Hand saws (Foxtail)

The handsaw known as a „Fuchsschwanz/Foxtail saw” is widely used for quick cuts, depending on tooth geometry, either across or along the grain of the wood. Since the Fuchsschwanz does not have a reinforced back, the saw blade is made slightly thicker than, for instance, a backsaw, in order to maintain its rigidity when pushing and to prevent the blade from bending. The thicker blade, combined with an appropriate set of the teeth, results in a relatively wide cut. The set refers to the alternating bending of the teeth, which makes the cut 20 – 50% wider than the actual thickness of the saw blade, thus preventing the blade from binding in the cut. Thanks to its single-purpose design with optimized tooth geometry—manufactured either for crosscuts or rip cuts—the Fuchsschwanz allows for fast and powerful work. The cut finish is rather coarse.

Our THOMAS FLINN Foxtail saws from Sheffield, England, can be resharpened.

G-MAN’s Foxtail saws come ready for use but cannot be resharpened due to their hardened tooth tips.

Note:
Unlike Japanese saws, traditional Western saws, such as the Thomas Flinn Foxtail saws offered here, are generally not ready for use out of the box.

They are usually adequately set, but in our opinion, not sufficiently sharpened. Even if manufacturers claim their saws are ready for use, you should not always take this at face value and should at least be prepared for resharpening with a file.
The differences in tooth geometry between rip saws and crosscut saws are not as significant as might be expected. The rake angle of these saws for crosscuts is about 15°, while for rip cuts, it is approximately 5°, with some production-related deviations. The fleam angle is noticeable in crosscut saws, but not always executed across the entire width of the cutting edge.
So: always resharpen!