Crafting hand saw ideas

[Woodman]

I've got my brother's Buck and this little Zeno. That's it.  The Buck is tolerable but balky. The next time I'm in Tempe I plan to drop the blade off at Woodcraft in Chandler for out-sourced sharpening. It seems like a reasonably priced service. Or buy a blade? Isn't Buck USA no longer Buck? And the Zeno .. Well .. Time for recycling, I fear.

 

Thinking ahead, what do I want? My biggest cut may be a 3" plank of thin to 1" thickness. Or as small as 1/4" square stock. 1/8" thick slats which may be dry and brittle. Then there is angled and slat-style dovetailing which I have not yet attempted.

 

One saw for all, for a beginning intermediate. Prefer domestic manufacture and, like my shoes, recraftable. Thank you.

[lew]

I have really gotten to like my Japanese Dozukis saw. I am seriously considering adding a Ryoba. I seem to get more control from the pulling action than the pushing from a western saw. 

[Woodman]

Looking at a Crown Tools 195 12 Inch 305mm Tenon Saw Brass Back, 13 TPI - Full Handle ... beautiful saw. $112. Wow! There are no $30 saws which look like decent beaters. Or no one wants to admit to getting use out of a cheaper saw  ;-)  I'll chat with a craftsperson downtown, see if he has a cast-off unsuitable to his $40,000 bureaus. [The same fella who got a grant to study lacquering techniques in Japan].

 

My Buck is likely 25+ years old, possibly 30, the brother died in '09, and he bought decent tools. I'm going to bet the steel will hold an edge, and the right person can resharpen it. May be me who finally takes on the job.

 

Also out in AZ are four 1950s hand saws I saved from the rubbish bin. Three Dissons and another. But they are mostly long, the only short one having 4 or 6 tpi. My thinking is that hand saws were a whole lot more common back in the day, as a carpenter could travel to a house build with just a pack and work by the sun, no electricity.

[Woodman]

4 hours ago, lew said:

a Ryoba

Would you use it with the stick handle or fasten the blade to a western style handle?

 

 I remember when these hit the States. Guys were using them to cut rigid insulation way faster than others who used score/snap methods. 
 

I’ve got several Japanese luthier and woodworking tools. Superb items. 

[FlGatorwood]

@lew, I first bought a Japanese saw about 22 years ago from Harbor Freight. It is thin and very flimsy but works wonderfully on small pieces of wood with the pull stroke. I bought a second one with almost the same brand name as yours from Highland woodworking. It is stiffer and more stable. I love the control offered by the pull stroke. Of course since I purchased the HF saw I have learned how to saw straight with a western saw. It is how you stroke it. If you push the handle down along the line at the end of the stroke it will create a groove that the blade will naturally follow.

 

[lew]

36 minutes ago, Dovetail said:

Would you use it with the stick handle or fasten the blade to a western style handle?

 

 I remember when these hit the States. Guys were using them to cut rigid insulation way faster than others who used score/snap methods. 
 

I’ve got several Japanese luthier and woodworking tools. Superb items. 

Stick handle 

[Woodman]

Is this a tenon saw? It's a screen capture from this site. Guess I'm looking for 'one saw that fits them all".

 

The Zona used to be good but now bends the cut to an angle, despite my patience. I *think* I had a woodworking breakthrough, an epiphany, when I realized the Buck blade itself may be dull. That was 3-4 months ago?

[Woodman]

I've always used a table saw for ripping and a hand saw for cross cuts. Is it common to rip by hand? Preferred for the art of the craft, accuracy, and also to eliminate blade grooves and burns?

 

How about this: The order one accumulates saws. Obviously my Buck is a finish carpenter's miter box saw, I'm used to it, but have found its limitations - beyond being dull.

[Gene Howe]

My hand saws are all pull saws. From a Ryoba down to a mini Dozuki. But, like you, most rips are done on the table saw. Cross cuts are done on the compound miter saw. I'd like to have a little 4" mini table saw but, for that type of small work, I turn to the band saw. 

[Woodman]

Pull saws generally give you a straighter line?

 

I had an old 8" Craftsman table saw but a knob eventually broke; never had a miter guide; someone actually stole the unusable carcass.

