Disston D8

[Jerry Thompson]

This was my father's rip saw. He was born in 1913 and bought it when he was around 22. I have had it restored but have yet to receive it. My question is how is the thumb hole used? I recall my dad ripping a long board when I was very small and he was using both hands. He also told when I was in my 30's he would use the saw shadow to stay on line and keep the saw straight. I can hardly wait until the saw arrives.

[David Weaver]

right hand in the grip, left thumb in the thumbhole.

[Jerry Thompson]

Thank you David. Even I can understand that.

[David Weaver]

As soon as you get tired and get your thumb in that hole, a light bulb will go off ("i can really rip hard with this grip"). It does put you out of the internet blogger's position, I'll call it that, since it's been suggested on various blogs that you should stand with your line of sight right over the marked line and the saw.

However, with a little bit of experience, you'll be able to use the thumbhole to rip pieces of wood on or next to the line and close to square - boards you'd never have the stamina to rip if you were using one arm. It is a movement of force - big bites - not an instructional video kind of "saw slowly, let the saw do the work, full strokes with even pressure"...none of that.

As with most rip saws big enough to get both hands on the handle, they're a pleasure to use, and excel when you're going to rip brute force, esp. if you have some way to hold the wood stationary.. If you have a big board, and you don't have something stationary, you can just sit and put the cut line right in your inseam, then you have good mechanics in terms of squareness if you pull the saw up toward your nose (sort of negates the thumbhole, though).

Ripping gets a bad rap on the forums as mindless, etc, whatever. It's one of those things that when you get good at it, sure it's not as fast as a TS, but it's not something that will take hours. You could probably expect in 4/4 to keep up an indefinite pace of ripping two feet a minute in medium hardwoods.

[Jim Koepke]

Here are a couple of images from an old post of me ripping some ash.

261832

The top of the D8 handle makes a good grip for the palm and fingers.

261833

It is easy to either stand and feed stock with a knee or to sit and feed the stock with a different part of the body doing the work.

jtk

[David Weaver]

Someone should probably make a book for us amateurs and call it Kama Sawra, showing the different arrangements we can have for sawing (my german teacher in high school aways warned me about mixing languages, that in the end, what you come up with makes no sense).

The second picture you show, Jim, is my favorite sawing position for long rips, unless you have to do something like cut an inch off of a wide board and just can't get a comfortable seating on it because it's too far to one side or the other. You just saw 18 inches or so, lift your butt a tiny bit and then sit back down on the board and go another 18, and you can get a good bit of thump on each stroke with both arms. The butt clamp is very effective and fast to engage and disengage on the wood.

[Chris Griggs]

This was my favorite way to rip before I had a saw bench....http://pfollansbee.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/sawing-stance-1.jpg ... well this or the reverse (sawing away from myself overhand at the bench as opposed to towards myself) but I do both.

Now that I've had a saw bench for a while.... more and more I'm going back to the above. No bending over and a good bit of power and endurance. You do get more power kneeling above the work with two hands, but I find the work tends to move around when my knee or foot is the only thing holding it down. For me ripping up at the workbench gives a nice medium of accuracy, power and endurance.

[Jim Matthews]

Kama Sawra

When you hear me using this later, without attribution -
remind me where I heard it first.

Good one.

[Jeff Heath]

I just want to be the idiot in the room that reminds you that when generating all that awesome sawing power/force, remember that your father's D8 saw plate can and will kink if you lose proper technique and allow your hands to wander left and right a bit. That would just suck, so keep it in mind.

Many a good saw have been bent up this way.

[Jerry Thompson]

Thank you Jeff. I am going to go easy. I may not use it much then again maybe I will. I have a lot of my father's tools. He was a Coy boy. carpenter, gun smith and the last half of his life a mechanic. It is a pity I did not spend time learning some of his skills. He had a lot of stories I still tell to family and friends.

[Adam Cruea]

Those two-handed rip saws are awesome.

My dad gave me one and I used it for making my workbench. Took me about 5 minutes to rip a 5/4 piece of hickory that was 6 feet long.

Nice workout, safer than a table saw, quieter, and less dust. The only problem was that after 3 boards, I was done.

And as Jeff mentioned, be careful with it. It's very easy to bend the blade (and I imagine kink it). I had more than a few scrape marks on my stomach where I got overzealous with my momentum and ended up with a saw plate bowed into my gut.