Thus it drops farther and farther into the cut.

A crosscut-saw may be thought of as a series of knife points, arranged in two parallel rows.

Ordinarily the angle of the "face" of each tooth with the line of the teeth is about 65 deg., and slightly steeper than the back of the tooth.

The angle of the cutting edge of each tooth may be filed more acute when the saw is to be used for soft wood only.
A crosscut-saw when used to rip a board, works slowly, for there is no chisel action to cut out the fibres between the points, but the cut, tho slow, is smooth.

In cutting diagonally across a piece of wood, especially soft wood, a rip-saw cuts faster, but a crosscut, smoother.
In ripping a board, allowance should always be made for planing to the line afterward.