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RWW 187 Which Saw to Get First

23 comments
10 years ago
Hand Tools     Videos

what is a carcass sawI get asked which saw a beginning woodworker or even someone wanting to use more hand tools should buy first. There are a lot of things that make this answer “it depends” but I feel pretty strongly that it should be a carcass saw. This video is a detailed look at why it should be the first saw you buy and depending on how much hand tool work you do, maybe the last saw you buy.

PS: sorry I forgot to correct for the fisheye effect in a few of the wide angle shots, I think it looks kinda cool, but I’m sure someone out there won’t like it.

Saws Used in the Episode

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ron howes

Thank you Shannon, very informative and well done. I have collected a number of saws and now have a need to ‘nest’ them. Is your saw till plan for sale. I have already admired it. Keep up the good work. I really enjoy everything you produce.

Ron

    Shannon

    Thank you Ron. For now the saw til is only available as part of The Hand Tool School semester 1. However it is really simple: a dovetailed box with a dado’d divider and a dovetailed drawer with a ship lap back. The size is custom to your saws so my dimensions would be different from yours. Give it a try I’d love to see what you come up with.

mitch wilson

If you are going for a “jack-of-all-trades” saw, why not go with a hybrid saw configuration, alá Mark Harrell? (Matt Cianci calls this a sash saw, if I remember correctly, even at 12″.) Rather than a dedicated crosscut saw.

    Shannon

    If you watch/listen closely you will see that the Bad Axe saw I use in this video is in fact a hybrid filed “small tenon” saw. I call attention to that when I voice my reticence to call it a carcass saw since Bad Axe also makes a carcass saw. This is a great solution and really the only difference is a little less rake and fleam in the teeth. I’ll say it again, a rip saw will crosscut and vice versa so anyone can use whichever saw they want. However, as a first saw with a lower learning curve and a good first impression that will encourage the user to get more saws and embrace the joy of sawing, a cross cut filed saw fits that bill. The slightly easier and cleaner cut is easy to use and control. Speed may be sacrificed a bit but the beginning saywer probably doesn’t want speed, but would rather like the ease of starting and smooth run. As their skill improves and they discover any saw is easy to start with good technique they can tweak the nest or even the geometry of the existing saw, but until then I firmly believe the cross cut will serve as the better all around user. Just like I showed in the video, tackling a wide variety of tasks with ease.

kobi

Thanks for the informative video. Could you tell me more about the small work bench behind you on the thumbnail at the begining of the video?

jon

Shannon, as always I love the videos you put out. Gives me something to look forward to. Thanks for all your hard work.

Mike Hill

Should I let my inability to sharpen a saw dissuade me from purchasing a quality hand saw?

    mitch wilson

    No, definitely not. It’s like starting with good planes. Once you get into using them, you learn how to sharpen the blade properly. If the saw bug ends up biting you, you will then decide to learn how to sharpen a saw. It actually is rather easy. Get a DVD or two and/or take a class.

    Shannon

    Actually that should encourage you. Having a saw that has already been sharpened once means that to resharpen it you only need to match the existing geometry. It is stupid simple to do and I believe the best place for the beginning saw sharpening to start. This was actually the subject of my latest live session in The Hand Tool School so this topic is very fresh in my mind.