Handsaw procurement options?


matthew-s

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I'm looking to get a rip and crosscut saw for "gross" operations.

From what I gather, the best options are get a lie nielsen panel saw, or get a tuned up disston or similar.

I'm assuming the tuned up disston is the better value, and would provide similar or identical performance (or better?) to the lie nielsen, correct?

If so, where do I find a reliable source for a tuned up saw? Some of the top search results have little or no inventory, some are clearly collectors, costing more than the new LN.

I have little time for the hobby, so I'd rather build stuff than restore old tools.

Thanks in advance!

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If your looking to just cut wood fast, and know you'll still need to plane it to finish size. You can do what I do. I have one of the newer Stanley "finish carpenter" saws that cost around $25 at the big box stores. The teeth look nasty etc. BUT, I can rip 5/4 Cherry strait and fast. I work 95% with hand tools. The 5% is my drill press! So it's important that it does the job or it's costing me $$$.

 

This doesn't mean that I won't have another LN Saw in my future. I already have 3 that I use for joint work! :)

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If your looking to just cut wood fast, and know you'll still need to plane it to finish size. You can do what I do. I have one of the newer Stanley "finish carpenter" saws that cost around $25 at the big box stores. The teeth look nasty etc. BUT, I can rip 5/4 Cherry strait and fast. I work 95% with hand tools. The 5% is my drill press! So it's important that it does the job or it's costing me $$$.

This doesn't mean that I won't have another LN Saw in my future. I already have 3 that I use for joint work! :)

Thanks. I do have a short (say 16-18" maybe) Stanley filed crosscut from what I can tell. Purchased before I was interested in handwork.

I do have 3 joinery saws, so you are right I'm looking to compliment those.

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I have 3 hand saws that I've had for 50 or more years, a 7TPI, a9TPI and an 11TPI, and I sharpen them maybe once a year unless I screw up and hit something I shouldn't!  I have an 1800's saw vise, and 3 files and a saw set. That will do any rough cutting I'll ever need.  It's a skill well worth knowing and will serve you a lifetime.   You might look on ebay!

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I'd skip the panel saws.  You can still get NOS Sandvik handsaws off of ebay fairly cheap.  I use handsaws a lot.  I have one of each of the old Stanleys, and a bunch of the fairly new Sandviks.  I also sharpen them myself, and the Sandviks are my favorites as users.  Some people buy a saw because of the way the handle looks.  You don't sound like one of those, so try one of the Sandviks from model no. 270 through 288.  There are almost always some on ebay, and often still with the cardboard sleeve that they came in.  Get an 8 point, and one of the 24" rip saws (don't know why they only made them in 24") and you will be set for a while.

 

Here's an example:  http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Hand-Saw-SANDVIK-277-5T-6P-Double-Dragon-Handle-24-034-SWEDEN-/391049624495?&_trksid=p2056016.l4276

 

If you only get ones that look that good, like they havent' even been used, you won't need to worry about sharpening it for a good while.  It will be ready to go to work.  Don't get in a hurry to get one that doesn't look pristine.

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For breaking down boards, go with full size saws.  I never figured out what panel saws were exactly for.  I have a couple that length that fit in the toolbox on my truck, but don't really like them for anything.  One of those NOS Sandvik 8 pt. crosscut saws will cut a spruce (regular construction) 2x4 in 6 or 7 strokes.  That's just factory sharpened.  Hand sharpened, they cut a lot better.  Those rip saws from the factory do pretty good too. 

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True Richard. I don't mind learning the maintenance skills. I don't want to bring a stinker back from the dead. Would like to start with a "sure thing"

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    If you want to learn hand saw sharpening, go to Paul Sellers.com  His videos will give you more info than you can absorb in a day or two, plus he will help in other areas as well.

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Yes, they can be sharpened.  Long light strokes work best, instead of the short hard strokes you see Sellers doing-many times better for getting more life out of the files too.  The Rip saws are harder than the crosscuts, but they can be sharpened.  They are not quite as easy to sharpen as the softer older saws, but you can get them sharper, and they hold it longer.  I can cut all the Cypress siding on a good sized house with one sharpening.

 

I think they were sold into the 1960s or 70s-maybe even a little later.  I'm not one that spends a whole lot of time on tool history.  I mainly just use them.

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Not trying to highjack to conversation but just as a side note to this discussion, I have a hand saw that was hand made by my Great Grandfather in the early 1800's.  I actually have a claw hammer, some kind of plane and the saw all hand made by him.  The way the story goes he was a carpenter and then a cabinet maker.  Back then the first thing you did as an apprentice was make your tool box and then your tools.  You can see some forge and other milling marks on the steel although everything is straight and true.  I have always thought it would be nice to get the saw in working order but that is way beyond my pay scale and I am to afraid to take it some where and have someone who thinks they know what they are doing screw it up.  So it just hangs prominently in my shop of power tools. 

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Makin, I'd love to see pictures.

 

cj,   I've bought NOS ones, still in the cardboard sleeve from 25 to 45 dollars.  I bought some new ones in the '70s, when I first started liking them so much.  Since those first two or three,  most of mine have come off ebay, and they do go for a fairly wide range of prices, but do come up pretty often.  I didn't take really good care of my first ones, so wanted to get replacements in perfect shape.   After the first couple of those, they kept showing up, and I kept buying them when I could get a pristine one cheap.  Some people ask ridiculous prices for them, but they don't sell, or at least not to me.  There are people on ebay also who tune up, and sell old saws, which I understand work well too.   The only Sandvik rip saws I have, or have seen are 6 pt.  My most used rip saw is a D8 4-1/2 pt.

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From Hand Tool Essentials from Popular Woodworking (which I highly recommend) Christopher Schwarz recommends http://vintagesaws.com.

I haven’t bought from them but have checked out their site. Could be just what you are looking for.

Funny, I have that book but overlooked that site.

Unfortunately it looks like they have effectively zero inventory.

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Let us know how it cuts after you get it.  The teeth on those can be sharpened several times before you need to worry about putting any more set in them.  That's the condition I like to find them in too.  I had looked at that one, but already have two like that.

It will be a few months before I put it to use. I am moving the Hawaii in the beginning of May and won't be settled from at least a couple months after that. I just was trying to fill out my saw stash before I leave the mainland. 

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