Barnacle Bill Magazine March 2016 issue 3 | Page 40

40 The Bosun’s Mate Why use western saws? Well firstly, because you cut on the push stroke the sawdust is pushed away from the work. Pull cut saws, like Japanese saws, deposit the sawdust on the work and this obscures the cutting line. You may have been taught how to use western saws in the past. Depending on how far this training progressed, the muscle memory might well still be there. Investing in a quality set of new western saws would be lovely but costly. Older western saws can be restored and brought back to life. You find that those people who appreciate antique tools enjoy this process as much as using the saw itself and whole businesses exist just to restore and sell antique saws. If you are set on acquiring a set of western saws, car boot sales, eBay, auctions, online specialists and friend’s sheds can all be sources for quality second had saws. The sawing techniques required to master western saws are a bit more involved than those to use Japanese saws, for this reason if you are a total saw virgin and are only really using your saws as a means to an end, for example getting a boat on the water then you might be better off choosing the Japanese option over the western. Japanese saws In the 1990s the rise of affordable electric mitre saws and band saws very nearly saw the demise of the western backsaw. However, there was still demand for hand saws despite this and that demand began to be increasingly met by Japanese saws. The main reason for this was quality. The Japanese obsession with quality in goods meant that the saws being mass produced in Japan were very high quality and to get a western saw of similar quality would have required a significant investment in a craftsman made saw. The result of this was that for amateur carpenters, Japanese saws, especially in the USA became the most popular quality saws for amateur wood work. Japanese saws differ from western saws primarily because they cut on the pull rather than on the push an advantage of this is that it is easier for the novice to keep the saw cutting straight but the disadvantage is that the pull stroke deposits the sawdust on the wood and obscures the cutting mark. Physically they differ most strikingly in the handle, Japanese saws usually have straight handles which are typically made of wood and wrapped in rattan. Japanese blades tend to be smaller, the longest being around 365mm and most commonly found at 240 or 250mm. The blades usually have a much finer kerf than western saws. The teeth on a Japanese saw are also different; they tend to be denser per inch and are sharpened on three sides. The function is slightly different. A western hand saw cuts with great speed if well set up and sharp because effort is applied by the user to cut through the wood. Japanese saws rely on the sharpness of the teeth, they should be held lightly, holding a raw egg firmly being the suggested pressure. Firm but not tight enough to break the egg. The cut should not he forced and the user should allow the blade to do its work. This will result in more strokes but with less overall effort. In a western saw we would typically cut with the nose down, with a Japanese saw we often cut with the nose up which allows gravity to help and removes the temptation to force the blade which will usually ruin it.