HAND SAW TOOTH SHAPE Hand saw blades are usually sharpened to two different tooth configurations, “Rip” and “Cross Cut”. You can change any saw’s tooth shape with saw sharpening tools. There is also a hybrid hand saw tooth configuration that is in between a Rip and Cross-cut shape, called a “Sash” tooth configuration, which is useful if you can only afford one hand saw…but it’s not as proficient at either ripping or cross-cutting). Here are some tooth shape diagrams:

RIP SAW TEETH

CROSS-CUT SAW TEETH

Hand saws with “Rip” teeth will cut along the length of the board’s grain (“ripping”). The tooth is shaped like a woodworking chisel, and pushes through the wood like a chisel.

Hand saws with “Cross Cut” teeth cut across the grain (“cross cutting”). The tooth is shaped like a knife blade. It cleanly severs the wood grain, just as if you used a knife. HAND SAW TOOTH COUNT

The number of saw teeth per inch (or points per inch) is another important factor in selecting a hand saw for a particular purpose. Large hand saw teeth will cut quickly through the wood, but will leave a rough surface. Small hand saw teeth will cut finely and accurately, but are not practical for cutting long lengths or widths. When dealing with normal hand saws or frame saws, “Rip” teeth are typically larger than “Cross Cut” teeth. In back saws, rip and cross-cut teeth can vary in size. The number of teeth per inch are usually expressed as “points per inch” (ppi) or “teeth per inch” (tpi) and the number is usually stamped into the saw plate. However, you can change the tooth count during your sharpening. Here are examples of large (rough) and small (fine) hand saw teeth: