by Christopher Schwarz

Comments or questions? Contact Chris at 513-531-2690 ext. 1407 or chris.schwarz@fwpubs.com

Japanese SawsVS.

The Western handsaw, a toolthat cuts on the push stroke andwas the pride of the English-speak-ing world, isn’t the tool mostwoodworkers now reach for whenthey need a handsaw.

It has been replaced by theJapanese saw, which cuts on thepull stroke and once was mockedby Westerners as “backwards.”

The numbers tell the story best:• Sixty percent of the saws

sold by Lee Valley Tools areJapanese-style, says Rob Lee, pres-ident of Lee Valley, one of theworld’s largest hand-tool catalogs.

• Woodcraft Supply Corp.sells 100 Japanese saws for everyWestern saw, says Peter Collins,a product manager for the largecatalog and retail company.

• And Japan Woodworker,which sold many Western saws

The difference is more than just pushing or pulling.

It might shock you to hear this,but in the last decade or somore than three centuries of

a Western tool-making traditionhas been undone.

“You cannot push a chain

in a straight line.But you can pull

a chain in astraight line.

Pushing a sawmakes no sense. I can saw upside

down and over the back of my

head with aJapanese saw

with no problem.”— Harrelson Stanley of

JapaneseTools.com

30 years ago, now sells 1,000Japanese saws for every Westernsaw, says Fred Damsen, the owner.

What caused this shift toJapanese saws? While some sayit’s because sawing on the pullstroke is superior to sawing onthe push stroke, the issue actu-ally is more complex.

And which saw is best? Theprevailing wisdom says Japanesesaws are superior and easier forbeginners to learn. But if you’veever worked with a sharp, well-tuned Western saw, you know thiscan’t be entirely true.

To answer these questions, wedecided to scrutinize the two typesof saws to learn their true dif-ferences, beyond the informationin catalogs. Armed with thisknowledge, you can choose a sawthat’s right for your woodwork-

ing and your budget. Our jour-ney begins in ancient Egypt.

The First HandsawsModern woodworkers would al-most immediately recognize thefirst known metal saws, whichwere excavated in Egypt.

1"

16"

1⁄32"

101⁄2"

Egyptian handsaw

Teeth irregularand set to oneside

Illus

trat

ion

by M

att B

antly

POPULAR WOODWORKING October 200372

popwood.com 73

They had a long, knife-likeblade, a straight grip and cut onthe pull stroke, like a Japanesesaw. Why the pull stroke?

Early Egyptian saws were madewith a thin sheet of copper (asthin as 0.03") and had no rigidspine like the modern backsaw.

“(If they had been used) onthe push stroke, the saw wouldhave buckled and bent,” accord-ing to Geoffrey Killen, author ofnumerous books and articles onEgyptian woodworking and thehead of faculty at the Design andTechnology Department of theStratton Upper School and

Community College in England.What is unusual about these

saws is that all the teeth were set(meaning they were bent) to oneside of the blade. This makes thesaw difficult to steer, and theEgyptians had to come up withingenious ways of wedging thesaw kerf open during each cut,according to Killen.

The advent of bronze toolsbrought some refinements, as didthe iron saws developed by theRomans. But the basic form wasstill a pull saw with a thin blade.

It was the invention of theframe saw (plus teeth set to both

“I continue to use Western-style sawsmostly because they work for me, and Idon’t see enough advantage in pullsaws to completely change the way Iwork and the appliances I use.”

— Don McConnell, contributing editor to Popular Woodworking,professional woodworker and longtime student of traditional woodworking

Phot

os b

y Al

Par

rish

The Westernhandsaw, shownhere being used byDon McConnellwith an overhandrip grip, cuts onthe push stroke.

Western Saws

POPULAR WOODWORKING October 200374

ADVANTAGES OFJAPANESE SAWS:

• Thinner kerf removes less wood,which means less effort.

• The inexpensive saws are ofhigh quality and work very well rightout of the box.

