Wrote off those fancy Japanese pull saws for years, finally caved after a trim job gone wrong

I always thought a regular western handsaw was good enough for me. Then I had this crown molding job in a 1920s house in Portland where the gap was so tight I couldn't get a clean start with my usual saw (kept tearing the wood). Buddy of mine tossed me his dozuki saw and told me to try it. That thing cut through oak like butter with zero splintering. I picked up a cheap one on Amazon for $30 just to test it out. Has anyone else made the switch and found it actually saves time on finish work?

2 comments

2 Comments

riley581mo ago

Nah, my grandfather's old Disston still works fine for me, no need to overcomplicate things.

skylershah1mo ago

The thing about grandpa's old Disston is they were great for rough framing but western saws actually struggle with pulling cuts on thin stock like crown molding, @riley58. That's the whole trick with Japanese pull saws, you're pulling the teeth through the cut which keeps the blade straighter and won't push the wood away from your line. Once you feel how clean a dozuki leaves the edge on a miter cut it's hard to go back to pushing a western saw for finish work.