 

My last was a lucky find, with a better rip fence. It sold for gift money. And I learned about blade width wastage. Pictured here with a 6' plank of heart pine rescued from a dumpster, along with half the plank resawn into two very nice planks and one decent plank.

 

I'd like to get a small precision table saw which will work well with a shop vac.

 

Edited February 2, 2022 by Dovetail
image editing

[FlGatorwood]

Before there were table saws there were only handsaws. The old houses where I live have many hand saw ripped boards and trim boards. I am learning and enjoying ripping and crosscutting with handsaws now that I have learned how to cut straight.  

[Woodman]

Thanks for your help.  My old Zona .  Well, it does work but a moment's inattention ruins work more easily than when it was new.

 

The English Lynx I want is not available right now so I ordered a Tajima JPR-265 Japan Pull Saw Set with 16 TPI Fine Cut Blade. 

[Cal]

Looking forward to your real-world review after you've had it and given it a few tasks

[Woodman]

You bet.  The world of saws is new to me. A saw is not a saw, but can be one of many different types. Just like people.

 

Some time ago I made the effort to understand how to put a burr on my scrapers AFTER completing an education in proper care of honing stones. This time I delved into saws.

 

I'm thinking 14" tenon crosscut saw is what I want. 16 T.P.I. because I'm cutting thin, sometimes dry brittle wood. Pretty much a copy of the Buck I have. Plenty of choices; I may go top shelf, maybe not. Buy once, cry once, since it is a 20+ year investment ...

 

I've ripped with a crosscut saw. Is a rip saw faster with the grain? Less wastage? Smoother finish?

 

GreatNeck 14 Inch 16 TPI Mitre Saw  $25

Spear & Jackson 9550B Traditional Brass Back Tenon Saw, 12" 15 TPI  $35

Lynx Thomas Flinn 12 Inch Crosscutting Tenon Saw TM8 Beech Handle eBay open box $85

Lynx / Thomas Flinn 14 Inch Tenon Saw, crosscut, 15 TPI  $105  (unclear what they'd ship)

Lynx - Crosscut Tenon Saw 12" x 3" Depth x 15 TPI .048"  $135

 

[FlGatorwood]

The fewer teeth of a saw is more aggressive and if sharp will move through the cut quicker.  Of course, you end up with rough sawn lumber.  The saws that leave a cleaner edge or cut is a finer tooth.  Ripping saws normally have larger teeth and more space between teeth.  To a point, of course.  

[Grandpadave52]

On 2/16/2022 at 1:07 AM, FlGatorwood said:

Ripping saws normally have larger teeth and more space between teeth.  To a point, of course. 

Usually have more set in the teeth too.

[Woodman]

On 2/2/2022 at 12:09 PM, FlGatorwood said:

I am learning and enjoying ripping

You're never too old to learn, right? Today I did my first dedicated handsaw ripping, these three slats to make a surround. After the first I learnt that I can plane the source plank before making the next rip. Very satisfying.  Now a quick wipe with spirit varnish and done.

 

The old saw handle in the foreground, I'd like to get a decent blade for it.

 

 

[aaronc]

My current projects are moving along and I'm getting closer to my first dovetail...going to start incorporating dovetails in several things I do. Unless you gentlemen talk me out of it I was thinking of getting this cheap Irwin to try out. I'll be working mostly with curly maple.

 

IRWIN Dovetail Saw, 10-Inch (2014450) - Undercut Saw For Door Jam - Amazon.com

 

 

Edited February 19, 2022 by aaronc

[aaronc]

Here's another cheapy...

 

 

IRWIN Marples 7.25-in Dovetail Cut Pull Saw in the Hand Saws department at Lowes.com

[Woodman]

On 2/12/2022 at 5:53 AM, Dovetail said:

Tajima

I’ve returned the Taj and ordered an 8” Lynx Gent from Woodcraft.  Will try mortised brackets integral to a pine shelf. The last of my heart pine.  Still no new handsaw but $35 should buy something better than any of my three handsaws. I’m still between a $35 decision and a ‘more’ decision. 
 

The small Irwin, I saw that and agree, it would definitely be better than my Zona.