• The teeth are generally harderand can go longer between sharpen-ings. The best Western saws are 52-54on the Rockwell “C” scale. Japanesesaws are 51-58 for the handmadesaws, and 61 and higher for themachine-made impulse-hardenedsaws. While the harder teeth staysharp longer, they also are morebrittle and prone to break.

• There are many manufacturerswho sell a wide variety of saws withdifferent teeth configurations (morethan 100 kinds, by Harrelson Stanley’scount) for every woodworking taskand every type of wood.

DISADVANTAGES:• It’s almost impossible for a

woodworker to sharpen a Japanesesaw. The teeth are too complex onhandmade saws and too hard on theimpulse-hardened ones. Handmadesaws usually go to Japan for sharpen-ing. Impulse-hardened saws becomescrapers or go in the garbage.

• The crosscut teeth are moredelicate. If you hit a knot or cutquickly into particularly tough wood,you could lose a tooth or two.

• The saws are easier to ruin.Because the blade is thin, you canbend it on the return stroke if youpush too hard and the saw isn’taligned properly in the kerf.

• Japanese saws pull sawdusttoward you, obscuring your line.

• Japanese saws made for dimen-sioning lumber (not joinery) haveshorter blades than full-size Westernhandsaws. Depending on the saw, thepull saw might require more strokesto do the same work.

• Japanese saws are designed tobe used in traditional Japanesefashion on low benches. When usedin Western fashion, some Japanesesaws are not always as effective asthey should be.

sides of the blade) that allowedthese thin metal blades to be usedon either the push stroke or thepull stroke – much like a mod-ern coping saw or bowsaw, ac-cording to “The History ofWoodworking Tools” (G. Bell &Sons) by W.L. Goodman.

The frame saw might not havebeen invented by the Romans,but they certainly refined it andproduced a wide variety of them.

This is an important fork inthe road in saw history that af-fects us to this day. The Japanesedeveloped pull saws like theEgyptians, but they never seemto have developed frame saws,according to several students ofJapanese history (though a Chineseframe saw did come into use in15th century Japan).

So the Japanese, with theirscarce metal resources and theirtraditions of working low to theground, stuck with the pull sawand refined it to a high art.

In the West, most of theEuropean continent stuck withthe bowsaw. But the Dutch andEnglish took a different path.In the mid-17th century, widersteel blades became possible thanksto water-driven mills, and themodern handsaw that cuts on thepush stroke was born.

Instead of benches, Japanese craftsmen use low trestles. Sawing a tenon with aJapanese saw this way is efficient and requires sawing at a less awkward angle thanat a high Western bench. However, you need to be in good shape to work this way.

“Here’s a tip forstarting a ryobasaw in a rip cut:

Start the cut withthe crosscut side

(to begin yourkerf) and then

switch to the rip side.”

— Fred Damsen, Japan Woodworker

The West StumblesThe 19th and early 20th centurieswere the golden age of Westernhandsaws. There were hundredsof saw manufacturers, fierce com-petition, high-quality tools anda very hungry market.

But as the demand for quali-ty hand tools declined, so did thenumber of manufacturers. Andquality slipped dramatically.

“Western manufacturersthought it was OK to ship a sawthat was poorly set, dull and hada handle that looked like it wasmade by a third-grade art stu-dent,” says Thomas Lie-Nielsen,owner of Lie-Nielsen Toolworks.“You couldn’t use the saws rightout of the box. It’s no wonder theJapanese ate their lunch.”

When Western saws suitablefor cabinetmaking disappearedoff the shelves, the Japanese sawspicked up the slack.

“In Japan, the product lineshave not been cheapened,” saysLee of Lee Valley Tools. “Evenproducts that have been mass pro-duced have not been cheapened.”

So while it was tough to finda decent new Western saw atalmost any price, the Japaneseexported saws to the West thatwere sharp, straight, perfectly setand inexpensive. A good Japanesebacksaw still costs only about $40.So it’s little wonder that theJapanese saw now is in manyNorth American workshops. Itwas, in many ways, a simple mat-ter of economics.

Facts About Japanese SawsJapanese craftsmen would be quitecurious about the way Westernersuse their saws. For one, we workon a high bench and clamp ourwork when sawing. The Japanesefurniture maker works on a lowsawhorse (6" high or so) and doesnot generally have a vise.

