Reddit reviews IRWIN Tools Double-Edge Pull Saw, 9.5-Inch (213103)

Something most people don't know about is saw teeth profiles. The notches in the top boards are cross cuts, but the ones in the end of the bottom piece are rip cuts. Saw teeth for crosscuts are designed like knives to slice the fibers through their sides, and look like this, and like this viewed down their teeth edge. Each space between the teeth is filed at an angle to the face of the saw, which bevels the back of one tooth on one side, and the front of the other tooth on the other side. They go every other tooth like that, and then angle the opposite way for the rest. Each saw will have bevels on one side, and a flat side on the other. However, in ripping, these teeth will be pulled around by the grain and can create really difficult, ragged, ugly cuts.

Think of wood like a tightly-packed bundle of very thin straws. A knife will cut nicely through the side of all of them, but in the end of the piece it will jam up between the straws as it wedges between them, and the tips will be pulled left and right as they snake their way between the straws. To counter this, rip saws are filed flat, with no 'fleem' (that angle at which crosscut saw teeth are ground), and work instead like chisels, shearing off the ends of the fibers. They look like this, boringly flat, and like this from the end.

Btw the teeth are bent to alternating sides in those end views in a process called 'setting,' and the angle at which every other tooth is bent to one side is called the saw's set. This just creates a cut slightly wider than the saw so it won't bind up with friction, especially as wood swells a bit when warmed by said friction. If you or anyone reading this are curious, those images come from this excellent primer on filing saws, something I'll be getting into soon with a really big crosscut saw (been doing a lot of research for it).

Pull saws are a bit easier and more precise than what we use in America. These are the standard Japanese craftsmen saws that are very flexible and cut on the pull stroke only. These have found their way into American markets, and you can get this one right at Home Depot in the tool aisle. I have one, and it works well. The teeth on one side are filed for crosscutting, and on the other for ripping, so you can do both easily and get the best result. Just practice on some scrap, learning to stay in the lines and to pull instead of push. It's pretty easy. Use it to saw the lines perpendicular to the edge - the ones that get you down to the depth line of your mortises (that's what what you're trying to cut are called).

For the other line at the base of each cut - the one that you can't easily saw - go for chisels (a new Buck Bros. - tool aisle at Home Depot - about 3/4"-1"), but I'll recommend some simple things to get the best results. For one, the reason you can't chisel straight down through the entire thing is there's nowhere for the waste to go. Chisels 'peel' off material in shavings, but when you chisel into the middle of a block - as you'll be doing when chiseling here - you can't peel the entire block - it's far too rigid - and if you do knock it off entirely, it's likely you'll have also torn out good wood from the opposite side in the break. However, you can give yourself space easily.

Just get a nice big drill bit and drill holes in the scrap close to, but not touching the line. Drill only halfway through the stock, but do it from both sides - meet in the center. This way you don't accidentally drill out at an angle through the non-scrap region on the opposite side. After you have holes across the whole thing with very little wood in between, you can probably break the block out with a hammer, or by bending it with your fingers. Before you do that, hammer the chisel across the full line on each side pretty deeply to score it so the piece breaking out won't break out non-scrap wood from the other side of the lines.

Now you can chisel from both sides to clean out the rest of the scrap. Just put the thing on a strong workbench, line the chisel up with the line, flat side toward your good wood, beveled side toward the scrap you're removing, chisel held straight up and down, perpendicular to the wood face, and give it some hits with a hammer. Start light so you understand how it feels if you've not done it before.

Don't chisel all the way from one side to the other. You'll tear out the good wood on the opposite side, and you can't see your line while it's on the bottom, so you might miss it. Instead, chisel from one edge to the middle, then flip the board and go to the middle again from the other side. This is how the pro's do it, and it'll give you perfect lines on each side, exactly where you want them, because you can line up the chisel perfectly, then hit it with the hammer. You can even saw a little inside the lines, then use this technique to clean up each side right to the line perfectly - another standard pro method. Don't worry if the cut isn't straight through, or you drilled a little into the good wood in the middle of the piece - your outer, visible lines will be perfect, and any excess wood in the middle (like an inward bulge) will only serve to hold the pieces together in wedge-fashion, provided you can get them together at all. If not, just chisel a bit more out of the tight areas. Err on the side of too tight. You can always remove a little more inner material.

