Pull saws

[Pattree]

Over the two years that I’ve been here I’ve noticed that pull saws probably rank among the top ten items discussed.

I use a Japanese pull saw for domestic carpentry.
I use a similar pull saw in the garden for pruning.
I have a little 120mm Opinel pull saw which I very rarely use. I have just cut some short pieces of dog wood but mainly for fun.

But:
Once I’m away from home I cannot remember ever resorting to one, even though I carry a garden centre (Made by “Dunno”) folding pull saw and the Opinel in my fire drum.

What do you guys use yours for when away from home?

 

[TeeDee]

Technically - does a Pull cord started petrol chainsaw count ?

 

[Pattree]

Technically no!
Pedantically yes -

There is of course that hackneyed story about the Irishman and the chainsaw but I’m guessing that his early attempts were reciprocating

 

[Toddy]

I have, and liked, the Japanese pull saws...for small fine stuff.
I loathe them for trying to cut through rough timber, anything hard or gnarly.
I can get a better result using the old, thicker, push saws, without any flexing of the blade, or damaging fine almost overly-hard teeth. I can re-sharpen my old push saws, I throw away the Japanese pull ones when they blunt.

Each to their own, but as I understand it, in the far East they don't use oak, elm, beech, and other hard/hard woods as we do. Their Cedar is a soft wood, as is the Japanese fir...which has a remarkably straight grain...unlike much here.

I think it's horses for courses, what you find works for you.

I know I didn't look for a pull saw when I was cutting up the flooring for the loft, nor when I was cutting up apple and cherry wood.

M

 

[Pattree]

I would have agreed with you some years ago. I took pride in sharpening my old panel and tenon saws. I own a saw set though I’ve misused my flatstone slip and my fine acute angle files more recently.

This week I have cut through two railway sleepers with my pull saw. Much much quicker than getting out my mains powered reciprocating saw and using that. (The whole getting and setting - not just the cutting). I found the pull saw invaluable in lifting tongue and groove flooring. Luckily the house is old enough not to have much of that.

But out with the tipi - I just don’t use a saw.

 

[Toddy]

Depends what your sleepers were made from....they're often soft wood like pine and larch. Not always, oak, hornbeam, etc., are used too. The railways use all sorts, just the situation where they're being used.

I nearly put the pull saws into the thread on fads

I do have them, I do use them, but I admit I prefer an old well set panel saw if anything big is being worked.
Thinking on it, I rarely actually choose to use the pull saw, even for small light stuff. Tenon saws get used a fair bit. Finer cut, etc.,

 

[demographic]

Not so much from me.
Good for pruning but they spelch out on the good side but western saws don't, the side with the cutline is neater.
Plus they're generally quite expensive and touch one nail or get em wet and that cost builds up fast.
So not much cop on a roof or shuttering.
My handsaws cost six quid a pop and if I hit a bit of ingrained concrete on a shutter face (I usually scrape em to minimise that) I don't cry too hard.
Japanese tooth pattern and hitting something hard really causes problems.

I really like some Japanese tools (Tajima Inkline being one) but quite frankly you can keep the pullsaws in the gardening department.

 

[HillBill]

I have some Silkys. I always bend or break them as i am too used a two way saw. I need to replace the blades before they are blunt. Does that make them worse? No. I't just means im stuck in my ways i guess. I get more power in the push than the pull...Just ask our lass.

 

[Pattree]

Does everyone cut from the top down?

While in Africa I saw hand saws being used cutting upwards. The users thought it was very odd that we cut downwards through, say, a sheet of plywood. They asked how we could see the line we were cutting. Their way most of the sawdust fell away from the work.

Now most of these guys were using panel saws but I’m guessing that a pull saw would work very well cutting upward. I never saw a hand saw being used anywhere in my Asian travels

I feel an experiment coming on.

 

[HillBill]

Does everyone cut from the top down?

While in Africa I saw hand saws being used cutting upwards. The users thought it was very odd that we cut downwards through, say, a sheet of plywood. They asked how we could see the line we were cutting. Their way most of the sawdust fell away from the work.

Now most of these guys were using panel saws but I’m guessing that a pull saw would work very well cutting upward. I never saw a hand saw being used anywhere in my Asian travels

I feel an experiment coming on.

A cut is made where needed. Sometimes more than one. A thick heavy horizontal branch, assuming the tree is alive and you only need that one branch, requires a cut from both top and bottom,(bottom first, a bit away from the trunk, and top second, closer to the trunk) in order to create a hinge that wont tear the bark away from the rest of the tree when it falls. Then you trim off the 'hinge'. Bottom up is always easier for that part. Many times you need to cut horizontally, how do you go top down or bottom up in a situation like that?

 

[Pattree]

Yeah. Wherever there is a 90%, there Is of course a 10%

 

[HillBill]

Yeah. Wherever there is a 90%, there Is of course a 10%

The 10 % being just cut where ever you feel like it?

