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/ge...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.