{"id":19354,"date":"2024-11-02T11:38:04","date_gmt":"2024-11-02T11:38:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/woodcraftextreme.com\/?p=19354"},"modified":"2024-11-03T02:40:31","modified_gmt":"2024-11-03T02:40:31","slug":"hand-saw-for-wood","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/woodcraftextreme.com\/hand-saw-for-wood\/","title":{"rendered":"Hand Saw For Wood – Japanese vs Western Saws"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Hand Saw For Wood are special saw used for cutting woods,<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been over 20 years since the Western handsaw, a tool that cuts on the push stroke and was the pride of the English-speaking world, was surpassed as the tool most woodworkers reached for when they need a handsaw.<\/p>\n

It has been replaced by the Japanese saw, which cuts on the pull stroke and once was mocked by Westerners as \u201cbackwards.\u201d<\/p>\n

What caused this shift to Japanese saws? While some say it\u2019s because sawing on the pull stroke is superior to sawing on the push stroke, the issue actually is more complex.<\/p>\n

And which saw is best? The prevailing wisdom says Japanese saws are superior and easier for beginners to learn. But if you\u2019ve ever worked with a sharp, well-tuned Western saw, you know this can\u2019t be entirely true.<\/p>\n

To answer these questions, we decided to scrutinize the two types of saws to learn their true differences, beyond the information in catalogs. Armed with this knowledge, you can choose a saw that\u2019s right for your woodworking and your budget. Our journey begins in ancient Egypt.<\/p>\n

The difference is more than just pushing or pulling.<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n

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Egyptian handsaw<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Editor\u2019s note: This article was originally published in the October 2003 issue of Popular Woodworking Magazine, and has been lightly updated by the editorial staff for online publication. Some of the resources mentioned in the article are no longer available or current.<\/em><\/p>\n

The First Handsaws<\/h3>\n

Modern woodworkers would almost immediately recognize the first known metal saws, which were excavated in Egypt.<\/p>\n

They had a long, knife-like blade, a straight grip and cut on the pull stroke, like a Japanese saw. Why the pull stroke?<\/p>\n

Early Egyptian saws were made with a thin sheet of copper (as thin as 0.03\u2033) and had no rigid spine like the modern backsaw.<\/p>\n

\u201c(If they had been used) on the push stroke, the saw would have buckled and bent,\u201d according to Geoffrey Killen, author of numerous books and articles on Egyptian woodworking and the head of faculty at the Design and Technology Department of the Stratton Upper School and Community College in England.<\/p>\n

What is unusual about these saws is that all the teeth were set (meaning they were bent) to one side of the blade. This makes the saw difficult to steer, and the Egyptians had to come up with ingenious ways of wedging the saw kerf open during each cut, according to Killen.<\/p>\n

The advent of bronze tools brought some refinements, as did the iron saws developed by the Romans. But the basic form was still a pull saw with a thin blade.<\/p>\n

It was the invention of the frame saw (plus teeth set to both sides of the blade) that allowed these thin metal blades to be used on either the push stroke or the pull stroke \u2013 much like a modern coping saw or bowsaw, according to \u201cThe History of Woodworking Tools\u201d (G. Bell & Sons) by W.L. Goodman.<\/p>\n

The frame saw might not have been invented by the Romans, but they certainly refined it and produced a wide variety of them.<\/p>\n

This is an important fork in the road in saw history that affects us to this day. The Japanese developed pull saws like the Egyptians, but they never seem to have developed frame saws, according to several students of Japanese history (though a Chinese frame saw did come into use in 15th century Japan).<\/p>\n

So the Japanese, with their scarce metal resources and their traditions of working low to the ground, stuck with the pull saw and refined it to a high art.<\/p>\n

In the West, most of the European continent stuck with the bowsaw. But the Dutch and English took a different path. In the mid-17th century, wider steel blades became possible thanks to water-driven mills, and the modern handsaw that cuts on the push stroke was born.<\/p>\n

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The Western handsaw, shown here being used by Don McConnell with an overhand rip grip, cuts on the push stroke.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The West Stumbles<\/h3>\n

The 19th and early 20th centuries were the golden age of Western handsaws. There were hundreds of saw manufacturers, fierce competition, high-quality tools and a very hungry market.<\/p>\n

But as the demand for quality hand tools declined, so did the number of manufacturers. And quality slipped dramatically.<\/p>\n

\u201cWestern manufacturers thought it was OK to ship a saw that was poorly set, dull and had a handle that looked like it was made by a third-grade art student,\u201d says Thomas Lie-Nielsen, owner of Lie-Nielsen Toolworks. \u201cYou couldn\u2019t use the saws right out of the box. It\u2019s no wonder the Japanese ate their lunch.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Western saws suitable for cabinetmaking disappeared off the shelves, the Japanese saws picked up the slack.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn Japan, the product lines have not been cheapened,\u201d says Rob Lee of Lee Valley Tools. \u201cEven products that have been mass produced have not been cheapened.\u201d<\/p>\n

So while it was tough to find a decent new Western saw at almost any price, the Japanese exported saws to the West that were sharp, straight, perfectly set and inexpensive. A good Japanese backsaw still costs only about $40. So it\u2019s little wonder that the Japanese saw now is in many North American workshops. It was, in many ways, a simple matter of economics.<\/p>\n

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Instead of benches, Japanese craftsmen often use low trestles. Sawing a tenon with a Japanese saw this way is efficient and requires sawing at a less awkward angle than at a high Western bench. However, you need to be in good shape to work this way.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Facts About Japanese Saws<\/h3>\n

Japanese craftsmen would be quite curious about the way Westerners use their saws. For one, we work on a high bench and clamp our work when sawing. The Japanese furniture maker works on a low sawhorse (6\u2033 high or so) and does not generally have a vise.<\/p>\n

\u201c(Westerners) tend to clamp everything,\u201d says Harrelson Stanley of JapaneseTools.com. \u201cThe Japanese don\u2019t clamp unless they have to. They do some wedging. Mostly they saw in toward a solid object,\u201d such as the work, which is secured by their foot, he says.<\/p>\n

A second difference is that many Westerners use the crosscut dozuki saw (a saw with a rigid spine) for cutting dovetails, which is primarily a ripping operation.<\/p>\n

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For crosscutting in joinery,the Japanese will use a dozuki (which means \u201cshoulder of a tenon\u201d).There are various ways to grip the saw.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The Japanese woodworker instead uses a rip-tooth dozuki (which is uncommon in the West) or a rip saw without a back, says Damsen of Japan Woodworker. That\u2019s because the Japanese philosophy on dovetails and tenons is, at times, different than the Western approach.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen they cut dovetails they don\u2019t want the cut too smooth,\u201d he says. \u201cThey compress the joint before assembly and let it expand and lock the joint.\u201d<\/p>\n

Westerners want a smoother cut and are willing to sacrifice the speed of a rip tooth. Many Japanese dovetail saws for the Western market have some sort of combination tooth, in some cases a tooth that was designed to cut plywood that also works quite well for dovetails, Damsen says.<\/p>\n

Types of Japanese Saws<\/h3>\n

But one thing Japanese and Western craftsmen share is having to choose what type of Japanese saw to buy: a machine-made saw or a craftsman-made saw. There are important differences:<\/p>\n