Japanese saws?
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Tagged: Japanese saws, saws
- This topic has 5 replies, 4 voices, and was last updated 8 years, 9 months ago by dborn.
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10 July 2015 at 7:22 pm #128392
Hello all.
Just joined the site today, because I’m going to resume woodworking. I was exposed to Japanese saws early on and found the pull stroke cutting to be a pleasant change. I haven’t seen Japanese saws discussed here and though I would ask, why?
10 July 2015 at 9:17 pm #128396Probably because Paul doesn’t use them. He blogged about them here last year. Basically, he says they are no better or worse, just different. In that blog entry he also has a great rant about the disposable nature of many of today’s tools.
I have two Japanese saws. One of them is dull and has induction hardened teeth, so it is unsharpenable and basically useless (it cut like a hot knife through butter, though, when it was sharp!). The other is two-sided: cross-cut on one side and rip on the other. I use this for some cross-cutting because I don’t have a decent cross-cutting tenon saw.
I don’t have a strong opinion on Japanese versus Western either way, but I’m going to stay with Western saws. I do feel like I have better control with Western. I also had issues with the Japanese blade wandering in the cut, but that may have been a technique or a practice issue.
10 July 2015 at 10:06 pm #128398I believe part of the issue may be that Japanese saws are very difficult to sharpen as the geometry of the teeth is fairly complex. I’ve never used them myself so I could be out to lunch.
I like the era we live in because we have so many options available to us. I have two Japanese saws as well, a dozuki and ryoba. I also have veritas dovetail and carcass saws. Plus a whole slew of panel and bow saws. It’s true that you cannot sharpen a Japanese saw, but I’ve heard people grinding the teeth off and using the thin steel as scrapers, so it’s not a complete loss when the saw goes dull. Plus replacement blades are available at a reasonable cost. So, if you have no interest in learning how to sharpen your own saws, its not a bad route to go.
Like others say, Paul doesn’t use them and his goal, I believe, is to train people in the ways h learned how to woodwork.
11 July 2015 at 8:08 pm #128421Thanks for all the replies! I wasn’t aware that one couldn’t resharpen a Japanese saw. That really puts a damper on my enthusiasm for them.
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