Traditional saws

Most Japanese standard saws are made from band steel. After the computer-controlled grinding of the teeth, their tips are hardened with lasers. The blade itself remains relatively soft and flexible. With improper use, such as getting stuck in wood, the blade can bend or tear, but it rarely breaks. A replacement blade typically costs about 2/3 of a new saw. Since the saw itself is relatively inexpensive, the cost of a replacement blade is manageable. We recommend these standard saws for beginners and trainees. By „beginners,” we mean anyone for whom the use of Japanese saws is new, including experienced woodworkers who have not yet worked with them.

The expensive professional saws are all fully hardened. They are made in Japan for professional Japanese woodworkers who know how to handle them and have mastered the pull method. These saws are not „beginner-tolerant.” The blade breaks with improper handling, which often is not recognized by beginners due to their underdeveloped sensitivity to these saws. A blade breakage is not a reason for a complaint.

Therefore, our urgent request: Only buy such a saw if you already have experience with Japanese saws! We want you to be satisfied as a customer and feel obliged to sell you only what suits your needs and abilities.

I also want to prevent you from experiencing what happened to me: My first fully hardened handmade saw, back in the early nineties, costing 300 DM, broke into three pieces after some time when I was not focused. Because I was so attached to this saw, I continued working with the remaining two-thirds of the blade for years.

The fully hardened saws offer a new experience in terms of speed, precision, and cleanliness of the cut. You should not miss out on them once you have gained some experience with standard saws.

Traditional saws often have a permanently installed blade for which no replacement blades are available. The price of a saw is mainly composed of the blade. Therefore, replacement blades, if at all, are rarely offered.