Guess what tool I needed but didn’t have with me today! Since I emptied and removed my truck boxes to move something huge, I haven’t quite returned all the tools to the box. I’ve been carrying nearly 100 hand tools for the past forever and thought I’d go through them and carry just what I need. Today I needed a sheetrock saw and didn’t have one with me so I used a razor knife.

Experience:

Wow. I’ve been using one of these for 20+ years and I never knew it was called a ‘jab saw’! The Stanley 20-556 6-Inch FatMax Jab Saw seems to be popular. Mine of course looks like nothing special, resembling this Goldblatt Tool 6″ Jab Saw for $4. Though it doesn’t look special and I have no attachment to this one other than it’s mine, this saw has served long enough. The model saw I have, see photo, should not be called a jab saw because if you were to jab drywall it would bend. You have to hammer this one straight on, which doesn’t mean you can’t bevel cut around an outlet. This is a piece of crap I’ve used a million times.

I’m ready to spend the extra $6 for a new Irwin ProTouch Drywall / Jab Saw or the Stanley 6-Inch FatMax Jab Saw but I’m content with this one until I need a new one.

Sometimes I liken my learning to hacking my way through a jungle, seldom taking time to cut a precise path. In my haste to use a tool to complete a task I sometimes overlook features of the tool, possibly even features that would improve my experience.

I recently added the Allway Tools Handy Saw to ToolboxBlog.com as one of the tools in my red toolbox. That Handy Saw I had owned since I was a youngin’. I dicsovered I also own this very old Allway Tools hand saw.

Even though I’ve owned a Handy Saw since I was a kid, it was only today that I learned the blade can fit the handle in more than one way, adding to the functionality for just my application; making cuts in tight spaces.

Check out this old saw:

Reviewing this hand tool for toolboxblog.com refreshed my willingness to carry the tool in my everyday box. Though I will likely use a hacksaw foremost and the Stanley 20-220 Cushion Grip Multi Saw for some specialty cuts; the rigidity and practicality of this Allway Tools Handy Saw are worthwhile.

From My Red Toolbox comes a coping saw; the Eclipse 7CP, made in England. Initially, coping wood trim was never a big favorite of mine and happened only when my boss made me. Now, I don’t mind coping an occasional piece of crown or large base cap for a better fit than mitering.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Experience:

I started my carpentry career remodeling the Victorian style houses of San Francisco. Inside those decorative homes, sometimes all the trim would be coped.

Joining wood molding by method of coping saw results in a high-quality inside corner.

In order to describe my common use for this saw; the process of coping trim, let’s imagine we have to put crown molding in a 10′ x 12′ rectangular room. We cut two boards the full length of the wall with square butt-joints and install them at each end of the room. The two missing lengths are cut the full length, 12 feet, and then comes the cool part. We cut the molding profile into the end of the board with the coping saw so that it mates against the first pieces we installed.

Ironically, the easiest way to figure out the trim profile is to bevel the piece on the miter saw, at which point you may be asking why you are bothering with a coping saw.

The coping joint allows the wood trim to shrink and expand without the joint opening. Coping is old-school but it yields a higher quality product than today’s machine-cut miter joints because it allows for expansion and installs perfectly on imperfect 90º corners.

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Links:
Robert Larson 540-2000 Coping Saw
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This hacksaw has been mine since I was a small child. That means it’s vintage but not quite an antique, thanks. I kept this funky little hacksaw in My Red Toolbox for metal cuts in tight spaces or the odd emergency cut.

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Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Experience:

I stopped by my parents house about 20 years ago and found an old toolbox of mine. Actually it was a toolbox made for me, out of wood, by a craftsman and mentor. It’s got my name right on the top and I’ve had it since I was nine or ten years old. Inside I found this hacksaw and I threw it into My Red Toolbox for use on the job.

This type of hacksaw is not easy to use, the blade bends easily. I don’t care to buy replacement blades and have taken it out of the Red Toolbox and retired it. I do use a straight handled device for similar applications called the Stanley 20-220 Multi Saw that’s a little more functional.

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Links:

I’ll admit I was a little surprised to find these for sale at Amazon.com
Allway Tool #HSN Handy Hand Saw/Blades
Handy Saw Blades Set of 2- Met

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From my Red Toolbox, one old but good Crafstman hacksaw. To be honest, I pretty much hate having to hacksaw through some metal this or that. If I can, I’ll use a sawzall or grinder or jigsaw or anything with a motor before reaching for a hacksaw.

