessity of "steering" a cut, usually manually for a bandsaw.
In reality, proper "setting" will only be seen on commercial blades, such as at sawmills, where it really matters. Or on a "resaw" machine. I recall a metal cutting bandsaw at the mill where I worked that was used to cut a slice off of a 10" square billet. The blade had no "set" when it was new. And got changed when it developed one. The blade was some three inches wide.
I bought my wife a bandsaw for woodworking that I occasionally use to pre-shape metal, with the appropriate blade of course. The fence that came with it was set aside and is now probably lost or modified into something else. I still have, somewhere, my father's saw set. There is (was) a fence for doing band-saw blades. Which I never had the patience to do. Pop did set a carpenter's rip (hand) saw whenever he resharpened one. But that is primarily a lost art these days.
A hacksaw would be a good example. As the blade wears, it starts to cut off-center. Steering..... The older the blade, the more correction needed. Starret blades have a good "set" off the shelf. and are retired to steel stock as they cut to a curve. The opposite would be dime store (or HF) blades, that often cut sideways from the git-go.
The "peg" on a bandsaw is the equivelent of a prop to allow you to use that Mk.1 eyeball to steer the work.