Apologies if that wasn't in response to me... but i see no percentages in previous post. On a forum such as this, most people dont think of cutting plywood before they think of cutting actual wood.

 

[C_Claycomb]

I have a Laplander and a Silky Big Boy. When away from home, they get used for cutting that wood which I need to cut. I do like a made on site bucksaw for big firewood, but the folding saw packs easier and deploys faster.

I love my Japanese carpentry saws. Have about 10 of assorted patterns. I do have two cheap western panel saws, one with Japanese style teeth but push cutting, and one with impulse hardened traditional western teeth. That last is the one I abuse because it leaves a such a rough cut finish. I like the pull type when work holding is limited, as it often is away from the workshop.

 

[demented dale]

bow saw for me. biggest you can get. never used anything else but I have never found one that cuts straight x

 

[Dave Budd]

I use both pull saws and push saws for carpentry, depending on the job. If it's a thin kerf I reach for my pull saws and for most other things I use a push saw. Partly it depends on how I am holding the workpiece too (if I'm holding it down with my knee or hand, then a push saw is much easier!).

If I'm working in the woods, which i do most days, I only use silky pull saws (or a chainsaw). I've only ever bent cheap versions and a silky pole saw (it's hard to avoid bending things when they are 4m up a tree!). My proper silkys have been going for years and I've only replaced one blade due to dulling (I was cutting through muddy wood). There is a reason the forestry and arbiculture industries use Silky and not cheaper versions or bachos They do require a different mindset to get the technique right and not push with them; basically you have to forget how you use a push saw! The curved blades are easier when it comes to cutting large wood, but require the most adjustment in technique. I prefer these pull saws over bowsaws because they don't jump about, are better balanced (so don't twist in the hand/cut) and take up less space (particularly useful when cutting limbs from a tree or coppicing with it).

Always horses for courses as with any tool, but getting used to the thing in your hand is the most important part

 

[Dave Budd]

as an additional comment to my mentioning of the change of technique. I saw a video on socials a while ago of a Japanese carpenter being given a western saw to cut some joists with. Despite (apparently) many years in the trade, he struggled the same way with the idea of pushing to cut and it was both amusing and interesting to see how long it took him to adjust his mindset to being able to make the saw cut wood and not just slide about in a wonky groove. I think after the third or fourth joist he was starting to get it and just looked a bit awkward.

 

[slaine_23]

Does everyone cut from the top down?

While in Africa I saw hand saws being used cutting upwards. The users thought it was very odd that we cut downwards through, say, a sheet of plywood. They asked how we could see the line we were cutting. Their way most of the sawdust fell away from the work.

Now most of these guys were using panel saws but I’m guessing that a pull saw would work very well cutting upward. I never saw a hand saw being used anywhere in my Asian travels

I feel an experiment coming on.

Wouldn’t the cut narrow and grab the saw as the wood naturally dropped due to gravity? Therefore folding onto the blade? (Unless there’s a trick to it?)

 

[Broch]

A cut is made where needed. Sometimes more than one. A thick heavy horizontal branch, assuming the tree is alive and you only need that one branch, requires a cut from both top and bottom,(bottom first, a bit away from the trunk, and top second, closer to the trunk) in order to create a hinge that wont tear the bark away from the rest of the tree when it falls. Then you trim off the 'hinge'. Bottom up is always easier for that part. Many times you need to cut horizontally, how do you go top down or bottom up in a situation like that?

Mmm... I think you mean the bottom cut closer to the trunk and the top one further away? If your top one is nearer the trunk it can still tear the bark.

 

[HillBill]

Mmm... I think you mean the bottom cut closer to the trunk and the top one further away? If your top one is nearer the trunk it can still tear the bark.

I thought that's what i had said. My bad, you are correct.

 

[HorseGuy]

Over the two years that I’ve been here I’ve noticed that pull saws probably rank among the top ten items discussed.

I use a Japanese pull saw for domestic carpentry.
I use a similar pull saw in the garden for pruning.
I have a little 120mm Opinel pull saw which I very rarely use. I have just cut some short pieces of dog wood but mainly for fun.

But:
Once I’m away from home I cannot remember ever resorting to one, even though I carry a garden centre (Made by “Dunno”) folding pull saw and the Opinel in my fire drum.

What do you guys use yours for when away from home?

I use them to trim sections of hedge and a few trees which the farmer cannot reach with his tractor and its massive industrial sized hedge trimmer tool attachment. I then cut up any suitable diameter pieces into manageable chunks and store them in a dry place for at least a year before burning them on the little coal fire at home to help heat the house.

I do have access to battery powered tools but prefer to do it by hand because it's fun and helps to keep me fit and strengthen my arm muscles. I also feel that sawing wood is good for the mind and spirit. There is something about the concentration of sawing wood safely which helps to clear the mind in a pleasant zen kind of way. Especially if you do it outdoors surrounded by nature.