Favorite handsaw

[Bruce]

In the spirit of sharing, I have a tip to pass along. I've never seen this idea anywhere, it just came to me partially by accident and partially by natural curiosity.

Anyway, this is a Japanese dozuki pullsaw blade turned around in a conventional handle so it looks and acts like a normal pushsaw. I got the blades from Woodcraft http://www.woodcraft.com/family.aspx?FamilyID=850. They have 250mm and 300mm replacement blades. The 250mm has a finer cut and a significantly more flexable blade - be careful to let the saw do the cutting and not force the blade. The 300mm blade is stiffer and I recommend this one as more general purpose. The teeth are razor sharp and hardened to last a long time. I generally get 3 or 4 years use from a blade before I declare it "dull" - even when these are dull, they're sharper than a normal saw after an expert level sharpening. I made the handle from a scrap of nice walnut. I drilled holes in the blade using an old drill bit in the drill press. Because of the hardness of the blade, ya have to nearly friction burn your way through the blade steel - it will ruin the drill bit for any other use. Deburr with a dremel cut-off disk and trim the original handle clip from the now nonhandle end of the blade. I use the cardboard sleeve as a scabbord mostly to protect my flesh from the teeth. The saw is small enough to fit in most handy toolboxes, but protect the saw teeth from impact from other tools.

Give it a try, ya wont go back to normal saws again. The saw "looks" too short to be of any real value - but don't let that fool ya. It'll crosscut a board faster and easier than a longer normal saw. By the way, it is not especially good for rip cuts (paralell with the grain of the wood).

[OldDog]

I have not used a backsaw since college (a long time ago) but they are great.

A masonry bit usually works better in tempered metal than a standard bit.    Try It!

[Bruce]

yeah, this cuts a narrow kerf like a backsaw but doesn't have the spline to stiffen the blade. Ya have to learn to not bend the saw while pushing - it's a quick learning curve since the teeth are so sharp ya don't have to put a lot of muscle behind the saw to get it to cut. I use it for hardwoods all the time - like cocobolo, mesquite and some ancient figured pecan. A masonry bit may work better - I haven't tried it.

[PEG688]

Why would you turn it around ? I love my Japanese saws and wonder why it would be better to turn the blade around ? Less chipping ? Cleaner cut ?? Odd situation/ cut??

[Amanda_931]

One of my impulse purchases was a Japanese type saw from Lowes.

It is stunningly fast, even in green wood.

I'm not even tempted to turn the blade around.  

[Bruce]

Glen, thanks for fixing the photo so it displays better.

The "turning the blade around" part was just one of those crazy ideas that worked well for me - it may not be the right thing for everyone. Doing a quick little crosscut was not a problem with the original wicker-like Japanese saw handle. Longer cuts were more difficult for me to control as well as I'd like and my grip would get tired. Turning the blade around put me on familiar turf as far as saw control and I was using stronger muscles to power the saw.

Next time ya replace the pullsaw blade, give this a try with the blade you were going to discard. It's a cheap experiment even with a new blade - and at least for me, it's a real winner.

[glenn kangiser]

No problem, Bruce.  

My favorite hand saw is a Stihl electric chain saw.  I'm not a real precision kind of guy all the time. :-/

[desdawg]

Yup, my favorite handsaw has an electric motor. I built my first building here at the home place with no electricity, no genetrator, nothing but hand tools. It was just a little 8' X 12' storage shed but cuting those 4' X8' sheets was no fun with a handsaw. But I got er dun. Back in those days if it cost 10 cents to go around the world I couldn't have got out of sight.

[Dimitri]

My favorite handsaws for wood are the BAHCO (owned by Snap-on used to be owned by Sandvik). They are nice saws. Just takes time to cut unlike a powered saw.  



Dimitri