# Which Handsaw?



## joiner_sim (25 Jul 2010)

Hello everyone,

I had a very sharp IRWIN handsaw, that had been fine cutting thru timber. However, recently it has been used to cut thru MDF and chipboard, now its likley to bruise me rather than cut me!

My question is can anyone recommend a saw or type of saw that might be more suitable for cutting MDF and chipboard?

Also any recommendations on handsaws for cutting timber and achieveing a nice finish?


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## Max Power (25 Jul 2010)

Mdf and chipboard will be abrasive on any saw due to the high glue content and doubt if you'll achieve a finished surface with any handsaw


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## speed (25 Jul 2010)

id advise in having 2 saws one for timber and one for chipboard,

when your timber saw is blunt downgrade it to a chipboard saw and get a new timber saw.

chipboard is made of recycled material and will have bits of metal in from and nails in the timber when it gets mashed up


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## halken (25 Jul 2010)

Ive been in b and q today and they have 3 types of spear and jackson hardpoint saws on special offer £9.98 buy one get one free they are marked for first fix and second fix well worth the money


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## boldford (25 Jul 2010)

The Axminster "own brand" hardpoints are pretty good value.


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## BradNaylor (26 Jul 2010)

Modern hardpoint saws are excellent but at only around a fiver a time they should be considered 'disposable'.

When you take into account the time spent on resharpening an old-style saw it is actually far cheaper to use hardponts and chuck them in the recycling when they go blunt.

Just like hacksaw blades...


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## Racers (26 Jul 2010)

Hi,

Recycle hard point saws into cabinet scrapers, I did this with a pound shop special.


Pete


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## 9fingers (26 Jul 2010)

Racers":o5ylid9q said:


> Hi,
> 
> Recycle hard point saws into cabinet scrapers, I did this with a pound shop special.
> 
> ...



That is a cracking good idea Pete! 

I might well pinch that one.

Bob


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## Racers (26 Jul 2010)

Hi,

You can make all sorts of shapes for scratch stocks etc, I sorted a moulding plane with one the other day, it scraped the box wood a treat.

Pete


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## Vormulac (26 Jul 2010)

I had to rip two sheets of 3/4" chipboard last night and I had two new saws I had dug out as I cleared my workshop the other weekend, so to test them I used one on each sheet. First up was a Spear and Jackson Predator, and next was the Stanley JetCut, both what I would consider disposable saws. They were both 7tpi and very similar in use, if anything I would say for some reason I came down on the side of the Predator, couldn't tell you why exactly. Oddly, the main difference I could actually see was that with the Predator I could see my cut line, but with the JetCut it would only take a couple of strokes before the line was completely obscured by sawdust. I believe they both claim to cut on the push and pull stroke.

Not that that's of any use at all to anyone, just thought I'd mention it. I only used them because on timber I use my Japanese saws and there was no way in Hell I was letting them anywhere near the evil blade-death that is chipboard!


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## joiner_sim (26 Jul 2010)

Thanks for the info everyone. I think I will keep an older saw for the man made boards and a nice shiny sharp one solely for timber!


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## matthewwh (26 Jul 2010)

Japanese handsaws work well on MDF, this is broadly equivalent to a panel saw. The teeth are individually impulse hardened for a fraction of a second, which case hardens the outer surface of the very tip to something in the high Rockwell 60's (mentally hard). Because only the outer surface is hardened and the rest of the tooth stays tough you get high strength and very high durability - even in very abrasive materials.


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## Karl (27 Jul 2010)

I bought a Disston rip saw off e-bay a few years ago, having got fed up with buying hardpoint saws at £6/7 a pop. 

It is surprisingly easy to sharpen, which only takes about 10 minutes. It is too coarse (3tpi) for crosscutting (although very useful on MDF/Chipboard), so I intend on buying a crosscut 7/8tpi for that. 

I think once you get the hang of sharpening it takes little time. And will mount to significant savings over the course of a year.

Cheers

Karl


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