# Weird saw tooth pattern



## Kreegan (Jul 10, 2012)

I acquired this ~20" EC Atkins hand saw recently on eBay. I was looking over it after it came in the mail and noticed that it has a weird saw tooth pattern. Instead of the teeth all being uniform in length, it appears as though the teeth on this saw are in pairs, with a smaller tooth in front of a larger tooth. Has anyone seen this before and know why the teeth were shaped this way? Thanks!

Rich


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## patron (Apr 2, 2009)

it could be from hand sharpening

but with the stager on each tooth
one side would cut deeper
than the other


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## Dennisgrosen (Nov 14, 2009)

looks like patron said its an uneven sharpening of the saw 
if you look at no.3 of the high tooth from right you have three low teeth from that one 
to the left side before another high comes

and if you looks closer at the bottom of the filings you will see they don´t reach the same debth either

Dennis


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## IsaacH (Aug 29, 2012)

Try the forum at backsaw.net….looks like a saw makers forum. Maybe they could help. Definitly curious myself….make sure to post what you find out.


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## Bluepine38 (Dec 14, 2009)

Definitely weird looking, hope you find out what caused it.


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## BillWhite (Jul 23, 2007)

Send the pic to Matt Cianci-The Sawwright in Rhode Island. He'll help ya with a fix or sharpening.
Bill


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## rance (Sep 30, 2009)

The pattern is consistent. It was meant to be like that, I just can't tell you why. I've seen it before.


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## knockknock (Jun 13, 2012)

Here's my guess. The smaller teeth are rake teeth with a larger gullet in front of them, to carry the saw dust out of the cut, so the big teeth can keep on cutting.


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## Kreegan (Jul 10, 2012)

Yeah I don't think it's a result of hand sharpening. It looks very deliberate to me. The rake tooth idea sounds very plausible to me. I will try backsaw.net and see what they think. Thanks!

Rich


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## gdpifer (Jan 23, 2011)

I'd have to agree with those that said it was misfiled. The teeth must be the same height and when set properly and it is held level and plumb you should be able to lay a washer or other item on the teeth without it falling off. When I had my sharpening shop I kept a washer hanging on the wall next to my filer and checked every saw that I sharpened. If you find a few teeth that are off near the handle it is where one starts filing and may have had to make an adjustment before filing the real cutting area. To correct your saw one would need to retooth it, cut new teeth, sharpen and reset it.

Garry


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## Kreegan (Jul 10, 2012)

I emailed Matt Cianci, who told me this was indeed a result of poor sharpening. Apparently this is the "cows and calves" anti-pattern, which he address in this blog post:

http://thesawblog.com/?p=973

Rich


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## BillWhite (Jul 23, 2007)

HAH! Told ya he could help.
He's a pretty cool guy, and has built quite a business.
Bill


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## Surfside (Jun 13, 2012)

Wow! Rich, you're the man!


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