Coping saw

[andrew whicker]

What's everyone's favorite brand / style of coping saw...

Was using a grinder with flapper, but this latest project has more copes than ever and I'm over the wood dust.

[John Kananis]

Knew concepts. I avoided getting one for years thinking what I had was good enough. Mistake.


What's everyone's favorite brand / style of coping saw...

Was using a grinder with flapper, but this latest project has more copes than ever and I'm over the wood dust.

[Tom M King]

Funny you should ask this today. I just threw away some this morning. My Cope toolbox had more than necessary in it from found ones hanging in storage buildings that were here when we bought this place.

I didn't pay any attention to brand names, but the ones I kept had the stiffest frames. The stiffest ones were kept, and they were ones I already had for 40 or 50 years. All the ones with round rod frames were tossed.

I don't pay much attention to how a handle is shaped or feels in my hand, so that wasn't a consideration.

In the Cope box are also an assortment of German jewelers saws. I have one Knew Concepts only because it allows the turning of a jewelers saw blade. I'm underimpressed by the KC ones. The design and surface area of the blade clamp is not good enough to out compete the German jewelers saw. The mechanism is also more fiddly than I care for. Just judging by the note I can pluck on the blade, I can get one a lot tighter on the German jewelers saw, and I'm sure it's because the blade clamps have more surface area. The blade with break at the clamp on a KC before it comes close to the tension I can get with the much cheaper ones. With the old style jewelers saw, I push the handle with my chest and the other end against something stationary, and tighten the thumbscrew clamp.

When I cope crown molding, I use a coping saw for the large part, and a jewelers saw for the cove at the bottom. I keep several at hand so I don't have to stop and turn a blade. On this job, I sat at the top of the steps to keep all the sawdust outside of the finished house.

[mike stenson]

I have both a knew concepts coping saw and fret saws. I can understand Tom's comments regarding the fret saw clamps as I've had some issues from time to time. I also have an older Disston #15 coping saw, that may actually be my favorite, but it was also my father's. In any case, it's the blades IMO that make a difference, and I prefer Pégas.

[James Jayko]

Not sure what you're using it for, but I use the $20 Eclipse one for dovetails etc and I just can't see how the Knew Concepts one is 'worth' 10x the price...but it sure is pretty.

[George Yetka]

Not sure what you're using it for, but I use the $20 Eclipse one for dovetails etc and I just can't see how the Knew Concepts one is 'worth' 10x the price...but it sure is pretty.

They are better because there is much less flex and they are pretty. I dont know if they are 10 or 20 times better though.

[George Yetka]

.

Are there fish in that lake Tom?

[Tom M King]

At one point, I haven't kept up with it, but both the North Carolina and Virginia record Large Mouth Bass came out of it. There used to be bass tournaments here a lot, but it seems like that has been slowed up from the pandemic. I don't hear the large outboards early Saturday mornings like we used to. There is a large variety of fresh water fish types in it. I quit fishing when I was a teenager, being more interested in competitive water skiing then, and sailing since.

[andrew whicker]

Thanks for all the feedback!

I see quite a few vintage on ebay so I'll try that route first based on some of the above comments

[Tom M King]

I think this is the place I bought jewelers saws from. Woodworking stores sell the same thing, and even Chinese copies of the German ones, for a lot more money. If you get them from a jewelry makers supplier they have normal prices.

https://www.ottofrei.com/products/german-adjustable-jewelers-sawframes?variant=43702683861206

[andrew whicker]

I guess lake houses are your version of mountain houses out here : )

[andrew whicker]

Vintage German Jewelers: https://www.ebay.com/itm/126086991814? (maybe not enough throat depth)

Vintage Disston 15: https://www.ebay.com/itm/145266200150?

Heck yeah. : )

This seems like a cool tool for vintage vs new.

[George Yetka]

At one point, I haven't kept up with it, but both the North Carolina and Virginia record Large Mouth Bass came out of it. There used to be bass tournaments here a lot, but it seems like that has been slowed up from the pandemic. I don't hear the large outboards early Saturday mornings like we used to. There is a large variety of fresh water fish types in it. I quit fishing when I was a teenager, being more interested in competitive water skiing then, and sailing since.

Beautiful spot

[Rob Luter]

I've had a number of them, ranging from Millers Falls to Stanley to No Name plus a couple Olson adjustable fret saws. I sold off all but a couple. I bought a Knew Concepts Fret Saw for clearing out dovetail waste and it's all I ever use now. Between all the $10 saws I had bought I actually had spent more combined than the KC cost. No regrets.

[Tom M King]

I pulled out my Cope toolbox this morning to see which saws I kept yesterday. Of the three keepers, the Disston 10b is first choice, followed by Vermont American, and Popular Mechanics(which surprised me). They were only judged by the tension they put on a blade by pushing my thumb against the middle of the span. I have done good work with all of them.

Out of the throwaway scrap pile I pulled a Nicolson that has the adjustment rusted up. I put some Blue Creeper on it to sit for a day, and will see if it frees up. The Disston is the top of the class.