“(Westerners) tend to clampeverything,” says Harrelson Stanleyof JapaneseTools.com. “TheJapanese don’t clamp unless theyhave to. They do some wedging.Mostly they saw in toward a solidobject,” such as the work, whichis secured by their foot, he says.

A second difference is thatmany Westerners use the cross-cut dozuki saw (a saw with a rigidspine) for cutting dovetails, whichis primarily a ripping operation.

The Japanese woodworker in-stead uses a rip-tooth dozuki(which is uncommon in the West)or a rip saw without a back, saysDamsen of Japan Woodworker.That’s because the Japanese phi-losophy on dovetails and tenons

popwood.com 75

ADVANTAGES OFWESTERN SAWS:

• The teeth are more durable thanthose on Japanese saws and arehighly unlikely to break, even underthe worst conditions. The bladesthemselves are thicker and less likelyto buckle in use.

• They will last you a lifetime. Theteeth can be resharpened manytimes. Saws can even be refiled by theuser to a different tooth configurationif their needs change.

• With a little practice, you cansharpen a Western saw with inexpen-sive and easy-to-obtain tools.

• Western dovetail saws that areproperly filed for a rip cut will cutmore aggressively than the crosscut-filed dozuki that’s commonly used fordovetails in the United States.

• They push the sawdust awayfrom your cut line.

• High-quality secondhandWestern saws are both plentiful andinexpensive in most parts.

DISADVANTAGES:• High-quality new or restored

Western saws are more expensivethan their Japanese counterparts.Japanese joinery saws average about$45; the equivalent quality Westernsaw costs $125.

• Inexpensive new Western sawsare – in general – dull and poorly setcompared to similarly pricedJapanese saws. Learning to saw withthese less-expensive tools frustratesmany beginners, swearing them offWestern saws.

• While vintage Western saws areplentiful in most parts of the UnitedStates, you must first learn to restorethem before putting them to work:straightening the blades, fixing theteeth and sharpening.

• The teeth are softer and requiremore frequent sharpening, though itis a task you can do yourself after alittle education and practice.

• In general, the saws are heavierand have a thicker kerf, so theyrequire more effort to use.

is, at times, different than theWestern approach.

“When they cut dovetails theydon’t want the cut too smooth,”he says. “They compress the jointbefore assembly and let it expandand lock the joint.”

Westerners want a smoothercut and are willing to sacrifice thespeed of a rip tooth. Many Japanesedovetail saws for the Westernmarket have some sort of com-bination tooth, in some cases atooth that was designed to cutplywood that also works quitewell for dovetails, Damsen says.

Types of Japanese SawsBut one thing Japanese andWestern craftsmen share is hav-

ing to choose what type of Japanesesaw to buy: a machine-made sawor a craftsman-made saw. Thereare important differences:

• A good-quality machine-made saw costs about $20-$50.The price of a craftsman-madesaw averages $150, and the pre-mium tools are about $250.

• Generally, craftsman-madesaws have softer teeth than themachine-made saws, which aretypically impulse-hardened.Impulse hardening is a fast, high-voltage process that hardens onlythe teeth. While the machine-made saws stay sharp longer, theycannot be resharpened.

Craftsman-made saws can beresharpened and even customizedto the way you work. But this ismeaningless to Western wood-workers, says Frank Tashiro, ownerof Tashiro Hardware, which sellsthe line of ZETA Saws.

“(The sharpener) doesn’t knowyour work so he does the best hecan, so it doesn’t work out,” saysTashiro, who adds that the bestvalue and performance come froma Japanese saw with replaceableimpulse-hardened blades.

But replaceable blades ranklewoodworkers who don’t believein disposable tools.

To counter that, Japanese sawmanufacturers say that once yourimpulse-hardened saw becomestoo dull for woodworking, it isstill plenty sharp for work in thegarden as a pruning saw.

“You can make a nice scraperout of the blade, too,” Damsensays of the saws.

