Crosscut saw

A crosscut saw (thwart saw) is any saw designed for cutting wood perpendicular to (across) the wood grain. Crosscut saws may be small or large, with small teeth close together for fine work like woodworking or large for coarse work like log bucking, and can be a hand tool or power tool. The cutting edge of each tooth is angled in an alternating pattern. This design allows each tooth to act like a knife edge and slice through the wood in contrast to a rip saw, which tears along the grain, acting like a miniature chisel. Some crosscut saws use special teeth, called rakers, designed to clean out the cut strips of wood from the kerf. Crosscut saws generally have smaller teeth than rip saws. Some saws, such as Japanese saws and those used by the ancient Egyptians, are designed to cut only on the pull stroke. Western saws, on the other hand, are designed to cut on the push stroke. Cross cut saws designed for log bucking and tree felling are designed to cut on the pull stroke. Many crosscut saws have a wooden handle with the return edge at right angles to the un-toothed edge of the saw blade, allowing the saw to serve as a square for marking material to be cut at a right angle.