handsaws: standard vs short

[mark-yo]

hi folks. i'm in the market for a handsaw. i noticed that crosscut saws come in a 'standard' 26-inch size as well as a shorter 20-inch. would there be any reason to go w/ one or the other? i was thinking that the shorter might be easier to carry around, but the 26-inch's additional weight might make it easier to saw w/. just wonderin'. thx. m.

[germdoc]

Jack makes a nice handsaw that's 22" long. The teeth are nicely set, sharp as the dickens, and the cut is very aggressive. I got one from Lee Valley, I also noticed HF has it in their new cataloque. I also got a longer LumberWolf crosscut saw, but I generally reach for the Jack saw.

For fine work, I use a Japanese-style dozuki saw, but for general crosscutting I use this saw.

[vaking]

The book "Tage Fred teaches woodworking" says that if you need a hand saw - make yourself a good bow saw. Not the kind used to cut tree branches, but this type:
http://userdata.acd.net/chesbrog/bowsaw/bowsaw.htm
Except Tage Fred says it should be 24" - 26" long.

[lcm1947]

I've got both and I like the little short one but the large one cuts just so much faster and with less effort or so it seems. Course the less effort part may just be because of the speed or I should say the less time it takes to cut something so it is less tiring. My 2 cents anyway.

[Pappy]

I think Lee hit the key to which saw is best. If you are going to cutting a lot of stock, the longer saws are going to be faster and less tiring. Fewer strokes per cut. I have standard length rip and crosscut saws in the shop that see very little use. My favorite is a short cross cut blade and a double edged Shark.

BTW, tip to getting a square cut with a hand saw. As the teeth cut along the cut line keep an eye on the reflection of the edge of the board in the saw blade. It should appear as a continous line with edge of the board.

[messmaker]

I think the shorter saw is the one I reach for first. I like the double edge one as well. I am still amazed how quickly it does it's job.

[mater]

I always reach for the standard saw and I make sure it stays sharp.

[jerrye]

I've converted solely to the Bear BS333C saw:

http://www.vaughanmfg.com/bearsaw_frameset.html

Have cut CDX; OSB; birch ply; dimensional lumber, poplar; red oak; tempered hardboard. Crosscuts and rip cuts. All cuts are clean with little to no tearout. In my hands, this saw cuts faster than any push saw I've tried. Lowe's sells for ~$20; can be had for a bit less online if you can find a place that ships free. BTW, makes a great pruning saw as well (of course, then you need TWO of them: one for woodworking, one for pruning!)

[RainShadow]

We just had our annual Harbor Days in Oceanside where they have an event called the "Nail n Sail". You get 2 1/2 pieces of 1/2 " plywood, about 5 2x2s, about 2 1X2s and about 4 tubes of caulk.
You have 2 hrs to make a boat, 1 hr to paint and clean up and then two of the three teammates launch the "boat" in one heat race and then the final race (if you survived the heat race).
All of this is done with ONLY handsaws, clamps, hammers, nails and saw horses. It is quit an event to watch and the people that have no woodworking experience are very interesting. One team was cutting a full 4 X 8 plywood sheet with the sheet vertical cutting down the long side with one guy holding both edges while the other guy is cutting. I saw new saws, bad saws and nice old saws and anything inbetween.
About 1/2 of the boats sink and there are 3-4 that are very well planned out (templates and plans) that actually work pretty good.
Some look like a rectangle and others come out as a canoe. A few actually looked like the old style wooden coffins from the Western movies. I am thinking about entering it in the next couple of years ???? Hope everyone had a GREAT weekend.
PS: I kind of like the Medium length (CC) saw from Highland Hardware. 26 " Carpenter's Saw SENTORA. Stanley has a short one that is called the Fat Max that is pretty good also.

[BrazosJake]

Even though I have quite a few old Disstons and love em, my most reached-for handsaw is my Japanese "Zeta" saw from Tashiro hardware. They come with interchangeable blades. Even with a fine joint blade, the aggressive tooth geometry is way faster than my western saws.

If they still have them (they were on closeout for $12) the discontinued Lennox Lumberwulf saws from Lee Valley are a good value. They're western-style saws with Japanese tooth geometry, very aggressive. They take some getting used to and are a bit hard to start a cut with.

Another great value are the "Shark" Japanese-style saws from Amazon.

Don't go for a "hardware" store saw, though HD and Lowes carry some fairly good Japanese-styles like Irwin and Bear. Typical Western-style hardware-store handsaws have too much set in the teeth for dry hardwoods. "Set" is how much the teeth are bent away from the center of the saw. Thicker/wetter/softer woods need more set. Most hardware-store saws are designed to cut anything, including green wood (my old Great Neck is relegated to tree limbs). Too much set when cutting hardwoods means more work, a bigger kerf, and poor tracking. Too little set in green wood causes the blade to bind because the kerf is too small for the spine of the blade.

My circular saws don't get much work anymore. If I've got a lot of repetitive cuts to make, it goes on my CMS. If it's incidental, I'd sooner reach for a handsaw.

[RainShadow]

Hey - I bought one of those Lennox saws, but have not used it yet.
It is my back up saw that I keep at my mother's house.

Later, Randy