Hello,
A while ago I bought a Pax dovetail saw but I have not yet used it.In the meantime I read the following somewhere on the internet;
‘you will want to do some minor “tuning” out of the box. The teeth set is very aggressive – run your finger along the edge and you will feel the large burr. I laid the saw edge on a flat surface and took a couple of swipes with a sanding block (220g) – did both edges and then tried a couple of cuts. There was a big difference in the way the saw cut and sounded – much better! If you do this, be sure and take a couple of cuts before you sand the burr so you see the difference.’
Is this a good advice or do I ignore it?
Tony
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Replies
I think the paragraph you quote is mixing up two separate issues. You can't change the set of a saw with a couple swipes of 220 grit sandpaper. I believe the guy's saw had a large burr left over from sharpening. I don't believe, on the evidence given, that it had a very aggressive set.
IMO opinion, using sandpaper judiciously to knock the burr off the sides of the teeth is a reasonable procedure.
Mario Rodriguez did an article in FWW on tuning dovetail saws, in which he said that since they are making very shallow cuts in dry wood they don't need very much set at all, maybe none in non-resinous woods. I believe the saw in the Lee Valley magnetic dovetail thingy has zero set.
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