Saw blade and method and method and apparatus for forming grouped saw blade teeth

A method for producing a group-toothed saw blade or saw blade portion using a tool comprising a punch and a die, for punching-out saw teeth having spaced tooth tips alternating with spaced tooth notches, the punch being constructed symmetrically with at least two generally V-shaped points spaced by a distance equal to twice the spacing of notches in group-toothed saw teeth, wherein a saw-blade blank is fed through the tool and punched to form at least two tooth notches with each punching stroke of the tool, comprising the steps of:

• (a) obliquely tilting the blank or the tool relative to each other from a starting position in a first direction through a first small angle (.alpha.) relative to an imaginary line (D) through the tool or the blank to a first punching position and, in the first punching position, forming one group of tooth notches in a group-toothed part of the blank, the imaginary line (D) being parallel to a relative tool/blank position that would result in forming the at least two tooth notches to be of equal depth;
• (b) advancing the blank through a distance corresponding to the one half of a distance between the generally V-shaped tips on the punch;
• (c) obliquely tilting the blank or the tool relative to each other from the first punching position in a direction opposite to said first direction to a second punching position, the relative tilting in the second punching position making a second small angle (.beta.) with the imaginary line (D), the angle (.beta.) being of an absolute value at least equal to the first angle (.alpha.), and, in the second punching position, forming another group of tooth notches, staggered relative to the first group of notches, in the group-toothed part of the blank;
• and
• (d) repeating steps (a), (b) and (c) until the desired number of groups of saw teeth have been formed.