My brilliant idea !!!

[MIGNAL]

Well OK, I nicked it from astronomer Jim.



I bought the ratan handled x-cut Kataba a couple of years ago but bought a spare rip saw blade to go with it. I figured that whenever I needed to rip material I'd just swap the blades. It's increasingly become a pain to do so. I've finally got around to making a handle for that very spare blade. I think Jim used some bolts to secure the blade but I simply cut a slot down the handle and used some superglue. I guess that when it comes to a blunt blade I can heat the saw plate and solve the glue. It took all of 30 minutes start to finish (not that it's complex!). Given that a blade is 15 notes and handle/blade combination is almost 30 notes it's not such a silly idea. In fact I might buy the Huntley Oak saw replacement blade and make a handle for that.

 

[n0legs]

Money saving is always a brilliant idea in my book.
Good job that man =D>

 

[NazNomad]

I did exactly the same when my original handle gave up the ghost.

 

[custard]

I bet that's way nicer to use than the ratan handle!

 

[Graham Orm]

Good stuff....what about fitting a conventional handle off a cheap saw? I have a few I've saved for odd jobs.

 

[MIGNAL]

Not sure. I mean it will work but just not sure if it will throw off my sawing technique or perhaps it might be a matter of getting accustomed to it. I don't have an issue with the broom stick style handles. Some people seem to hate them, even the much shorter gents saw type handle. Me, I've never had a problem with any of them.
The broom stick I made was from Spanish cedar, soft, nice and easy to work. Anything will do, even pine. It's certainly smoother than the ratan but the ratan is something I've become accustomed to. In fact when it's in the hand it's something I no longer notice. It did seem a bit strange when I first encountered that type of ratan handle but that was a long time ago when I bought my first Japanese saw from Tilgear. That was probably the early 90's.
The other thing I've noticed is that Japanese rip saws don't like vibration, so the piece to be cut has to be held low in the vice, especially so if it's thin material. You can get away with a certain amount of vibration with a western toothed saw but much less so with the Japanese.

 

[lurker]

I think I might do that with my spare lidl blade. My son seems to have nicked the one with the handle.

Maybe you have started a mini craze.

 

[MIGNAL]

I didn't start anything, I just continued it. Blame Jim.

 

[Bm101]

I know lots of people use Japanese saws and I bought the 'starter set' from fine tools a little while ago, the Ryoba Bakuma and Dozuki . Never used anything other than hardpoints so I don't have to 'unlearn' any western saw techniques to use them if you like. I've been getting on alright mostly, but I'm learning as I go and I'm trying to adapt by minor changes. I've found that I cut more accurately if I hold the saw further up the handle than seems natural and try and tuck it into my elbow if that makes sense so I'm sawing from more from the shoulder almost. The one thing I've always done is saw with an extended index finger but that seems to work against me with these saws. What I'd really like to ask about is how people place their feet. I aware enough of technique to realise that changing the angles/ faces of your body can make a huge difference.
Are there any stand out practices I need to be aware of? Good stance can create a great mechanical advantage and I'm pretty intuitive but it would be great if anyone had some definite rules to follow. Sometimes it's hard trying to get it all right by learning on your own down the shed and trying to be consistently accurate. 'Is that helping? What if I try it this way?' All well and good but I wonder if anyone can share some tried and tested techniques and tips to speed up my learning.
Sorry to hijack the thread a bit, but I thought it might be a good place to ask.
Many thanks, sorry for the idiocy.
Regards
Chris

 

[MIGNAL]

With a western saw I always point with the index finger. I think it helps to lock the wrist. For some reason I don't do that with the broom stick handle though and I think I hold it roughly half way down the stick. One handed with crosscut, two handed with rip cuts. Snooker cue position with crosscut. Feet and body straight on with rip cut, end of the saw handle pointing to the centre of your stomach (or perhaps a bit higher). I have a feeling that I hold the handle more towards the end when rip cutting. I'll have to check next time I'm using it. I certainly use a different technique when using a western saw, especially when rip cutting. Extremely light pressure when crosscutting but I think you can use a bit more weight with the rip version.

 

[Bm101]

Thanks Mignal, that's interesting. I appreciate the snooker analogy. Im (totally) right handed, my left is just for balancing weight if I'm using a chisel etc, all control comes from my right side to the point that when I sharpen I have to make a concerted effort to push down harder with my left hand to achieve a balanced blade even with a jig.. Same when I played football, no left foot at all. :shock: I seem to have my left foot pointing towards the cut and my right at just under 90 odd degrees. Which as you say is pretty much my exact stance for snooker (or more likely pool tbh!) and opens the body up to about 45 degrees. Also when you're rip cutting, balancing your two arms centrally make sense. Thanks for the input, its appreciated and makes me think I'm going down the right path. Much obliged again!

Regards
Chris

 

[Paddy Roxburgh]

Mignal, where did you get your kataba rip blade from? I have one in crosscut and one in "universal", whilst I like the crosscut I find the universal to be too slow for ripping and rarely use it. I've always fancied a saw with teeth like on the rip side of the royoba but a thicker plate, is that a what your kataba rip is like?
Nice handle BTW
Paddy

 

[MIGNAL]

I can't remember. May have been Axminster but I have a feeling it was some other online store, not necessarily one devoted to ww'ing tools. I think it's a Z-saws kataba. There's a Z on the ratan handle, so it must be. The teeth are rip, not universal. The other blade is x-cut. The teeth on the rip blade are shaped a little more like western saws but not quite.
Rip is harder to use than the x-cut, it doesn't work well if you present the saw at 45 degrees like you might with a western saw. It seems to work much better if you saw near 90, straight down. .
Identical to the second one down here: (I didn't buy it from Fine tools though) :

http://www.fine-tools.com/kataba.html