Choosing a Handsaw
Char Miller-KingDescription
Even if you have a shop full of power tools, you’ll find plenty of times when it’s more convenient to grab a handsaw than it is to plug in a power tool. A variety of saws are available. Here’s a quick guide that’ll help you choose the best one for your work.
Rip saw
Rip saws, designed for cutting with the grain, have a more aggressive tooth pattern. They usually have 6 TPI (teeth per inch). You could crosscut with a rip saw, but the aggressive teeth will tend to tear the wood.
Crosscut saw
Crosscut saws, used for cutting perpendicular to the grain, have 6-15 TPI. If you try to rip with a crosscut saw, things won’t go well. The fine teeth mean the blade has small gullets (the valleys between the teeth), and those small gullets can’t effectively carry away the larger chips the rip cuts create. You’ll get a lot of binding.
Back saw
Also called a tenon saw, back saws have a spine on the top of the blade. This is because this western-style saw cuts on the push stroke, but has a very thin kerf blade. Without the addition of the spine, or back, the blade would tend to bend on the push stroke. These saws are generally used for fine joinery.
Ryoba saw
This is a Japanese saw and cuts on the pull stroke. It’s a great saw to own because it includes both rip teeth and crosscut teeth on its opposing edges.
Dozuki saw
Dozuki saws are also Japanese saws that cut on the pull stroke. The Dozuki has a small blade that is very flexible. This is handy for many trim applications, like cutting a dowel flush with a surface.
More on hand tools
You might choose to do all your woodworking with hand tools, or augment your power tool collection with select hand tools. Either way, WWGOA has lots of great hand tool info for you.
I love power tools, but there's nothing wrong with having a good set of hand saws in your shop. Today I'm going to talk about the different types of hand saws, starting with our Western saws, our back saws, and our Japanese pull saws. First, the rip saw which ranges between 24 and 26 inches in length, and it has about six teeth per inch. Then we have the cross-cutting saw, which is, of course, used to cut wood across the grain. And that ranges between six and eight teeth per inch.
And they could be as long as 26 inches also, and as short as 24 inches. Moving on to our back saws. Our back saws are distinguishable by their brass still and their spines that help keep your cut straight and in line. They're mainly used for cutting dovetails and cutting tenons. They also come in an offset style which can be used for left-handed or right-handed workers.
The Japanese pull saws, which cut on the pull, hence the name, come in a variety of formats. The Ryoba saw, which is great because it has crosscutting teeth on one side and rip cutting teeth on the other, and then we have the dozuki saw, which is flexible, and is perfect for flush trimming dowels. Whatever saw you decide to use in your shop, just know that each saw has a specific and designed purpose to help you complete a project even without using any power tools.
How do you clean up a handsaw that has been around for years? Even though sharpening the saw is important, the cleanliness of the back equally as important. How do clean it?