WANTED: Used High Quality Hand Saws

Hi All:

I'm converting to Neanderthalism. I'd like to buy some used good quality hand saws. I have closets full of the cheap ones, and I'd like to invest in some good ones. Brand new ones are like $150+ a pop. So I thought I'd sniff around and see if anyone has any used ones they don't use and would like to part with. No I don't want to use Ebay. Older or Newer, as long as they're *good* and at a fair price.

Thanks
 
Have you considered Japanese saws. They cut real nice & can be had brand new for a fair price. You may even find the learning curve shorter than old used American saws. When the blade gets dull you just change it out for a new one.
You may even enjoy cutting dovetails with one.
 
Cynthia,I am sitting at LAX waiting for my flight home, painfully pecking this out, but I think what I have to say is too important to wait.Don't buy anything right now. The biggest mistake people make when they get the fever is to on a buying spree. Believe me I know. I am going to strongly suggest that you first read Chris Schwarz's book The Anarchist's Tool Chest. From that you will get one man's opinion for a complete tool hand tool list with explainations.
 
cynthia listen to bills wisdom,, we all hav ebought tools that we shouldnt have and he is just giving you some great advice as to what you think you want and what you should think about getting..
 
I think Bill gave you good advice. Japanese saws are great also. A ryoba will have two sets of teeth - one for crosscut, one for rip. So in one saw you get both. A decent one can be had new typically for under about $35. The teeth are hardened, and therefore last a long time, but are very dicey to sharpen, hence the blade is simply replaced as needed. Toshio Odate wrote a very nice book about Japanese tools, well worth the read.

FWIW, I use both western and Japanese saws. I prefer a western dovetail saw for, well, sawing dovetails.

I understand your desire for neander tools, but I would encourage you to keep your tailed apprentices. They really do the heavy lifting.
 
Well, I am back. Caught an early flight and made it through the snow at Bow Hill. I will never be that good at texting on a phone. I will just leave my last post unedited as a monument to my ineptitude. Larry is right, I am trying to keep you from buying a lot of tools that will you not need or really use. Most of us have tons of tools buried away in our shops we hardly use. Be smarter than the rest of us and learn from our mistakes.

Probably the main message in Chris's book is that you don't need a lot of tools to work wood and what tools you do need should be of good quality. Nothing earth shattering there, just common sense, right? Chris has definite ideas as to what tools you do need. Like I said in my earlier post, it is one man's opinion and there are probably many that don't necessarily agree with everything he suggests, including myself, but he gives very well thought out explanations of his recommendations. I think it would be worth reading and understanding his point of view. Much of what he suggests, I confess I agree with.
 
Top