Handsaws -- how straight is straight?

[Joel Goodman]

I picked up 2 D23's -- one rip one crosscut from Steve Cooke. They both are of course sharpened wonderfully and for a newby to handsaws cut very well. Neither is straight. The rip saw has a kink about 7"to 8" from the tip and then the saw blade veers off to the side and ends up say 1/4" off by the tip. The crosscut saw is similar but the kink is closer to the tip and perhaps less severe. These are eyeball measurements. Both were reasonably priced. I haven't spoken to Steve about this yet. Should I return them and wait for something straighter (even if a little pricier)? Or try to straighten? Or live with it?

What do the experts say?

[jonathan snyder]

Hi Joel,

First off, I don't think only one of my vintage saws is perfectly straight. most seem to have a bit of a wave in them. I think an actual kink or sharp bend, would cause problems. I'm surprised that Steve would sell kinked saws. Any chance they were damaged in shipping? I have a D8 from Steve, with a very slight wave in it, but it cuts just fine and I think I only paid ten or 15 bucks for it. Have you tried them out? I would give Steve a call. I have spoken with him a number of times, he is nice guy and loves to talk saws. Ultimately you are the customer and must be happy with your purchase, if you are not happy, you should return them.

Just my .02 worth.
Jonathan

[Joel Goodman]

Perhaps I'm not using the right word. At about 7 inches from the tip the blade veers off to the side. At the tip it's about 1/4" from the line of the body of the saw. In terms of shipping I don't know -- they were packed in newspaper -- I would have taped a cardboard the the blade to protect it. I'm a good handsaw newby so I don't have a lot to compare with but they cut well. I tend to keep my tools, cars etc a long time and take care of them so I would like to buy something that I'll still like as my skills increase.

[Marcus Ward]

Cardboard wouldn't stop anything that would bend a blade like that. Call him tomorrow because he's going in on Tues to have his knee replaced and will be out of action for a while. FWIW, almost every old saw I've ever seen had some bend in it. I just straighten them with the instructions that can be found on this forum.

[harry strasil]

I think that much minor wave to the blade is a moot point as long as they cut straight in the kerf, very few people use the whole extent of the teeth anyway. Most saws are bent in use by the user who tries to put to much down pressure on the blade instead of just letting the saw do the cutting.