First Saw Selection
Welcome! / Forums / General Woodworking Discussions / Tools and Tool Maintenance/Restoration / First Saw Selection
Tagged: saws
- This topic has 6 replies, 7 voices, and was last updated 8 years, 10 months ago by Matt McGrane.
-
AuthorPosts
-
11 December 2014 at 9:02 pm #122096
So it seems like which plane is needed is well taken care of, but what about saws? I have my #4, and must say I am very happy with it. Now, I need to figure out what saws I should start trying to procure so that I can make the cuts that are needed. Or, which video may talk about this topic???
Thanks!
It really depends on the lumber you are using. No need for a big 5 tpi rip saw if all you are using is pre dimensioned 3/4 inch boards. But if you have 2 or 3 inch thick boards you intend to cut into table legs then a big rip saw is probably necessary if you don’t have power tools to deal with such a task.
You will likely end up with a handsaw filed in rip at 8-9 tpi, 22, 24 or 26 inch depending on your physical stature, a crosscut saw 8-10 tpi lengths as above, tenon saw 10-13 tpi, dovetail saw 15-18 tpi and a coping saw of some kind.
You can get away with a 12 – 14 inch tenon saw filed at 12-15 tpi rip cut for most things you will be doing at the bench. But If you’re like most of us, we seem to accumulate more saws than necessary 😉 It’s very difficult to give recommendations because each persons situation is different, type of wood you use, how much investment you want to make, how much space you have, what kind of projects you want to make, does a person have power tools to dimension stock etc.
Local thrift/antique stores, buy and sells, garage sales, eBay are a good place to start looking.
11 December 2014 at 11:33 pm #122102Depends on the work you want to dive into, like Dave said. You may be able to get away with just a dovetail saw if you’re starting small, or at least a tenon saw with a nice reach. A 12-14″ tenon saw with a 3-4″ inch depth of cut filed rip can get you pretty far. Paul has recommended the Veritas dovetail saw, and I very much agree. Nice little saw for not a lot of money. Tenon saws are easy to come by, too. You don’t have to buy a Wenzloff or Bad Axe tenon saw for $350, they’re sold on Ebay or craigslist all the time for around $50 and just need a little cleaning and sharpening.
If you think you’ll be diving into bigger work where you want to make long rip or crosscuts, think about buying a 20″-ish panel saw filed rip. You can buy them by the half dozen at yard sales, on craigslist, or Ebay. Buy the Lee Valley set of Grobet saw files, stick the saw between two boards in your vise, and you can sharpen old saws all day long.
The advice given is very true, especially about accumulating …
A note I’d like to add is this : if you buy a nice dovetail saw new, make sure you get an old panel saw from bay or other sources as well. Learn how to sharpen the old one first before tackling the really nice ones.
Sharpening is easy, but you need some practice at first.My €0.02
DiegoI’m just about to set about getting my first set of ‘proper’ saws.
The above advice is great especially regarding buying a cheap one to practice your sharpening skills.I’ve seen a cheap one on eBay £9.99. I was wondering if anyone knew the make? I’ve tried looking on the web for it but no joy.
It has a medallion of 2 animals (possible lions) either side and facing a upside down triangle, inside the triangle is an arm holding a pickaxe and the letters L I F A. It also has 1865 on it.3 July 2015 at 2:55 am #128203Sorry Tom, can’t help you. You probably did this too, but I did a google image search on “saw medallion lions” and a couple other searches to no avail.
-
AuthorPosts
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.