• Another difference is thatFor crosscutting in joinery, the Japanese will use a dozuki (which means “shoulderof a tenon”).There are various ways to grip the saw.

“Don’t choose a tool based on hype.There’s no reason you should have tobuy something made 10,000 miles awayto cut wood.”

— Pete Taran,Vintage Saws

POPULAR WOODWORKING October 200376

many craftsman-made saws aremore delicate because of theirthinner blades. Even the most ro-bust craftsman-made saw shouldnot fall into the hands of a be-ginning woodworker.

“Just because you have a $200saw doesn’t mean you will sawbetter,” says Stanley. “It’s impor-tant to practice the technique.Start with impulse-hardened saws.Don’t get a $250 saw and breakit. As your skills improve you canuse thinner saws.”

When using Japanese joinerysaws, most everyone agrees thatyou shouldn’t be aggressive or sawat a radical angle. Just a bit ofdownward pressure on the pullstroke is all it takes, and youshouldn’t apply any downwardpressure on the return push.

Facts About Western SawsNo one can deny that Japanesesaws cut very well, but so doWestern saws that are sharp andproperly set. The problem is find-

ing Western saws suitable forwoodworking. There are still somemanufacturers of full-size Westernsaws that do a decent job forwoodworking, including E. Garlick& Son, Pax, Paragon, Sandvik/Bahco, Lynx and Augusta. Someof them also make joinery saws –backsaws with a rigid spine onthe blade. And companies suchas Lie-Nielsen and Adria nowmake premium joinery saws thatare the equal of the outstandingsaws of the 19th century.

But by far, the biggest sourcesof quality Western saws are fleamarkets and auctions. Top-of-the-line Disston, Simonds andE.C. Atkins saws can be purchasedfor $5-$25. These, however, canbe rusty, dull and bent. If you haveno desire to restore one of theseold saws, there is an alternative.

Pete Taran runs the web siteVintageSaws.com, which is asawyer’s paradise. He takes clas-sic handsaws and backsaws andreturns them to their former gloryby making them sharp, properlyset and ready to cut. A vintagehighly tuned handsaw or back-saw will cost between $80 and$150 at Vintage Saws.

The site also is a treasure troveof good historical information onsaws. One of Taran’s primary goalsis to teach woodworkers how tosharpen their Western saws, whichis easier than you might think.

He sells the files and saw setsyou need, plus there is a fantas-tic tutorial on his web site thatexplains the process from start tofinish. And if you just want to getyour feet wet, Taran even offersa saw filing kit to get you started.The kit comes with a user-gradesaw with freshly cut teeth, a file,a file handle and complete in-structions. When you’re done,you’ll have some more confidenceand a saw that cuts very well.

Sharpening a Western saw isprobably one of the biggest stum-

bling blocks for woodworkers.“No one knows how to sharp-

en Western saws,” says GrahamBlackburn, author of “TraditionalWoodworking Handtools” (avail-able at blackburnbooks.com) andan instructor at Marc AdamsWoodworking School. “I ask thestudents to bring in their worstplane and their worst saw. Oncethey sharpen their saws they nevergo back to Japanese saws.”

But if you don’t want to learnto sharpen, you still can get a flea-market saw professionally tuned.

We recommend Tom Law ofSmithsburg, Md. We mailed adull, unusable Disston backsawto Law, who charged us $10 to re-shape the teeth, $5 to set the teethand $10 to sharpen the 14-pointrip saw. That $18 saw now cutsdovetails like a dream. (See the“Saw Sources” box for contact in-formation. Law also has a tutori-al video, “Hand Saw Sharpening.”)

Some students of woodworking history think the push stroke was developed in theWest because we work on high benches, unlike Japanese craftsmen who work nearthe floor on low trestles or beams.

Western Rip Teeth • Rip teeth worklike chisels, levering out the grain.Crosscut teeth work like knives, sever-ing the fibers on either side.

Japanese Rip Teeth • The length ofthe rip teeth are graduated on Japanesesaws.They start small near the handleand get larger.

