This old catalog has large crosscut saws (sold by the foot!). They all have a rounded “belly” on the business side and I’m wondering why.

My best guess, without just googling it, is that it widens the last strip of wood thus reducing snap offs.

  • Fondots@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    My guess (and that’s all it is, I’m no expert on this) is that with a rounded blade only a couple teeth are in contact with the wood at any one time so there’s less resistance/friction. it’s a lot easier to pull, say, 3 teeth through a piece of wood at once than 10.

    Crosscut saws tend to be pretty long and are for cutting through pretty sizeable trees/logs, and if the wood is big enough the entire height of your saw is probably going to be inside the cut so that’s a lot of potential for all kind of friction and pinching, so I’d imagine every little bit helps. It’s probably less of an issue with regular hand saws and smaller lumber.

    • jnj@lemmy.ca
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      1 year ago

      Most friction will be from the sides of the blade rubbing against the kerf. I believe it’s just about concentrating force onto those teeth (which are essentially knives on crosscut saws, alongside chip clearing teeth).