3 Principles of Hand Sawing
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- čas přidán 12. 09. 2024
- Follow these 3 principles and all your saw cuts will be better. Its sounds sensational but truly it boils down to just these 3 things.
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This takes me back to my childhood. I was my grampa's shop helper from the time I could walk. I adored him and loved being in his shop with him. My grandmother even made me my canvas apron. I helped clean, and carry items and all the while grampa was teaching me the principles of woodworking. By age ten, I had been using handtools and was ready to use some of his old Walker Turner machines. He taught me how to stand and hold my arm in line with my stance. Now at 62, I still love learning new techniques and methods of woodworking. That is what keeps it fun after more than 50 years. Most recently, I have been studying Korean and Japanese joinery. A lot of fun with so many angles through tenons, and mortices in every combination one can think of. It was daunting to look at but once you understand the principles of the methods, it becomes easier along with lots of practice, lol!
Handsawing skills ought to be at the beginning of any instructional course along with sharpening. I'm glad that I'm not the only one who recognizes this.
I never thought about it but I believe you're right - sawing is the single most useful skill for a handtool user who wants to build most household items. Informative video, Shannon. Thank you for sharing.
look at it this way. You can build things using just a saw but you can't with just a plane...well maybe depending on the plane but that sounds just awful.
Thank you for all the wonderful knowledge you bestow, Shannon!
I love your videos. Thank you so much.
I've got even better results with my eyes closed amazingly. This is a really good exercise for principles 2 and 3.
Cheers Alan
I've worked with a few blind woodworkers actually and found myself closing my eyes a fair bit in order to give myself some context to help them. I totally agree that this can be really useful as you can feel and hear when the alignment is off. In fact trying to visually stay on a line is much like gripping the saw too hard and it throws you off.
So, do you have (or can you make) a video that explains to my wife why I need more saws? 🤣
I actually have something like that in The Hand Tool School where I walked through my entire saw nest and explain how I have specialized saws over the years for specific tasks. It definitely fuels the Tool Acquisition Disorder...but I don't think it justifies it to anyone but a fellow fanatic.
See the Inheritance Machining's video, "this tool will tell me my future", around the 1:12 time stamp. He applies the appropriate mathematical equation for calculating the ideal number of lathes. This same formula applies to any tool.
In our case, it would be:
S = n + 1
S = the ideal number you need
n = the number of saws you own
So, in a nutshell, the ideal number of saws is always one more than you already have.
How can she deny math, right? LOL!
Good luck!
I have a sticker that says n+1 on the top tube of my gravel bike. That scientific proof applies to all walks of life.
@@davidwilliams1383
Jist now found your site, and bou do you have some great projects. I'll looking at some of those really closely, particularly the joinery bench, blanket chest, and tea chest.
While I'm at it, im curious what that smaller carcasse saw you're using is? Looks very nice!
Its a Bontz carcass saw
Good advice. But I see the cutline better when I'm using a lightweight Japanese saw with a pull cut. The same three principles apply - seeing the line, body alignment, and let the saw do the work. I also have fitted my saws with western style handles which I find more comfortable.
Interesting. How did you hang the western handles? Inline (0 degrees)? Do you use them at bench height or more low like a traditional Japanese bench and how does the western handle respond to that?
Hi Shannon - do you know why backless handsaws will whip or oscillate side to side on the return stroke sometimes? It seems to happen for me even if I’m careful to not drag the saw and keep it exactly in the middle of the cut.
Absolutely! Principle #3, your body is not aligned from saw back to wrist to elbow to shoulder. If sawing on a lower saw bench then step forward with your standing leg and bring the shoulders into that geometric plane. The saw will quiet the rattle when the alignment is right. If sawing on a bench hook at a higher bench you need to step back to quiet the rattle. Perfect illustration of the third principle.
Thank you! It worked
Looks like I'm the one who did the cutting/sawing 😅
There's no question that everything in this video about technique is spot on. But the claim that all sawing problems are corrected by fixing your technique is a little over the top. It assumes that the saw is correctly set up. If the teeth have asymmetric set, or the blade has a kink, or the saw has any number of other issues, you're going to have problems even with the best technique in the world. It's true that a poor workman always blames his tools, but sometimes a good workman does, too.
Sawing is one of the only areas where I think you can blame your tool. But that is the topic for an entirely different video. One I actually have covered on this channel as well as intensely within The Hand Tool School.