I use Japanese-style saws exclusively in my classroom and home shop because I have young makers. I love the quick bite and accuracy of a pull stroke, the low cost and high quality, but mostly, enjoy handing my saw to … Continue reading Home #Makerspace: How to Saw (for Young and Beginning #Woodworkers)
Every tool has a purpose. The Tool Primer Series explores common #makerspace and #woodworking tools. You can check out the entire series here.
When a problem’s too big in my shop, I cut it down to size with a hand saw. Hand saws have several inherent advantages over power saws. They don’t run out of batteries, so makers can use them all day. The light weight means novice and smaller makers can comfortably use the tool reasonably safe. Hand saws can make delicate joinery and also rip through 3” slabs. No circular saw or table saw has that type of range.
Hand saws are not made equal. Each hand saw excels at certain tasks. In this tool primer, we will examine the Western & Japanese-style divide, learn to match the saw to the cut direction and classify saws by type and function.
Some new gear found its way into my home-shop. I’ve recently bought the Marples/Irwin-branded version of this saw by Shark: The manufacturer patterned this saw after Japanese ryoba saws. Some quick thoughts – it has two saw blades. The larger teeth (the 8ish ppi) side seems to excel at ripping, while the 17ppi side excels at cross-cutting. I have no idea whether the saw was designed in this way, but that’s the way she works for me. It’s two handed design allows the saw to cut quite fast and straight. Bench hooks seem to be completely useless though, so to … Continue reading Tool Review: Marples’ Japanese Style Saws
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