Oh, and please don't use a dado blade on mortises this deep, especially for that bottom piece. You really need a mortising rig for that, and they're huge and heavy, and the whole idea of mortising that deeply on a table saw scares the bejeebus out of me. Definitely not for a beginner!

$100 should be sufficient for your tools. With that, you should even be able to buy everything you need to dovetail them, should you feel so fancy.

I made this: http://i.imgur.com/KnxeU.jpg with 90% hand tools. I did use my table saw for ripping 1x12 pine into smaller chunks for the sides.

What I used (low-cost alternatives below)

9" Diston backsaw as my dovetail saw. $20 at a garage sale. Probably overpaid, but it was freshly sharpened, which saved me time.

1/4" and 1/2" chisel. I used my Lie-Nielsens (at $55 a pop new, this already blows your budget. Sorry!)

Table saw

Marking gauge

3 hand planes: Vintage Stanley 8 for flattening the pine, 4 for final smoothing, Woodriver block for knocking down the dovetails and chamfering the ends.

How to get that on a budget:

Dovetail Saw: buy a pull say from the local home improvement store. I recommend this one to start. http://www.amazon.com/IRWIN-213102-Extra-Fine-Pull/dp/B0001GLEYY/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1314024215&sr=8-5

I generally don't prefer pull saws, but this is the bargain-basement way to cut your dovetails. $20.

Chisels: Narex. pretty cheap, but excellent. http://www.leevalley.com/US/wood/page.aspx?p=67707&cat=1,41504 I'd recommend the 1/4 and 3/8 to start. $21 for the pair.

For ripping and cross cutting your stock, consider this one: http://www.amazon.com/Irwin-213103-2-Inch-Double-Edge/dp/B0001GLEZ8 $21. You can do relatively accurate crosscuts by clamping a 2x4 to your workpiece and using it as a fence.

You don't /need/ planes to get you started. Sandpaper and a sanding block would be sufficient if you have a tight budget. You will, however, have to be much, much more careful of your stock selection. Much, much harder (impossible?) to correct any twists, bows, or other imperfections without hand planes.

A marking gauge. Your choice, any of these will work. http://www.harborfreight.com/6-inch-mortise-gauge-94645.html $10

http://www.leevalley.com/US/wood/page.aspx?p=59455&cat=1,42936 $30

http://www.leevalley.com/US/wood/page.aspx?p=50440&cat=1,42936 $25

Grand total is $72-$100 (not including shipping) depending on which marking gauge you buy.

Later, you'll probably get more saws and/or nicer saws. Let me know when you've got a bigger budget and we can talk.

(Also, you'll need a way to sharpen your chisels. I've excluded that for now. Let me know if you'll need that as well.)

If by "normal handsaw" you mean a Japanese style ryoba, then yes. The [Irwin pull saw] ( https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0001GLEZ8/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_CWOHyb4TKAZSZ) is pretty good for a cheap saw. It's an easy style of saw for a beginner to use. A cheap adjustable square would be nice to mark your lines and maybe a clamp to hold a stop. Watch a quick video on using a ryoba.

Used this list for a couple posts, its about $200ish in all to get you started. This list uses chisels in lieu of say a router plane for dados and doesn't have an option for grooves but that's later down the road. I've got a big enthusiast list as well if you'd be interested.