Experience:

Here is the first tool from my Red Toolbox which I carry in my truck to every job. My red toolbox has tools I don’t use everyday but need for many carpentry tasks. One tool from that box that sees a lot of use through the years is the hacksaw.

The Craftsman saw I’ve been using is an old one. The one in my shop is an even older antique. Here’s a link to the highest rated hacksaw on Amazon.com today; The DEWALT DW3970 12-Inch High Tension Hack Saw Frame

A tool inherited from a friend and mentor, my Marples Bow Saw hangs proudly in a prominent spot on my wall of tools but sees very little use throughout the years. Also known as a Frame Saw the traditional Bow Saw is a rip saw used for resawing. Fitted with a narrow blade a Frame Saw is very similar to the smaller Coping Saw used for cutting curves. A Frame Saw with a narrow blade used for curved cutting might be called a Turning Saw.

Experience:

I have a few tools that mean more to me than their function. This Marples Woodworking tool is one example of a tool that I value but rarely use. My Marples Bow Saw is comprised of Beechwood cheeks, stretcher and toggle with a chord tensioner.

I have used this saw for a set of curved cabinet feet and a few dovetail cutouts but I prefer my Jap saws for almost all my straight hand sawing. Saying that brings to mind a feature of the Frame/Turning Saw which is a tensioned blade. With constant tension on a thin blade a push cut delivers the effectiveness of my Jap-style pull saws.

On the jobsite I regularly used a cheap coping saw on crown and fancy base moldings and in my shop I have a Band Saw. My affinity for shop work will no doubt put this old device to work again one day but for now it hangs on the wall in wait. It hangs displayed in memory, in reminder and as inspiration.

A saw with many names – Which is it – a Bow Saw, Frame Saw, Fret Saw, Coping Saw, Rip Saw or Turning saw? Hahah… It’s a Frame Saw referred to as a Bow Saw which can be used as a Turning Saw. Traditionally the design was used as a resawing Rip Saw. Modern woodworking has abandoned the design but this saw can perform a multitude of hand-sawing functions.

Links:

Check out the Gramercy Bow Saw for interesting information on the Bow Saw.

Switching from the British backsaw to the Japanese pull saw was the second most important fundamental change in my toolbox. The economically priced Gyokucho Ryoba Noko Giri is perfect for my interior carpentry work. With replacement blades less than $15 this is the perfect jobsite tool. It’s flexible, precise and quick.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Experience: I have a large collection of Japanese saws. I haven’t yet bought the plastic-handled American copies – even if they are made in Asia. I prefer Japan Woodworker for the real thing. My local Woodworker’s Club, (Woodcraft), has a few Japanese pull saws but never seems to have the affordable replacement blades or handles I use regularly.

Fortunate to live in the Bay Area for a decade, tools from the Japan Woodworker store had a profound impact on my early skill development.

I hold an overwhelming amount of respect for the Japanese craft of woodworking. Since the Jap Saw is one of my top 10 tools, I would like to share a very personal story.

As a child, I had a fatherly figure in my life who was a cabinetmaker and true craftsman. Just as I matured and started my life in woodworking, cancer rapidly ate away his.

I went to him in the last few days and pleaded him, irrationally as it may have been, to stay alive so he could take me into his shop and share the knowledge I needed. …for I had no idea how to do… woodworking.

The last thing he said to me was “You will have to learn it yourself” Something about, Go out there and find the answer.

When I began searching for my way among the tools of our trade, I found the discipline of the Japanese woodworker befitting. Though I bastardized any ‘discipline’ part, I took to heart some essentials: sharpening, proper steel, methods and even style. Beautiful, simple, effective – precise!

[I started this article by saying "...the Japanese style pull saw was the second most important fundamental change in my toolbox." Sharpening was the single-most important. - Ironic, isn't it.. that as I have read: An apprentice in Japan will learn to sharpen before allowed to handle a master's tools.]

My master died before I spent a day in his shop. I never met another and have always kept to myself, learning from books and hands-on experience. I have never really talked with other woodworkers, never joined a group, never worked at a shop with others nor discussed techniques through my decades of professional and hobby experience.

The Japanese hand saw is as close to the spirit of my woodworking as any. (other than my Japanese chisels, ) Cutting with these saws is a pleasure, if not a revelation.

I can’t recommend the Japanese style saws enough. With their long handles and varying shaped blades these saws not only cut beautifully but make me feel precise, efficient and expert when I’m using them. I honestly think proper tools make the craftsman, it’s just a matter of finding the right one for you. This is my hand saw.

My go-to shop saw was the mortise blade in the photo below. The rounded tip on this blade can be used to start a cut, just about anywhere!