Handsaw Advice

MooreToolsPlease · 28 Oct 2006

Evening all,
Recently I been looking more and more into handsaws,
I'm more inclined to get 2nd hand, as these seem to readily availible on the bay and such places.
Can anyone here give me some ideas about what teeth patterns, lengths and backs are useful?
I use domestic hardwoods, aswell as soft woods, so the saws I purchase will need to be suitable for both.
Are the same saws good for soft and hardwood?
I'm looking for rip and cross cut saws, as well as panel saws.
Thanks

Matt

Colin C · 29 Oct 2006

Hi MooreToolsPlease,

I have an old Spear and Jackson ( well almost old ) that just need sharpening
( which I will do ) if you are interested

Ps I can post a pic if you want.

MikeW · 29 Oct 2006

Hi Matt,

Sorta depends on what it is you want to do with the saws. Or, to put it a different way, how much processing of wood you want to do.

Most times I break down large planks with a 4 1/2 ppi cross cut. A 5 or 6 ppi cross cut is good for rough cross cutting to length. A 7 or 8 ppi cross cut is a good all 'round saw. Finer pitch for finer work and in general, shorter saw lengths to go along with that. So a 10 or 12 ppi on a panel saw is about as fine as one should go. By that time, chances are you are cutting smaller and smaller pieces.

If a cross cut saw works well on harder woods, it will work fine on softer woods.

Ripping is simply hard work. Fine if you want to. I'm crazy enough--but usually only once the planks have been processed to a certain point and I am ripping smaller stock. I also don't often rip very hard woods.

Secondary woods I use such as Poplar and Pine I often rip. Softer hardwoods such as Cherry I rip at times. In general, if there is only an inch or so, I will just use a scrub or a rank set jack to waste the wood and then plane it.

My main rip saws are a 3 1/2 ppi Sorby, a 4 1/2 ppi S&J and a 6 ppi Bishop. If I was ripping harder woods, I would probably make a frame saw at 8 ppi.

Take care, Mike

JesseM · 29 Oct 2006

MikeW":kovz1r43 said:
Hi Matt,
If I was ripping harder woods, I would probably make a frame saw at 8 ppi.
Take care, Mike

I'm just curious, but why? Its one of these right? It seems like it would limit you in the horizontal direction. I have been interested in ripping myself but haven't had a lot of luck keeping it straight. So I end up doing a lot of clean up planing. I have also tried a bow saw by turning the blade to the side, but it seems like I constantly fight for balance.

MikeW · 29 Oct 2006

Hi Jesse,

Yes, like the one Joshua has at your link.

I'm actually making a bunch of blades. There will be a tutorial for making the frame and I believe the hardware will be available by a blacksmith on another site.

Yes, there are limitations based on frame size. The one Joshua shows would have a practical limitation of ripping a 12" to 13" wide board in half. Less wide as one gets off-center, say 1" off an 8" board [which I would do with a plane anyway]. So like other regular handsaws, one should have a few sizes to take care of a wide range of lumber width one would normally use.

There are several advantages using a frame saw. One is that in general you sit on the stock being sawn, the stock being supported by a saw bench or two. Another is you are using both arms and is less fatiguing [mostly]. Yet another is it is easy to keep on line. And not the least is that the saw plate is much, much thinner than on a non-framed saw. So they advance the cut faster than a traditional saw. You can advance 1" to 2" per stroke if the blade is tuned properly--in White Oak. The best I can do in a 1" thick Oak board is about 1/2" to 3/4" per stroke with a handsaw.

You'll probably never get away from clean-up. So the question is how much. I'm also a believer of processing wood as quickly and surely as possible. I'd rather spend more time on some of the other parts of making stuff.

Take care, Mike

JesseM · 29 Oct 2006

MikeW":35wu2sxw said:
Hi Jesse,
I'm actually making a bunch of blades. There will be a tutorial for making the frame and I believe the hardware will be available by a blacksmith on another site.

Thanks Mike, I would be interested. I wanted to build one of these for resawing, but didn't realize it could be used for ripping. The blade on my bowsaw is like this, and it rips very fast. I was considering using one of the blades for the frame saw, but hadn't decided yet. Is that blade too long? The blade is around 29".