For blades, I never found any I like better than some old Nicholson's in paper sleeves that I remember buying in 1975. I remember I was working on a Grandfather's house and broke a blade due to inexperience. I went to a local old hardware store, and found these on the shelf. After using the first blade that day, I went back by on the way home and bought all they had on the shelf. I don't think I ever broke another blade.

[andrew whicker]

I can't seem to find the difference btwn the Disston 10 and 15?

I'm scrolling thru ebay with hopes of measurements.. Looks like Disston doesn't make coping saws anymore according to their website

[mike stenson]

I think it's depth, the 10 being the shallower of the two?

[John Pendery]

Have you considered the collins universal coping foot? Turns a jigsaw into a glorified coping saw. By far the fastest solution in my experience

[Jimmy Harris]

Coping saws are all about the blade. Get good blades, and you'll have a good coping saw.

I use a cheap Kobalt brand that I bought maybe 10 years ago. It works. I did have an issue with the handle coming off, but some JB Weld has solved that issue for going on 5 years now. I think I also installed a washer at some point to get a little more tension on the blade.

Either way, it's a bottom of the barrel quality coping saw and in 10 years time I haven't felt the need to upgrade. It's easily handled everything I've ever asked of it. So I truly believe that this one of those tools where it's okay to skimp and save your money without fear of regret. Assuming you have access to JB Weld and a washer, that is. Though I'd probably avoid the ones with the adjustable blade length. That just looks like one more thing to go wrong without any real upside to me.

The difference between the Disston 10 and 15, or at least as it appears to me, is the frame. On the 15, the frame is twisted at the ends and on the 10 the frame has a loop added to attach the blade holders. I doubt there's much practical difference. It would seem to me that the 15 would last longer but the 10 might be capable of putting more tension on the blade. But those 10's have lasted this long, so either will outlast you, and those 15's still have enough strength to break the pins off a blade, so those points are kind of moot. Pick the one that looks prettiest! And then get a good set of blades!

[Bill Dufour]

Out of the throwaway scrap pile I pulled a Nicolson that has the adjustment rusted up. I put some Blue Creeper on it to sit for a day, and will see if it frees up. The Disston is the top of the class
Wash off the oil then. Throw it in a plastic bucket or tray with EDTA and water to submerge it. Let it sit for a week or so then try to free it up.
Bill D

[Tom M King]

I'm not going to spend any more time on it than putting the Blue Creeper in the threads. It looks like someone used it for a hammer anyway as you can see it's bent in the picture. The blade tension was not impressive, but that could just be that it's bent. I just wanted to play with it to see if it was salvageable. The three I have been using do fine and three is the right number anyway for each orientation ready to go.

[Tom M King]

It broke free this morning like it had never been rusted up. The bent frame makes it not worth the trouble though. I think when the frame was bent it must have lost some of its temper at the bend, and won't tension a blade worth anything now.

[Tom M King]

This thread got my curiosity up on coping saws, so I did some looking on ebay to see if there was something I didn't know about. I ran across this jewel that the seller is calling a coping saw but is really a jewelers saw. I knew I had seen jewelers saws a long time ago that the blade could work in different positions, but haven't in a long time, and didn't know where to look. I bought this one and will be putting the Knew Concepts in the Classifieds here for people that like them.

This one is more my speed:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/266385787280?_trkparms=amclksrc%3DITM%26aid%3D7770 08%26algo%3DPERSONAL.TOPIC%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D202308 11125216%26meid%3D2bbe2eac278c4718aa053dd6a30b65b4 %26pid%3D101771%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D1%26mehot%3Dnone% 26itm%3D266385787280%26pmt%3D0%26noa%3D1%26pg%3D43 75194%26algv%3DWatchlistVariantWithMLR&_trksid=p4375194.c101771.m47999&_trkparms=parentrq%3Aa0c880bc18a0acd886b93d06ffff6 c3e%7Cpageci%3Aabb6b92f-54fa-11ee-b63d-0af2ddd28050%7Ciid%3A1%7Cvlpname%3Avlp_homepage

[Tom M King]

Thanks to this thread, I now own this saw. It just came today, and I love it. It's in the original box, and doesn't look like anyone ever used it. Even the wing nuts are really nicely finished. The blades in the box are the finest I've ever used. I tried one in Oak, Maple, and Heart Pine. It cut faster than I expected while being easy to control and left clean edges. I'll be selling the Knew Concepts. This one is a Trojan.

[andrew whicker]

I like it. I'm searching for some now..

[Tom M King]

Andrew, this one is up on ebay now:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/275987030856

I have three different brands of those jewelers saws that can turn the blade. I like any of them better than the Knew Concepts one.

I found my other stache of coping saws. I have both a 10B and a 15B. The 15B is not only deeper, but the whole frame is heavier, I guess to take care of the extra length of the legs that tension the blade.

On ebay there are two really nice looking 10B's. One for Buy it Now, and another for bids.

I tried several different brands of blades, and I wouldn't bother to buy any but the Pegas blades now. Some of the really old ones are just as good, but it's not worth the time trying to find those.