Thread: bit of advice

Originally Posted by kmthor

hi guys
i know nothing about Jap saws but im real keen to try them out i realy like the look of the flush cut one.

could you stear me in the right direction to what would be good to buy as a starter set. i would be looking at mid to high end tools

km

Try Carbatech or Timbecon. Very few of the imported saws are what you would call cheap so pretty much any that you buy will be OK. BTW you don't need the special flush cutter to cut flush, the rips saw blades will do this almost as well.

Check out Lee Valley, they have a very nice selection of Japanese saws (I used the Pro Dozuki for dovetails for a couple of hears, worked great), or Japan Woodworker. Basically you'll need a rip dozuki, ryoba medium sized, flush cut, and compass.

Pam

I now just buy the blades and make my own handles.

Originally Posted by kmthor

a starter set......to high end tool

Perhaps not high end to start with as they are more of an art form than an everyday tool, and with prices to match.

For example a 300mm Mitsukawa Ryoba sells for over US$300.

See here

and, unlike the the lower to mid-range saws which have replaceable blades, the top end saw are made to be resharpened (they would want to be at that price) BUT that requires a seriously high level of skill now only practised by a few 'Honmetate' in Japan. Western owners of these saws usually send their saws back to Japan for resharpening and with the postage both ways the cost comes to more than a good replaceabe blade...

Most carpenters in Japan are now using the replaceable style blades because of the difficulty in getting saws resharpened.

Once you have used a Japanese saw you will be hooked!

Happy sawing

Neil

thanks for the advice guys. ill be purchasing next week

km

Originally Posted by kmthor

hi guys
i know nothing about Jap saws but im real keen to try them out i realy like the look of the flush cut one.

could you stear me in the right direction to what would be good to buy as a starter set. i would be looking at mid to high end tools

km

Hi,

You probably already got your saw, but I recommend this one if you are looking for a flush saw. The second saw from the bottom.

http://www.geocities.com/soatoz/noko...itsukawa_Small

The Dowel cut saw might be the one you are looking for? You can get these saws individually.

If you are working with larger things (larger furnitures or carpentry), in order to get a flush cut saws of decent quality, then it needs to be ordered. Mitsukawa-san can make them for a reasonable price, but it'll take a bit of time, so maybe you can't wait that long.

Thanks