Hand Saws

A Japanese pull saw cuts on the pull stroke (toward the user), which keeps the blade in tension and allows thinner, harder teeth that produce a finer kerf with less tearout. A western push saw cuts on the forward stroke with a thicker blade that must resist buckling under compression.

A fret saw has a deep, narrow frame with a fine-toothed blade tensioned under the bow. It is designed for cutting tight curves, internal cutouts, and decorative fretwork in thin wood, plywood, and sheet goods. The deep frame clears waste away from the cutting line on larger panels.

A fret saw has a deeper throat (the distance from blade to frame) and uses finer, narrower blades suited to intricate scrollwork. A coping saw has a shallower throat, heavier blades, and is more suited to general curve cutting, coping molding profiles, and rougher scroll work. Replacement blades for both are available, including Pegas fret saw blades.

Lower TPI (510) removes material faster and suits rough crosscutting and ripping. Higher TPI (1420+) produces a finer kerf for joinery and scroll work. Match TPI to your material thickness: thinner stock benefits from higher TPI to reduce tearout.

Most modern Japanese pull saws feature replaceable blades since the hardened teeth cannot be resharpened by conventional means once dull. Replacement blades or complete saw units can be purchased to restore cutting performance.

A fine-toothed tenon saw or dovetail saw (western style) or a fine Japanese pull saw with a rip-tooth pattern is best for cutting dovetails. Both produce the clean, straight kerf needed for tight-fitting dovetail joints. Pair with dovetail chisels for chopping out the waste.

The Knew Concepts fret saw uses an aircraft-aluminum frame with a lever-tensioning system that achieves far higher blade tension than traditional fret or coping saws. Higher tension keeps the blade tracking straighter and allows thinner, more precise blades to be used without deflecting.

Yes. A coping saw is the traditional tool for coping inside corners on trim work. The thin blade follows the profile of the molding exactly, producing a cope that fits tightly against the face of the adjoining piece regardless of whether the corner is a true 90 degrees.

Always store hand saws with the blade protected. Japanese pull saws often include a protective sheath—the Shark saw protective sleeve is an example—that keeps the thin, hardened teeth from contact damage. Western saws should hang blade-down on a rack or be stored in a padded sleeve.

Hand saws work alongside bench chisels for chopping waste, mallets for driving chisels, and marking knives and squares for layout. Browse the full hand tools collection for all the complementary tools needed to do hand joinery work.