“My favorite illustration has been pruning a tree. Imagine standing 30

feet up, hanging onto a trunk about toremove a branch above you. Would you

rather be pushing or pulling?”— Rob Lee, president, Lee Valley Tools

Western Saw TipsOnce sharpened, a Western sawis easier to use than you mightthink. Here are a few tips:

• Though it sounds obvious,use a rip saw for rip cuts, such asdovetailing. Some dovetail sawsare filed for crosscut. They work

OK, but not as well as a rip saw.• Let the saw do the work.

Don’t use a lot of downward pres-sure on the kerf – this is surelythe No. 1 problem faced by be-ginners. The saw will wander andyou’ll never cut straight.

• Don’t clench the handletightly. Hold the saw with justenough pressure to keep it undercontrol. And use only three fin-gers – your index finger shouldpoint down the blade.

Worst of Both Worlds?All this has to make you wonderwhy someone hasn’t built a sawthat merges the best qualities ofboth traditions. Well, a few com-panies have tried, though noth-ing has been able to challengethe dominance of the pureJapanese-style saw.

And the reason might be il-lustrated by the experience of oneveteran woodworker.

A few years ago, Blackburnwas poking around a flea marketand discovered a beautiful oldSpear & Jackson backsaw.

The saw had a perfectly shapedhandle, much like the one on theoutstanding Lie-Nielsen dove-tail saw. But the blade of this Spear& Jackson was horribly bent. SoBlackburn hung it on his wall.

popwood.com 77

This $18 Disston#4 backsaw cuts

incredibly wellnow that it hasbeen properly

sharpened.Thehandle on vintageWestern saws willfit your hand like a

glove. Laterhandles are

uncomfortable touse and look crude

by comparison.

SAW SOURCESAdria Woodworking Tools604-710-5748 or adriatools.com• Premium Western joinery saws

BlackburnBooks.com• Books and videos on traditionalWestern woodworking

DisstonianInstitute.com• Detailed information on Disstons

EuropeanHandTools.com888-222-8331• E. Garlick and Lynx saws

Geoffrey Killen’s Egyptian Sitegeocities.com/gpkillen/• Information on Egyptian wood-working tools and furniture

Hida Tool800-443-5512 or hidatool.com• Range of Japanese saws

Japan Woodworker800-537-7820 or japanwoodworker.com• Full range of Japanese saws and some Western saws

JapaneseTools.com877-692-3684• Range of Japanese tools, includingsome hard-to-find types

Lee Valley Tools800-871-8158 or leevalley.com• Impulse-hardened Japanese saws• Wide range of Western saws

Lie-Nielsen Toolworks800-327-2520 or lie-nielsen.com• Premium Western joinery saws

Tashiro Hardware206-328-7641 or tashirohardware.com• Impulse-hardened Japanese saws

Tom Law301-824-5223 or 62 W. Water St.,Smithsburg, Md. 21783• Western saw sharpening

VintageSaws.com• Restored vintage Western hand-saws and sharpening supplies

Woodcraft Supply Corp.800-225-1153 or woodcraft.com• Impulse-hardened Japanese sawsand some Western saws

Western Crosscut Teeth • You cansee the simpler secondary bevels (calledthe "fleam") filed on every other tooth.

Japanese Crosscut Teeth • Note thelong slender teeth and three bevelsfiled on each tooth.The tips are discol-ored from impulse-hardening.

“I take issue withJapanese sawsbeing easier touse for beginners.I think it’s justthe opposite. Asharp and tunedWestern saw ismuch easier tolearn to use.”

— Thomas Lie-Nielsen,Lie-Nielsen Toolworks

One day a friend noticed thesaw and offered to send it to Japanto see if they could straighten itout. Blackburn agreed. The sawcame back a few months laterstraight as an arrow but with onemajor and shocking change.

They had filed Japanese-styleteeth on the blade. Trying to keepan open mind, Blackburn gave ita try. “It cuts well,” he says, “butit feels wrong to me. So it stillhangs on the wall.”

Chalk it up to this: When itcomes to traditional hand-toolskills, it’s hard to defy tradition.Now you just have to decide whichtradition is best for you. PW

Fleam