A tip for making saws easier to start

[jmk89]

I was cutting some joinery over the last few evenings and I was trying to apply the Cosman concept (as popularised by Shannon (Renaissance Woodworker)) of taking the weight off the blade as I started so that the corner of the stuff does not catch in a gullet and tear out the corner.

The idea is to try to start a kerf which will eventually be long enough to support the saw blade on at least 2 and even a few more teeth, and if you muck up starting, then as we all know, things go downhill quickly from there.

I started to try to lift using my normal grip, but found that, whatever I tried to do, a death grip started to develop with my index finger and thumb. As we all know, the death grip is antithetical to accurate sawing and especially to starting the cut straight and vertical.

So I tried out another technique which I developed from something I was taught when I used to pay golf - keeping my main grip on the saw (using a pistol grip handle, by the way) firm but relaxed, I tightened the grip on the handle of my pinky. This took up the weight of the saw tip (a kind of fulcrum was formed I suppose and the weight of the saw was offset by the force of the pinky grip) without putting tension in the whole grip. Once a kerf had started, the pinky could be relaxed too and sawing could continue as normal. I didn't get any hangups on the corner, and I found it easier to get the kerf started straight and vertical. Nirvana!

So if starting your saw is a problem for you and you find the Cosman concept a bit tricky try out some pinky pressure.

[RenaissanceWW]

Nice tip Jeremy, pinky tip that is. One of these days I need to pay close attention to what is going on when I start a cut. These days I just start it and forget but really breaking down what is physically happening could be really interesting.