kinds of saw include the following:

—band saw an endless beltlike strip of steel, toothed along one or both edges and running unidirectionally between two pulleys, used to saw logs —note more than one band saw may be mounted to provide, e.g., a twin-band or a triple-band saw

—bow saw a hand frame saw in which the narrow, striplike blade is fitted in a stiff bow-shaped frame and commonly used for felling small trees and crosscutting small logs

—breaking-down saw a saw used in the initial operation of converting a log by sawing the log longitudinally into cants —synonym breakdown saw, headsaw, headrig

—chain saw a saw that is powered by a gasoline, hydraulic, or electric motor, with cutting elements on an endless chain

—Chip-n-Saw™ a machine that makes small logs into cants, converting part of the outside of the log directly into chips without producing any sawdust —note cants are then sawn into lumber as part of the same operation

—circular saw a circular steel plate (disk) having cutting teeth on the circumference and rotating on a saw arbor —note if the plate retains its full thickness throughout, the saw is termed a plate saw as distinct from a concave, ground-off, hollow-ground, single-conical, or double-conical saw —see pitch

—crosscut saw any saw with teeth specifically designed (or set) for cutting across the grain

—double-conical saw a swage-set circular saw whose plate tapers on both sides from near the center (collar) to the rim —synonym taper-ground saw, double swage-set saw

—edger saw a machine used to square-edge waney lumber

—gang saw a machine in which two or more circular saws are mounted together on the same arbor —synonym frame saw

—head the principal saw (either circular or band) in a sawmill, used for the initial breakdown of logs by sawing along their length —note logs are first cut into cants on the headrig before being sent on to other saws for further processing —synonym headsaw, breaking-down saw

—peg-raker saw any saw having cutting teeth in pairs, each pair separated by a raker tooth —synonym clearer tooth

—peg-tooth saw a circular saw having triangular teeth, i.e., peg teeth, generally used for crosscutting as distinct from ripping

—planer saw a hollow-ground circular saw having teeth of special design, commonly sets of four peg teeth and one raker, to produce a particularly smooth cut

—radial-arm saw a machine fitted with a small-diameter circular saw attached to a motor that is suspended through adjustable mountings from an overhead arm, so that the saw can cut in any desired plane —note a radial-arm saw can be used for crosscutting, ripping, bevel and angle cutting, molding, etc.

—resaw a machine fitted with either band or circular saws to convert cants and other large lumber into smaller sizes

—rip saw any saw with teeth specially designed for cutting along the grain (ripping) —synonym ripper

—single-conical saw a swage-set circular saw whose plate is wholly flat on one side but tapers from the central portion (collar) to the rim on the other sideThis definition last updated 10/29/2008