Pax, Footprint, S&J or Crown saw?
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Hi,
I’m going to buy a few handsaws: Dovetail, Tennon and maybe a panel saw. I found on amazon.co.uk saws by Pax, Footprint, Spear and Jackson and Crown in reasonable price. Do you have any opinion about it? Up till now I’v been using modern Stanley, wich is in Poland quite popular… It’s time for a change…2 August 2013 at 10:08 am #16070Pax are good saws spear and Jackson probably too much set from new not what they used to be but ok .
Look on eBay for vintage saws spear Jackson , Tyzack, Disston.Hi
I would be all for going down the Pax route.
Any of the saws from the Thomas Flinn Garlick stable that Pax belong to are going to be excellent I myself favor Lynx saws also by Thomas Flinn Garlick this is only because my grandfather gave me one of his old Lynx Tenon saws when I first started playing with wood in the late 1970 and I am still using the same saw today.S&J used to be okay but not anymore I agree with Mark about the set but the handle does not feel right in my hand. I think there is a video about reworking saw handles on YouTube by Paul sellers.
Footprint. I always felt they did first rate plumbing type tools and things like that. I was told by someone that they source wood tools from other makers and re-labelled them as Footprint. But this could be totally incorrect as its only hear say.
Crown I like the feel of Crown Tools but never owned any other than a lathe parting tool that is very good. I Sniped this on Ebay for less than a Five Pounds. Having said that I donβt think Crown have been around very long so how long their saws last is unknown
This is what I think anyway
http://www.flinn-garlick-saws.co.uk2 August 2013 at 11:38 pm #16121Handles not hard to reshape the clunkiest handles had to Disston hand saw handles I bought mine in early 80’s my Spear and Jacksons had a much better feel. Most of the mass saw manufactures don’t round edges enough.
Comfort is important and help you register your hand in your saw better. That’s important to saw in straight line.3 August 2013 at 8:31 am #16127Hi Piotr)
Did you take to consideration Veritas Saws? They good for start and Paul recommend them as good saws.I know this is a very old thread, but I wanted to chime in that I just bought 2 PAX saws (1 11TPI crosscut, 1 5 tpi rip cut – both 22″) and share my results.
I’m new to woodworking and was frustrated with the cheap saws, the lack of sharpen-ability, and the amount of tear out I was getting.
I first bought a 14 tpi crosscut saw from veritas for tenons/dovetails. I also have a small crown gents saw for smaller stuff. That was fine but I could not properly dimension any rough sawn timber and my cheap handsaws were so frustrating.
THe PAX crosscut saw was amazing out of the box in comparison. I’m sure it could benefit from additional sharpening/tuning, but my god what a difference a sharp, quality saw makes. The PAX rip saw is really aggressive, though. I’m still having a hard time getting used to ripping 1/4″ off of a piece when the teeth are 1/4 inches long themselves. Maybe I went too big on the rip saw teeth π
In any case, I found the PAX saws to be good quality for the cost (about $100 USD vs 200-250+ for the high end saws).
Any tips on improving the PAX saws would be welcome
20 January 2017 at 4:02 pm #308521Hi!
I just brought at S&J 12β tenonsaw β just to try it out. The saw is quite heavy approx. 640 grams, the sawblade is 0,7mm thick.
Before I could use the saw I had to sharpen and reset the teeth. There was too much set on the teeth. I also had to wipe off the blade with paint thinner, like Mr. Sellers recommended, to get rid of the thin layer of varnish that prevents the blade from rusting.
Finally I reshaped the handle. The handle I too small for me, even though I have a medium size hand.
I would recommend the saw, but it needs a lot of work to get going.
I compared it with the Veritas carcass saw.Attachments:
You must be logged in to view attached files.31 August 2017 at 1:54 pm #314809I have a set of twenty inch pax panel saw both rip and crosscut. I really enjoy the crosscut saw a lot and use it all of time. However, I will say I am finding the rip saw frustrating in that the saw plate is very stiff with hardly any flex and makes for difficult recovery if even just a fraction off line or out of square. I found an older rip saw at the antique shop, de rusted it, sharpened it and couldn’t ask for a better saw. The best part, I can fully bend the tip to the handle giving it great control and user friendliness. Hope this helps
18 April 2018 at 1:40 am #528138EBay has gotten ridiculous and after trying a Lie Nielsen tapered dovetail I had to have one. Cut perfect out of the box. $125 new. That said, Lynx (a Pax/Flynn model,) has them for $80 free shipping on Amazon Prime so that might be a great choice. I just love the feel of the LN pisol grip. Finally, there are quite a few decent old Stanley and Craftsman dovetail saws out there, like $5-10 on eBay if you know how to tune. They generally have steel, not brass backs. But cut well.
I can vouch for Footprint Tenon Saws.
The quality is apparent from the moment you pick it up. It cuts beautifully – straight from the box. The handle is well-designed too. No fettling required. It was half the price of other named brands. I think Footprint are understated. Their vintage chisels are first-rate too. -
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