_Setting the Handsaw._--Nine teeth to the inch is the most satisfactory handsaw for all kinds of lumber. Setting the teeth of this kind of saw is best done with a hand lever set. The plunger pin should be carefully adjusted to bend the teeth just far enough to give the necessary set. For general work a saw needs more set than is needed for kiln-dried stuff. The teeth should cut a kerf just wide enough to clear the blade. Anything more is a waste of time and muscle. It is better to work from both sides of the saw by first setting one side the whole length of the blade. Then reverse the saw in the clamp and set the alternate teeth in the same manner. There should be a good solid stop between the handles of the set to insure equal pressure against each sawtooth. The pin should be carefully placed against each tooth at exactly the same spot every time and the pressure should be the same for each tooth. The best saw-sets for fine tooth saws are automatic so far as it is possible to make them so, but the skill of the operator determines the quality of the work. The reason for setting a saw before jointing is to leave the flattened ends of the teeth square with the blade after the jointing and filing is completed. _Jointing a Handsaw._--After the saw has been set it must be jointed to square the teeth and to even them to equal length, and to keep the saw straight on the cutting edge. Some woodworkers give their saws a slight camber, or belly, to correspond with the sway-back. The camber facilitates cutting to the bottom in mitre-box work without sawing into the bed piece of the box. It also throws the greatest weight of the thrust upon the middle teeth. A saw with even teeth cuts smoother, runs truer and works faster than a saw filed by guess. It is easy to file a saw when all of the teeth are the same length and all have the same set. Anyone can do a good job of filing if the saw is made right to begin with, but no one can put a saw in good working order with a three-cornered file as his only tool. [Illustration: Figure 95.--Saw Jointer. The wooden block is about two inches square by 12" or 14" in length. The block is made true and scribed carefully to have the ripsaw slot square, straight and true. The file is set into a mortise square with the block.] _Filing the Handsaw._--First comes the three-cornered file. It should be just large enough to do the work. There is no economy in buying larger files thinking that each of the three corners will answer the same purpose as a whole file of smaller size. In the first place the small file is better controlled and will do better work. In the second place the three corners are needed to gum the bottoms of the divisions between the teeth. There is much more wear on the corners than on the sides of a saw-file. Also the corners of a small file are more acute, which means a good deal in the shape of the finished teeth.