Australian/New Zealand Luthiers Forum

A friend came up with this idea and I felt it was worth sharing.

Ian prefers the feel of a western style handgrip but likes the performance of the Japanese pull saws.

He made a couple of router templates and bingo!
Best of both worlds.
Cheers

Cool idea Pat, I wonder if the feel of a Japanese pull saw is lost in the cumbersome handle?

That's a good point. Would it be a poorer/better feel or just different.
I think his fingers don't behave as they used to. (There's a table saw story in there)
I'll ask how it's working out after a while.
(and maybe borrow his template and try it)
Cheers

I saw someone mention somewhere they cover their japsaw handles with a pool noodle to help with their arthritis

lamanoditrento wrote: ↑

Mon Nov 16, 2020 11:32 am

I saw someone mention somewhere they cover their japsaw handles with a pool noodle to help with their arthritis

That's a great idea. I'm going to give this a go when I get the shop back together.
Thanks for sharing.

I bought this really cool handsaw here in the States a few years ago by Glen-Drake Toolworks. The saw plates can be swapped out for other ones with different pitch, etc. It cuts like a Japanese saw, but I think the saw plate can actually be flipped around to cut like a Western saw. I haven’t tried it yet. But the handle is long like a Japanese saw and I’ve just never liked the feel of the handle, even though the saw cuts great. This post made me re-think this and maybe I can change the handle to more of a Western style.

I saw, [no pun intended] this thread come back from the past, and as I'm still playing catch-up since my return to the forum, I thought this contribution might be interesting.

Back in the day I acquired many saws whilst looking for the right one for fret slots, and wrecked a few trying the change the kerf. For some of these, I installed new blades, whilst for others I turned the blades around to make them pull saws. Some of the saws shown are spare Japanese sawblades, from Bunnings, that I put my own handles on.
Cheers Taff