{"id":868,"date":"2010-08-17T13:45:48","date_gmt":"2010-08-17T18:45:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rpwoodwork.com\/blog\/?p=868"},"modified":"2013-04-19T23:11:53","modified_gmt":"2013-04-20T04:11:53","slug":"east-meets-west-my-saws-part-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rpwoodwork.com\/blog\/2010\/08\/17\/east-meets-west-my-saws-part-4\/","title":{"rendered":"East meets West: My saws, part 4"},"content":{"rendered":"

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For breaking down rough stock<\/strong> into the approximately dimensioned components of a project, I usually go to the bandsaw<\/a>. Big boards usually need to be first crosscut<\/strong> into manageable pieces. For that job, I use the Pony crosscut saw<\/strong> that I praised in an earlier post<\/a> and is pictured below. It\u2019s not pretty but it sure gets the work done. Specs: 22″ 0.040″blade, 8 tpi Japanese-style hardened crosscut teeth that cut primarily on the push<\/em> stroke, set 0.004″ each side. Best of all: $15.99, from Woodcraft<\/a>, item #149039.<\/p>\n

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Despite my affection for the bandsaw<\/a>, sometimes I prefer to rip with a handsaw<\/strong>. Maybe I don\u2019t feel like setting up the bandsaw for a few short cuts, just prefer the relative quiet, or even prefer the relatively slower cutting to give me a chance to think.<\/p>\n

I had been using my Japanese rip saw<\/strong> (top photo)\u00a0for this but was never really happy with its performance in this job. The main drawback was that I could not put my weight into the cutting stroke<\/strong>. This saw does, however, shine for certain other cuts, especially small resawing<\/a> and, as I mentioned in an earlier post, for cutting some large tenons. It can produce surprisingly clean surfaces for these type of cuts. It is also a handy saw for shorter ripping at the workbench. For these reasons, it certainly earns its place in the shop. Specs: Z brand 300 mm<\/strong> (11 3\/4″), 0.027″ saw plate, 0.036″ kerf, rip teeth grading from 8 tpi at the handle end to 4 tpi at the far end. It is available from Hida Tool<\/a>. Their item #D-ZS-#300 is the crosscut version for $38.90 but the rip replacement blade is item #D-ZS-S300R ($21.30) which perhaps you can ask them to install instead of the crosscut blade.<\/p>\n

Now for big ripping<\/strong>, I wanted a full 26″ Western handsaw<\/strong> which I could put my weight into with the classic position of my left knee on the board. After some hunting around I bought a Disston D-7<\/strong> (top photo)\u00a0in great functional condition from Jim Bode<\/a>. This is a straight back workhorse saw marked 5 \u00bd ppi (it measures more like 4 \u00bd ppi), vintage 1940-47. The saw plate is about 0.037″ near the slightly breasted tooth line and is, of course, taper ground as you go away from the teeth and toward the toe.<\/p>\n

And it rips big time – just what I was looking for.<\/p>\n

Next:<\/strong> the final installment in the series – reflections on a long saw journey<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For breaking down rough stock into the approximately dimensioned components of a project, I usually go to the bandsaw. Big boards usually need to be first crosscut into manageable pieces. For that job, I use the Pony crosscut saw that I praised in an earlier post and is pictured below. It\u2019s not pretty but it […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[19],"class_list":["post-868","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-tools-and-shop","tag-east-meets-west-my-saws-series"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rpwoodwork.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/868","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rpwoodwork.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rpwoodwork.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rpwoodwork.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rpwoodwork.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=868"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.rpwoodwork.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/868\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2287,"href":"https:\/\/www.rpwoodwork.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/868\/revisions\/2287"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rpwoodwork.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=868"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rpwoodwork.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=868"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rpwoodwork.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=868"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}