japanese saw

Re: japanese saw *LINK*

Leo Cuellar

I've had really good luck with this saw, provided I don't hit any brads or staples.

It is my go to saw for most things including shortenings boards for the table or handheld power saw.


Vaughan Bear Saw

same saw

Jack Guzman from Maine

That is the same exact saw I have. I couldn't find a marples replacement but lee valley sells the same one by a different maker. Also Stanley and Dewalt sell that same saw by a different name . They all are made in japan and are identical in every way I could see. The only difference is the name painted on the blade. I assume there is a factory in japan that mass produces those blades for american use. I'm looking for a saw that won't lose teeth cutting wood.

Re: same saw

Leo Cuellar

I've never had mine loose any teeth except for the times I've hit embedded steel in reclaimed wood, and even then they have bent and not broken. Are you using the Vaughan blade? Different manufacturers often have differing specifications even though the products may look identical. I'm working on blade #3 after about a dozen years, I most often crosscut rough sawn hardwood 1 - 3"s thick that I often forget to brush sand& dirt off of.

Re: same saw

Jack Guzman from Maine

This is the original blade for this saw. I cut red oak and hard maple chair legs exclusively with it. Never been abused or hit anything but wood but I must have cut over a hundred legs since I got it. I just recently noticed it was missing a few teeth and won't cut straight anymore so it's junk. Still cuts but it's useless for my purpose. What I'm looking for is a recommendation for a similar saw but of better quality. I know nothing about Japanese saws but some here do. I'm hoping someone with experience with japanese saws will chime in.

Re: same saw

Leo Cuellar

Sorry, Jack, I have no recommendations for a better saw. These blades were meant to be disposable and I put them in the recycle bin when they wear out or use the steel for other projects.

Re: japanese saw

Charlie

Oh God Jack, not "is there something better." A black hole from which you'll never return.

If it works I wouldn't change a thing. Like any saw, a few missing teeth don't affect anything at all.

I'd use it until they quit making replacement blades for it.

I think theses are the ones I bought...

Kevin French

a few years back

https://www.infinitytools.com/japanese-style-hand-saws?gclid=Cj0KCQjwvLOTBhCJARIsACVldV1NXV5r-CJsLVxnUc9pebA3FiC4SeZEv1aIgtrqqT-quCZMbhcTbIQaAtGsEALw_wcB

Re: I think theses are the ones I bought...

Jack Guzman from Maine

Looks interesting. I may try that one. Price is reasonable. thanks

Re: japanese saw

Bruce McCrory

Your saw is the same one I use. The blades are disposable and can't be sharpened. Given your account, you are a careful user. It's extremely easy to ruin a blade on knots, stones, and random steel. Your saw is pretty sturdy for its size.

I guess new blades are now a lot more than the $15, or so, I paid 3 -4 years ago.

However, a "professional saw" that can be maintained will be far more costly. Even then, you need to find a skilled sharpener which typically means returning the saw to the maker--really expensive. With feather files you can do tentative sharpening.

If you go to a new source of disposable pull saw, make sure the length of the new matches the old--that is how I understand them to match tooth spacing. You have a Ryoba, rip and cross-cut blades. It is still much cheaper than a single blade version. I would still try to replace blades for the saw you have. I went directly to Vaughn for my Bear Saw blades.

This is some of the headache of using Japanese pull saws.

Now you need stand to put them on

Kevin French

Re: Now you need stand to put them on

Jack Guzman from Maine

My saw rack looks like that. Except no stand,just a curved piece of cherry attached to the wall. I cut kerfs into it using the saw that goes in the particular kerf.

Re: japanese saw

Charlie

Yer' going straight down a rabbit hole if you're not careful.

Re: japanese saw

Bruce McCrory

I think Jack is already in the sink. He's just showing the fluttering fingers, the appeal, before being subsumed.

I would think setting a salvaged (western) saw blade on a wooden plate, much like slotting a handle for new saw, would perform the same function.

Re: Bucket O' Propwash

William Duffield

Here's a tip from a couple of old NC furniture shops: Get some surplus 36 grit wide stroke sander belts, glue 'em to the floor, set the chair down and just push it around until it stops wobbling.

not bad idea

Jack Guzman from Maine

Probably worth trying except I don't have enough clear floorspace for it.

Re: Bucket O' Propwash

Charlie

Amen to that.

Also no danger in catching a funny run of grain or a little internal knot and blowing a chunk out of the bottom of a leg.

Re: Bucket O' Propwash

Charlie

I'm pretty sure this was old Charles Neil's favorite approach, God rest his soul.

Re: Bucket O' Propwash

Joe Rogers, North Eastern West Virginia

I see the need for a flat floor here…

Joe

Re: not bad idea

Charlie

Go to about the 6:45 mark in this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oiunzAJgdjw

Re: Bucket O' Propwash

Charlie

See the video I just posted.

Piece of MDF, or a couple layers, works in lieu of a table saw top.

Charles Neil called it a "scoochi board."

Re: not bad idea

Charlie

6:25 mark in the video I just posted.

But....

Jack Guzman from Maine

Actually,in windsor chair building this method wouldn't be ideal. The legs are rarely the same length due to tapered through tenons and varying mortise angles. Being off by a half degree changes the distance between the seat bottom and the bottom of the leg and a slight difference in the size of the tenon or mortise due to reaming will cause the leg to be a different length.I wouldn't want to sand off a 1/4" on three red oak legs to match a short one.

Re: Bucket O' Propwash

William Duffield

I had heard Charles Neal and my mentor both tell very similar stories. I wonder whether their experiences were in the same shop? It makes a lot more practical sense to do it with the table saw, blue tape and PSA pads than to try to find a flat floor and enough sand paper to accommodate any given chair leg pattern.

I learned to do it the same way, with the wedges and pencil taped to a thin piece of wood, and a saw, but there is one more necessary step: After "getting the rock out" it is necessary to round off the bottoms of the legs with a rasp, so that when you set it down hard on the floor, you don't chip off a piece of the leg because the leg extended the farthest anywhere around the edge.

Re: Bucket O' Propwash

Charlie

To Jack's credit though, when making a Windsor (or any 'thrown' chair) you often leave the legs over length and trim to remove wobble and also impart the right amount of backward tilt to the chair. You can't remove an inch of material with sandpaper.

The sandpaper cha-cha-cha is for when you're really close.