Saw advice

[Stew Denton]

Blake, you may already know the following, and I am sure that almost all of the folks on this site know the following hand saw basics, but thought it would not hurt to list some basic information for the very small number who do not. When you ask a question about saw choices you will get a lot of answers because not everyone has the same likes and dislikes, and there are many different types of woodworking done. Obviously folks who build a lot of wooden toys will use different tools than the person who is a cabinetmaker. That said, there are a few basics that we all know:

Generally speaking larger saws are a better choice for working with larger dimension lumber. Likewise larger tooth sizes cut more quickly on thicker wood than do saws with smaller teeth. This in many ways due to the gullet sizes of the teeth. Smaller teeth have smaller gullets, and these will fill up with sawdust more quickly than larger gullets, and when full the saw no longer cuts as the full gullets prevent most of the tooth length from reaching the wood. Thus, if you are ripping 12/4 oak, you will want a 3 to 4 1/2 point saw, if cross cutting that oak you may want a 6 point cross cut. Of course there is a price because as always there is no free lunch. The coarser toothed saw will cause more tear out on the underside of the board you are cutting and also leave a rougher surface. Because the longer saw blade allows you to take longer cutting strokes, the longer saw allows for faster cutting.

Rip saws require larger tooth sizes for the same thickness of lumber than do cross cut saws. My finish rip saw is a 7 point but I like a 12 point for a finish cross cut. This for 3/4" stock. For rough cutting lumber to size you generally want a relatively fast sawing saw, thus for ripping of 3/4" lumber, a 4 to 5 point rip is a good choice, as is an 8 point cross cut. Remember, I am thinking in carpenter terms. Most of the carpenters I knew used those two sizes for framing, etc., back when you still did a lot of sawing with hand saws. (I haven't worked full time as a carpenter in over 40 years, but do almost all of my own carpentry, help the kids on their houses, help friends, and do some carpentry for our church.) A good number of carpenters used a 10 point for finish work, and a number of others used a 12 point, I am a 12 point guy. All of the carpenters I knew, and I didn't know a lot, used an 8 point for framing, because an 8 point cross cut worked well for crosscutting 2X dimension lumber stock as well as 3/4" stock, and also worked well for cutting plywood. Back then those guys typically used a hand saw a lot more than most hobby woodworker normally will.

With regard to set, soft woods do better with more set than do hardwoods. You will like less set on the hardwoods. Framing lumber is usually kiln dried, but it is often only kiln dried down to maybe 16% moisture, whereas in our dry country it will eventually air dry down to probably something like 8% moisture or perhaps even 6% moisture at times. In more humid areas it won't air dry down to those moisture levels. Treated lumber, even if stamped "kiln dried" will be much wetter than that 16% moisture. Why is this important? Simple: wetter lumber needs a saw with more set.

With regard to size, guys who do mostly fine woodworking will do fine with a panel saw (one 24" or shorter), and a 20" or 22" will do fine. You don't cut up that much lumber, as opposed to a framing carpenter that uses a hand saw a lot. If I am going to make trusses or something that requires a lot of sawing, like the overwhelming majority, I will use a circular saw, but for when working on something that requires a modest amount of sawing I use a hand saw. For that work, I want a 26" saw, and since all of my handsaws were bought used or inherited, most are 26" saws because that is the size most carpenters and even hobbyist and home owners used in days gone by.

That said, for years I got along just fine with 3 saws, 8 & 12 pt cross cut, and a 7 point rip, doing most of my sawing. That said, I did have a ratty corroded 4 1/2 point rip, but when young I put way too much set in it, and never got back to fixing the set. I ought to restore it sometime and fix the set, because if i had a good 4 & 1/2 point rip, I would use it a lot more than I do. I use the 4 1/2 point once in a while as is, and have used a 6 point rip some. The fact that I still use my 7 point rip for almost all of my ripping tells me that, for what I do, it is a good choice. It also is the case that I don't do tons of ripping.

Thus, most of us have to make compromises because we can have the perfect saw for every task. I now have quite a few saws, most bought cheap years ago at garage sales or inherited, and could set up several to fit the "ideal" saw for lot of tasks, but I don't because I can get buy pretty well with the 4 types of saws I described. That said, I do have more than I need. I probably use somewhere between 8 and 12 of the saws I have, but again, could get along just fine with 4, and if only using 1" stock, or thinner, could do very nicely with just 3. Even when I use some of the less used of those 8 to 12 saws, most have the same tooth sizes that I have listed, the main other difference is length, and I do have duplicates that get used quite a bit.

Regards,

Stew