Hey Assaf. Late to the party. I recently changed specialties and haven't had much free time.

For handsaws and many other hand tools, Tom King knows more than me.

I have about 2 dozen handsaws in my saw till and only have a few observations.

If you are dealing with much plywood, I like the modern/current production hand saws with the Japanese tooth profile and induction hardened teeth. They are essentially disposable, but cheap as chips to purchase at the home store, team blue, team orange and etcetera. The main thing on those is the set of the teeth. If you are choosing among three at the store, buy the one with the most uniform feeling set according to your fingertips.

As above, with 24 hand saws to choose from, for utility crosscuts in solid wood (versus laminated plywood) I invariably reach for a saw with 8 teeth per inch.

For utility crosscuts I reach for 8-14-23-0-015, as in 8 teeth per inch, 14 degrees of rake, 23 degrees of horizontal fleam, zero degrees of vertical fleam and 15 thousandths of one inch set, comparing plate thickness just above the teeth to the width of the tips of the teeth. This recipe, this grind, puts me within one degree on every parameter of utility crosscuts suggestions from Rob Lee, Pete Taran, the guy at Bad Axe Saws (sorry, I cannot afford your products) and Rob Crosman and that English guy with the paywall. It works good, I probably do 75% of my crosscutting with this one saw, even though I have two dozen saws in my till.

For finer cross cuts, like making the hardwood legs of a piece of furniture even so the piece sits level, I reach for 11-13-18-0-007, 11 teeth per inch, 13 degrees of rake, 18 degrees of horizontal fleam, zero degrees of vertical fleam and 0.007 inches of set as above. This is a recipe, or saw grind, I got from Pete Taran that I find completely satisfying.

For ripping I generally reach for something that runs on electrons, rip oversize (one quarter to one half inch), let relax at least a week, and then trim to final dimension. For medium rips in medium stock I like 8 teeth per inch, 11 degrees of rake zero horizontal fleam (Rob Lee suggests ten degrees) zero vertical fleam, and just 0.003 thousandths of set. For really short rips I like the 'carcass' saw in the back saw family from Lee Valley.

These three saws pictured are the ones I would keep if I had to let go of the other 21 saws in my till, if I was making furniture.

So for furniture I would want these three saws, the three saw group of back saws from Lee Valley; and something electric (track saw, or circular saw with guide, or table saw) for long rips.

The trouble with vintage saws is rust pits. I can generally get most of the rust out of the cutting surfaces of the teeth with the first or second sharpening, but getting an even set on the teeth of a vintage saw is a crap shoot even after aggressive rust removal in the restoration phase. I have sent more than a half dozen saws to a local (paint) artist after busting a few teeth off an otherwise clean plate trying to even out the set.

To get the smoothest possible cut with any tooth count you need an even tooth set. I have (six bitten, twelve shy) become extremely picky about the vintage saws I bring home, busting teeth off at the rust pit on the gum line is heart breaking.

FWIW if you are looking to timber frame a building out of softwood I like 5-20-20-20-020 for crosscut and 5-8-10-0-020 for ripping tenons. For mortises, dead electrons or dead gasoline for rough cuts.

I do agree with Pete Taran that n00bs to ripping should start with 8 degrees of rake, move to 4 degrees rake when they get comfortable and then move to zero degrees rake when the ducks are all in alignment. I am still using 8-11 degrees rake on my rip saws, because I got power tools for the intimidating stuff.

I do have a saw that can sever (crosscut) a 2x4 in 5 strokes, as Tom King likes. Mine is 8-15-45-45-010. I have a ways to go to file away the rust pits in the gum line, but hopefully it can cut more than 1-2 sticks between resharpenings before I cast off this mortal coil. It was a rust bucket in the door, a bit of a lark, grind parameters from Rob Lee.

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