Handsaw ripping competition idea

[tibi]

Hello,

There are those competitions in Japan, where contestants try to get the thinnest shaving possible. You need to have a good plane, good sharpening technique and skills to get good results in such competition. Today I was ripping a 32 mm thick oak board by hand and I figured out I can do 1 meter in 8-10 minutes with a 22inch 8tpi saw. I have no idea if the result is good or bad, i.e. if I had a sharper saw and a different angle of sawing, I could get a better result. I am going to sharpen my 28inch 4tpi saw and see what I can get. I know that ripping wood is more of a marathon than a sprint, but nevertheless, I would like to ask if someone is willing to:

- rip any common hardwood for 1 minute with a saw he considers sharp and fit for a job and measure how many cm ( or inches) did he manage to cut for a duration of 1 minute. Then you can provide your results
You can give us statistics: wood thickness, wood species, saw manufacturer, saw length, TPI, and measured the distance from the start of the cut to the end. Maybe we can find a way how to get some common value that will standardize the result based on some ratios, hardness charts, etc.

You can also precut 1 or 2 cm before the start of the timer, so you will not be slowed down with starting the cut.

This is just an idea for getting information on what a good ripsaw can do.

Thanks.

 

[clogs]

just so u know Tibi my Stanley - Bacho hand saws go rusty before they wear out....hahaha
I still have one of my dad's throw away hand saws )Teflon coated) n he's been gone for 40 years....
it's used to cut cement bags in 1/2 for the mixer....shame on me....

 

[tibi]

Well, with my freshly sharpened Tyzack 28 inch, 4TPI rip saw, I could get 28 cm/minute in 32 mm thick oak, which translates to 3 min and 34 seconds for 1 metre, If I had the stamina to maintain constant speed. This is up to 3 times as fast as with 8TPI saw that I used in my original test.

 

[thetyreman]

8 minutes is very fast for one metre of quite thick oak, I think it's safe to say you are very efficient speed wise, it's a good workout too!

 

[TRITON]

Coming out of B&Q i'd some 2.4m pine needed halved to fit in the nephews car. I cut some of it but me being old, and him being 21 allowed the young chap to use the saw to cut the rest of it
It was hilarious to watch. 22" saw and he used maybe 2" of it in tiny strokes Gave him the tips but still tried to force the cut so it kept sticking.
Being the fav uncle, i only sniggered mentally.

 

[Fitzroy]

15mins for 8’ of 2” sycamore, see last post in this thread, translated that’s 16cm per minute. And the rest of the thread for some videos of ripsawing olympics.
https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/threads/hand-rip-sawing.105358/page-2

 

[Sean Hellman]

Finally got around to giving this a go. 40mm thick oak, old 2.5tpi rip saw properly set and sharpened. Timed without any pre cut, I find I can start off quick and within 5 strokes I am cutting the full length of the saw. 85cm length. The first was 2.20 mins and the second was 1.49 minutes. If I had a firmer workhorse I could probably do it quicker. When going for it, 6inches in 20 seconds but I cannot keep this up.
If sawing a lot I would be at about 4/5 minutes a metre.

 

[Jameshow]

Hardwood I'll get some balsa!!

I e seen oak 8x2 differ dramatically in same pallet!
I learnt to pick the light ones to lift!

 

[Sean Hellman]

Hardwood I'll get some balsa!!

I e seen oak 8x2 differ dramatically in same pallet!
I learnt to pick the light ones to lift!

I take the heavy ones, they last longer outside, or so I think

 

[ajs]

What saw though? The Japanese saws will always win regardless of of the sawyer. Personally I find my ryoba 3x faster than a Western style handsaw simply because the kerf is so much narrower. Less wood removed means less effort. Your muscles need to adapt to the torque on the pull stroke but after that it's a massive timesaver.

 

[tibi]

What saw though? The Japanese saws will always win regardless of of the sawyer. Personally I find my ryoba 3x faster than a Western style handsaw simply because the kerf is so much narrower. Less wood removed means less effort. Your muscles need to adapt to the torque on the pull stroke but after that it's a massive timesaver.

Japanese saws are 3x shorter than a western saw, and are prone to break if they are used incorrectly or with too much vigor. So if the saws were of same length, they might win, but i would rather take 4 tpi 28” western rip saw than a japanese saw for ripping long boards to width. For joinery, it is a completely different story, and might depend on the preference of the user.

 

[sawtooth-9]

I didn't set any records, but I once cut 1/2 inch off the thickness of a 5 inch hardwood beam. with a handsaw.
A horizontal cut, 8 feet up - and 20 feet long !
The timber was Ausie bloodwood - REAL tough !
I remember it well !

 

[okeydokey]

I was told some years ago that lighter weight wood is quick grown and less strong than heavier which is denser and slower grown. Whether true ?