> Crosscut/Ripsaw: Irwin Double Sided Pullsaw https://www.amazon.com/IRWIN-Tools-Double-Edge-9-5-Inch-213103/dp/B0001GLEZ8
> Joinery Saw - I think this is the one Japanese saw I own? works okay https://www.amazon.com/Z-saw-Dozuki-Z-Saw/dp/B001DSY7G6/ref=pd_sbs_469_3?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B001DSY7G6&pd_rd_r=RBVEGF6TKKCZHVCH7WSH&pd_rd_w=16INj&pd_rd_wg=gFI50&psc=1&refRID=RBVEGF6TKKCZHVCH7WSH
> Chisels https://www.amazon.com/Narex-Republic-Woodworking-Chisels-863010/dp/B00GPC74ZQ/ref=sr_1_1?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1499302108&sr=1-1&keywords=narex+chisels
> Marking Gauge https://www.amazon.com/Crown-135-Marking-Gauge-Beech/dp/B00EC9AOZQ/ref=pd_lpo_vtph_469_lp_t_4?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=ZBYMV8TF850C6M5JDGDG
> Bevel Gauge https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XC2NYKS?psc=1
> Mallet - I'd personally make one or buy a used one (of heavier wood, good grain and quality construction.) Amazon has some though. https://www.amazon.com/Narex-gram-Beech-Carving-Mallet/dp/B00L7BQL54/ref=sr_1_11?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1499302341&sr=1-11&keywords=mallet
> Combination square -does the work of several sizes of squares for the price of one - https://www.amazon.com/IRWIN-Combination-Square-Metal-Body-1794469/dp/B005XUHIBG/ref=sr_1_2?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1499302407&sr=1-2&keywords=square
> A No 4 or 5 sized plane - I buy old Stanley's/Bailey's because they're great, and usually cheap for bench planes - Flea Market/Antique stores/ebay -$20 ish --- Amazon also sells new (I give no guarantee on quality however) - https://www.amazon.com/Stanley-12-404-Adjustable-2-Inch-Cutter/dp/B000FK3WI2/ref=sr_1_1?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1499302507&sr=1-1&keywords=stanley+plane
> "Workbench" - temporary thing to hold pieces while you make dovetails - https://www.amazon.com/WM125-Workmate-350-Pound-Capacity-Portable/dp/B000077CQ0/ref=pd_cart_vw_2_1?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=CA9X21QD5D7QAXKMGE6S
> Woodscrew clamp, used to clamp peice to workbench while chiseling waste - https://www.amazon.com/ATE-Pro-USA-30143-Handscrew/dp/B0006A4A5U/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1499303583&sr=8-1&keywords=wood+screw+clamp
>
> Other than clamps, glue, mortice gauge, etc, this is good enough to get you started making carcass (dovetailed) pieces of furniture, like a shoe cubby or bookshelf. (Currently making a chimney bookshelf for myself)
>
> Thats around $200 for getting you started. Add a mortise chisel and mortise gauge and you can start mortise and tenon work. Invest in pipe clamps when you reach a glue up point.

Working within your list you could get a $20 Japanese two-sided pull saw, like this. You might then try cleaning up the edges with a router and straight edge.

If you don't have a sawzall, get one of these bad boys:

Irwin

or Ryoba

I have the Ryoba, it's an amazing saw. They cut on the pull stroke so it's easier to keep a straight line than a western saw. They also have flexible blades which make trimming flush a breeze.

Well check out this Irwin version on Amazon, it's under 20 bucks.

http://www.amazon.com/IRWIN-Tools-Double-Edge-9-5-Inch-213103/dp/B0001GLEZ8/ref=sr_1_14?ie=UTF8&qid=1464021599&sr=8-14&keywords=japanese+pull+saw

That will be way way better for getting precise cuts, and it'll cut surprisingly quickly, you won't spend all that much more time than you would with the jig saw.

I'd suggest a chisel as well. It doesn't have to be a great one, but the easiest way to finish the dovetail or half lap joint like the ones you made for the spice rack is to chisel out the piece once the first two saw cuts have been made.

Scary sharp method is just using sand paper for the sharpening grit. You can get a lot of sand paper really cheap, that will get you a lot of sharpening, like an enormous amount of sharpening done.

Eventually, having diamond grit stones will be cheaper over time, and get sharpening done faster and nicer, but you should start with having the ability to get your tools really sharp, and upgrade stones when you feel like the process matters enough (that won't likely be for a long time).