Handsaws for power tools users

Yes, even with a full compliment of power tools in the wood hobby shop: Table saw, band saw, radial arm, sliding miter compound saw, there are some cuts that can be only be accomplished or completed with a handsaw.

And some cuts are either faster and or safer by hand.  Remember the old adage: Good woodworking start and ends with your ten fingers still attached :-)

If you can see a line, you can cut to the line with a handsaw, no complex jigs or setup required.

See the line, cut the line.

There is a bewildering arrays of handsaws, but you will get by with only one or two.

The two types we are talking about:

Handsaws and back saws.

Why so many handsaws in my saw till ??  12 handsaws !! :-)

YES, half (6) are optimized for Softwood, the other half, hardwood.  On both sides (Softwood/hardwood). half (3) are filed rip cut, the other crosscut, along with different TPIs and fleams etc.

NO, you don't need them all.

What you need are : A cross cut panel saw and a small joinery backsaw.  Let's have a closer look.

A Handsaw (Panel saw) and a Backsaw (small Tenon saw)

Both resting on my sawbench

Lets look at handsaws first

Handsaws are divided by the length of their saw plates.

14 to 22 inches are called Panel saws.

24 to 28 inches are called Handsaws.

Top one has a 27-1/2 inches saw plate (saw tooth only 26 inch),

 the bottom one is a 18 inches saw plate.

Why do they comes in various length?

Depending on the length of your arm, it is pointless to use a longer saw plate since you will not be able to use the whole plate to cut.  Using the whole saw plate??  Yes, in order to cut efficiently and spread the wear on the teeth, the saw teeth engaged in the wood must be able to expel the sawdust.  Hence too short a saw plate for a wider board you are nibbling, not cutting, since the saw plate is unable to clear the wood piece completely to expel the sawdust.  Now depending if you are ripping or cross cutting, hence the saw angle, and what kind of cuts you are doing, even a shorter 14 inches saw plate would be more than adequate for your needs.

Measuring from my armpit to my clench fingers.

About 26 inch.  Anything longer, I cannot use,

 I'm simply dragging  along extra inches of saw plate.

Hence a 24 to 26 inch handsaw maximum would be better suited for me.

Anything smaller I can accommodate easily... as long as it fit my hand.

What is more important, is the fit of the handle in your hand.

That saw is a bit small for me, but because of its shaping,

 it remain surprisingly comfortable.  Still a bit cramped.

Notice that we ALWAYS use a three (3) fingers grip inside the handle, NEVER all four (4)

That one fit my hand perfectly

That one is too big for me.

Why does it matter??

A properly fitted handle to your hand will allow you better control, enabling straighter cuts and less fatigue and blisters.  Other than that, nothing :-)   There is also that little thing called the hang angle which affect how the saw feel and tired you in your hands, but... just look here if you want to know 

Hence being woodworkers, I would not hesitate to shape the handle to suit your hand better.

The horns are often broken off.  You need them for control, easy fix, same with damaged horns.  

They will not be comfortable, fix it and reshape as needed for you.

Damaged handles are easy to repair.

Taking care of a crack

The horn tip is chipped off and uncomfortable.

Cut off an area to insert a piece of wood.

Shape to fit.  I made no attempt to disguise repair, 

but I did used a piece of Apple wood.

Without its top horn, this saw would be difficult to control.

Need to make a new one.

They also comes in a variety of teeth styles and form.  Ripping and cross cutting required a different tooth form and the number of Teeth Per Inch (TPI) depends on the thickness and the cut surface desired.

A lower TPI will cut faster but leave a rougher surface.  For breaking down stock quickly and efficiently a lower TPI is great ( about 7 TPI is a good compromise), while finished cuts such as used in your joinery, would demand a finer cut (higher TPI at least 10 and up).

So back to the original question: How many saws do I really need?? 

The answer is two (2) a lower TPI crosscut panel saw and a finer TPI crosscut back saw.

I did not mentioned rip saws, since we are using power tools.  As much as I enjoy woodworking unplugged, my idea of fun does not include ripping  a full length board.  I would use my table saw or band saw, thank you.

You can find a decent crosscut saws at any price points from pocket changes to a few hundreds $$.  Yes, boutique saw makers are not cheap.  But oh, they make beautiful saws, which are made the way they used to, properly!

You can pickup, good and cheap handsaws in flea markets and etc.

but they will required probably some rehabbing.  

They also make great teaching aids for learning how to sharpen them :-) 

For our need the best buy is one of those inexpensive hardened tooth panel saws you see in every hardware store.  About $15-25 range, often on sale at CTC. 

The kind of saw I am talking about.

You can recognized them by the blackened saw tooth line.

They have been induction hardened  to last longer.

Pics from CTC website

Being hardened the teeth are no longer sharpenable with a file, it is then considered a throw away saw once dull.

No big loss, they are cheap, and you can cut them up to make scrapers.

Just get one about 20 inch or so long and try to get one that feel good in your hand.  PS you can always make a new and proper handle in wood if you want.  I don't care for the slippery feel of a sweaty plastic handle.  And one last thing, modern saw makers seems to have forgotten that a proper handle hold is still three fingers grip, not four.  But they all seems intent to make them fit all four.  DON'T DO THAT.

BACKSAWs

So called because of the addition of a back bar to stiffen a thinner saw plate in order to give more rigidity and cut more accurately.  Hence your typical joinery saws falls into this category.

They come in various sizes and shapes.

Traditionally the smaller back saws (Dovetail saw) have an open tote and the larger ones (Tenon saw) a close tote (handle)

And straight handles ones are refereed as Gent saws.  Gent as in Gentlemen, the originals weekend wood warriors :-)  

The three styles in question.

For your need I would select one of those.  The one with the reversible handle can also cut somewhat close to the surface.  Mine is a Sandvik, they can be found in most Hardware store about $15-20.

The fixed one is a special saw that LV used to carry, which featured Japanese saw tooth geometry.

The dedicate Dovetail saw from Lie Nielsen, note the open tote, is filed rip.  All the others are filed cross cut.  That is what you want.  

How big? The depth of cut is obviously limited by the distance between the back bar and the saw tooth line. Depending on your anticipated needs, choose accordingly.  Chances are you will accumulated a few :-)  

Japanese saws?  Yes they make wonderful saws, but remember that they cut on the pull, not on the push like our Western saws.  They therefore can get away with a thinner saw plate which you will buckle pretty quickly if you are hamfisted.  Just make sure they have a replaceable blade.  Some of the big boxes stores and hardware stores carry some real good ones.  About $20-30 Cdn and more... up to hundreds...from the old masters blacksmiths in Japan.

So there you have it, start with these two that belongs in every one tool box:

A panel cross cut saw and a small cross cut back saw.

Cost? Anywhere from a few dollars (Used, will probably need some works) to about $ 30-50 for both new or all the way to a few hundreds.

Your choice :-)

PS, you can always buy more as the needs arise :-)

Next up chisels

Bob, the old tool guy