Flush cut saws.

[chaoticbob]

I'm thinking of getting a flush cut saw for cutting down plugs used either to hide screw holes or to repair old wood. I've been doing this by whacking off most of the protruding plug with a chisel (splitting it along the grain really) then paring down. That works, but maybe a saw would be quicker. I'm looking at the Veritas offerings from Axi . They offer two flavours - 22tpi double edged with teeth set one way or 26tpi single edge with no set. Can anyone tell me which would be better for my use and why? Or even better, why I don't need to spend money on yet another tool!
Robin.

 

[Orraloon]

Way I see it is you will still need to smooth it over with a block plane in any case so why spend more. I lay a bit of card or plastic by the dowel so the saw does not scratch the wood. However it is nice to have a new tool so if you feel you need some retail therapy its your money. I would pick the teeth set on one side if I ever get one.
Regards
John

 

[Jonathan S]

I generally use your method of whacking it off with a chisel, its a lot quicker than a saw.....I always do the whacking off part when the glue is wet, this way if you get one with dodgy grain you can extract the plug super easily.....I generally clean the plug up with a chisel or a block plane when glue is dry.

Jonathan

Sent from my SM-J530F using Tapatalk

 

[woodbloke66]

Doesn't really matter which tpi saw you get, they both work in the same way. I bought one from WH yonks ago and still use it when I need to cut flush stuff but I use a bit of card from an old cereal box to stop the teeth from damaging the surrounding surface...in theory, they shouldn't but they usually do. A scrap of veneer also works instead of card - Rob

 

[Eric The Viking]

I have a nice British made Crown Tools one. It wasn't expensive (<10 quid, IIRC). It has set on only one side, and it is flexible and resharpenable, if you are careful. It doesn't scuff like Japanese saws can (they have a tiny set on both sides). I had to mark the handle to indicate which side was flat, but I really like it for that task.

 

[Jacob]

I just use a DT saw and block plane to finish. I've got one (Crown, same as Eric's) but hardly helps at all. Not much use, except you can poke the thin blade down narrow gaps e.g. cut through tenons if you are trying to get something apart

 

[Eric The Viking]

Mine was pretty blunt when I got it, but a touch-up with a diamond needle file sorted it. Might that be the issue with yours, Jacob?

 

[chaoticbob]

Thanks for replies. No special need for retail therapy -just wondering (from the perspective of a rank amateur) if these things actually make life easier or if they are among those things aimed at the amateur which are more at home in the pages of catalogues than the workshop.
Consensus seems to be that as it's necessary to to finish with a plane or whatever, not much point. I'll just get have to get quicker and train my eye better!
Thanks again, Robin.

 

[thetyreman]

I've got the double sided veritas one, they are handy when you need them, it's a good quality saw.

 

[lurker]

Aldi or lidl often have a pull saw on offer.
It comes with two blades, I ran one blade over a stone to take off the edge on one side and keep this for the occasional need to flush cut. But using a bit of card would be just as good.

Generally I can't get on with pull saws, but one of these cheapos is useful to have around.

 

[Eric The Viking]

Aldi or lidl often have a pull saw on offer.
It comes with two blades, I ran one blade over a stone to take off the edge on one side and keep this for the occasional need to flush cut. But using a bit of card would be just as good.

Generally I can't get on with pull saws, but one of these cheapos is useful to have around.

Regarding the small Lidl pull-saws, I have one and it's great, and one big advantage is that they are sharpened/ground nicely for cross-cutting.

The Crown Tools one I have was apparently sharpened for rip-cutting, which is a bit silly for trimming dowels (supposedly what it's intended for). To be honest, I'm not sure it was factory-sharpened at all, as much as stamped out, but I can't be sure. I guess it is possible to put fleam into it, but awkward, as the teeth are tiny.

E.

 

[GLFaria]

HI
I used to cut the dowel some mm above the surface with a Junior hacksaw, followed by carefully trimming with a chisel until close to the surface, then finishing with a plane. All the while being careful not to scuff the surface of the wood, which is rather easy to do.
Too much troublesome and time-consuming.
So I have been using for some years a PAX 6" flush cutting saw from Thomas Flinn. No set on the teeth, 20 TPI, pull stroke. It has worked well for the kind of small things I do - dowels no wider than 10 mm - altough at times a bit of wax on the blade comes in handy for the lack of set.
Main fault I find with it - the blade seems to be a little soft, and sharpening at 22 TPI is not that funny. But maybe that's just me...

Cheers
G.

 

[ED65]

Aldi or lidl often have a pull saw on offer.
It comes with two blades...

I wanted to suggest these, but I'm not sure if they're still offering them. They didn't show up this year AFAIK.

chaoticbob, if you can get them still trimming dowels is one of the things I use mine for and even without set removed on one side they can work well for that. But sharpened as they are, for a plug or patch I'm more likely to lop off excess with the chisel bevel down, and then pare/plane down flush.

 

[Ttrees]

In Lidl at the moment on this side of the pond Ed65

 

[woodcarver]

Done some yesterday used multitool.

 

[ED65]

In Lidl at the moment on this side of the pond Ed65

Ta, they actually showed up here the same week! I'd missed them in the preceding week's leaflet and I didn't see them there at the weekend so they must have all been snapped up.

 

[Neil S]

Screwfix sell a 7 1/4" Irwin Pull saw that is very good IMO about £12. It's very similar to the lidl but with just one blade. The larger Irwin pull saw is rubbish though.

HTH