Are hand saws as rare as dial phones?

[dmccarty]

... I gave up on battery powered tools...
Bruce

I too gave up on battery power tools after my last good battery, I had 3-4, shorted out and almost caught fire before I found the source the smoke in the house.

I have a few man powered saws and I use them too. A tree got hit by lightning two years ago this month. The tree had a single large limb that went off to one side. That limb needed to be cut off before I dropped the tree and I would have to climb a ladder to reach the limb. No way in heck was I climbing a ladder with a running a chainsaw so I used a bow saw and when it would no longer fit I switched over to a crosscut saw. Eventually, with the help of chains and a come along I got that limb down. It took quite a few days to saw PART way through that limb. I would go after the limb on the weekends but I could only saw 3-4 times before my arm gave out. Kinda hard to saw at the top of a ladder with one hand hanging on for dear life. :shocked::laughing::laughing::laughing:

Took forever to get that limb down. Now I have to cut down the tree.

Later,
Dan

 

[pacerron]

Doesn't it cost as much to have a hand saw professionally re-sharpened as is does to buy a new one?

Probably not...
The metal in the old ones is likely to very superior as well.
When you shake the handle so the blade whips from side to side you can hear the quality of the metal in an old one.
Some folks can play music on them
There is a lot of old Foley or Belsaw sharpening equipment around.
They made a machine that moves the blade along and files each tooth to the proper angle and depth in about a minute or two after it is set up.
I have one but don't use it often anymore.

 

[BuzzardA91]

You can get a tool for a couple dollars at a flea market or eBay to set the kerf and sharpen with a small file. I'm sure they have videos YouTube on how to do it. It's pretty fast and doesn't need to be done all that often. I use handsaws for dovetails, shoulders, and other fine cutting. For you carpenters out there try a $30 Japanese pull saw, very handy fast for cutting things a circular saw just cant do.

 

[ultrarunner]

My Uncle is a retired cabinet maker and served a full apprenticeship many years ago...

A few years ago he was out for a visit and I was working on a deck project... he asked if I had a hand saw and I told him several... even a lumberjack two man that was passed down...

He said they were good for decoration because none were sharp...

The next few days he was at the bench and beautifully sharpened all of them!

Guess it's old school plus they have long winters where they are and every Christmas he would precision sharpen all his planes and cutting edges as a gift to himself.

 

[geko]

Geko - is that blade Bahco's own design, or an industry standard mount ?

Rgds, D.

It's just Bahcos blades as far as I know - I've not seen any others - it's a quick release mechanism too, so can be swapped in a matter of seconds.

 

[3930dave]

It's just Bahcos blades as far as I know - I've not seen any others - it's a quick release mechanism too, so can be swapped in a matter of seconds.

Over the years, I've seen a few saws like that here (Canada). Many were from Asia (Japan, for the better ones) and sometimes Europe - good saws, as far as I could tell, with the only real issue being a proprietary blade design.

For a basic, general purpose rough cut saw, I like the handsaw I mentioned for the fact that the (electric) reciprocating saw blades it uses can be found in just about any hardware store in Canada.

The way Murphy works around here, if you in your shop at home with 2 spare blades on the shelf, you'll never break one. If you are helping a buddy at his cottage, with the nearest general store at least a one hour drive away..... SNAP !

I suspect that law is universal, regardless of where you live on the planet.

Rgds, D.

 

[Cliff_Johns]

I have many hand saws in my shop and use them regularly. For instance, it's hard to cut delicate dovetails without one. Also, it's hard to cut very thin or very fine pieces of wood on the table saw. And, hand saws are quieter. I like the sound they make. Finally, they are great for sawing to a line -- you just saw till you get there rather than measuring or adjusting a fence over and over again.

Cliff

 

[Cliff_Johns]

Oh, and my favorite hand saw is a Japanese pull saw that looks a bit like a two headed clever -- it crosscut on one side and rip on the other. Best timber framing saw ever. It's too flexible for really fine work, but for general carpentry, it can't be beat.

Cliff

 

[pacerron]

Probably another handsaw that is rarely heard of or used anymore is a backsaw and miterbox.
Back in this case meaning it has a hard metal rib at the top to keep the blade straight to make perfect fitting
mitercuts and fine teeth that do not splinter the wood as powersaws do. The really fine miterboxes were made from quality wood strips of contrasting color glued up and the saw holding mechanism was cast iron. I still have one that was my dads and I learned to use it as a kid. It is great for fine trim molding and faster to change angles on than a modern power miterbox.

 

[hunterridgefarm]

I have many hand saws in my shop and use them regularly. For instance, it's hard to cut delicate dovetails without one. Also, it's hard to cut very thin or very fine pieces of wood on the table saw. And, hand saws are quieter. I like the sound they make. Finally, they are great for sawing to a line -- you just saw till you get there rather than measuring or adjusting a fence over and over again.

Cliff

I use them for the same thing. All of my dovetails are hand cut.

I also have a couple of old hand saws I use regularly. I may use the electric or battery saw most of the time however I always keep a hand saw close by. I used one this weekend to square up several corners on some boards I cut sections out of.