Testing Japanese Saws

I am setting up an outdoor sink. I decided to go ahead and try out Japanese Tools for making the frame for it. I will also try learning a few of the methods of joining that are classic Japanese. I will be going for simple and solid, nothing worthy of a temple builder here.

Here is a Z Saw blade. Quite nice after stoning. Does a great job, I rate it number 3 for cross cut work. I have made better bowsaws, but this is a great tool and a bargain.

I have a very similar one that is for cutting PVC, talk about a dream. I know PVC and this one is gold. Here is where I cut some old brittle pvc to make tree markers.

Every other cut and measure is being done by my son, Taylor. Here he is using the Z saw.

Here are a few cuts we made while testing saws, the worst cut is on top of the factory surface. These saws cut nice smooth faces.

Hands down, this is our favorite. A RazorSaw 650 that Schtoo was kind enough to obtain for me. This is better that any saw that I have made. I would not know a better saw if I used it.

One huge advantage of the ryoba is the width of the blade. This lets you sight down the edge and see if you are in line. This thing appears to magnify the visible error. If you are slightly off line, you appear way out of line.

Here it is with a bit of angle:

Here it is with the blade lined up with the pencil marks (don’t worry, I taught my son about marking knives the next day, this way he will know why they are superior!)

Here is the Bakkama ryoba.

Not our favorite by a long run. The thing drifts.

We tried out a few saws,

This Big Z saw was the fastest and probably the best for this job, considering a mirror finish is not needed. I love the handle on this thing. Easy to swap, and solid.

The Marples branded saw works really well despite missing teeth. But it is not in the running with the RazorSaw 650 ryoba!.

Bob