Japanese saws

I've been meaning to try a few Japanese tools for quite some time but only recently I decided to buy one. I chose to go with one of the most popular types of Japanese saws, the ryoba, which has teeth on both sides of the blade, one filed for crosscut and the other to rip along the grain (see photo above).

The other very popular Japanese saw is the dozuki, similar to the western backsaw, and is mostly used to cut fine joinery like dovetails. This is the saw to use when you want the finest cut.

But why Japanese saws? Are they different to the western saws?

The main difference is that Japanese saws have their teeth filed in such a way that they cut on the pull stroke, which makes it possible for the blade to be much thiner than on a western saw. This is because as you pull the saw to make the cut the blade is under tension, while on a western saw, the blade is compressed as you push it along the wood, thus the need for a thick blade.

The thinner blade means that it is possible to have a very thin kerf and together with the very clean cut that these saws leave, even on end grain, they are very popular in fine woodworking.

On a quality dozuki saw, the blade can be just .25mm thick with a saw kerf of .4mm. Yes, than thin!!

My experience with this saw has been great, I find it easy to control due to the long handle (nearly as long as the blade) and it produces a very clean and smooth cut. Even on end grain pine, it only takes a couple of swipes with a block plane to leave the surface ready for finishing.

Next to try are the Japanese chisels, but more about that on a future post.