The Japanese believe you have more control by pulling. If you study Judo for any time, you'll see many of the throws deal with pulling your opponent to you and then throwing. You pull to you because the other guy chose to push.
I've heard a bunch of reasons behind the push pull theories, and you can take them for what they are worth. I have played Judo for a number of years though and I know that to be true... And if you want a market study, try to find a Western push style saw that cuts as easy or as fast and is anywhere near the size of a Japanese style saw. I got one of mine from japanwoodworker.com and with shipping it was $32.50. The only thing I have that is close to the cutting speed is a Swedish tree pruning saw. The teeth on the tree saw are about 5/8 inches long and hacks away at a board. I can go through a 3/8 oak dowel with my Japanese saw in less than 5 seconds and you can hardly feel where the cut was made. ----- Original Message ----- From: Scott Howell To: blindhandyman@yahoogroups.com Sent: Tuesday, June 02, 2009 8:23 PM Subject: Re: [BlindHandyMan] any joiners about You know I've read this thread with some interest. It seems to me that it would be more natural to cut on the pull stroke instead of the push stroke. I hadn't thought much about it until reading this thread, but seems you would have a little more control over the cut by pulling instead of pushing. I wonder where the idea of cutting on the push stroke came from and why the Japanese came up with a saw that cuts on the pull stroke. All very interesting questions. On Jun 2, 2009, at 7:44 PM, Bob Kennedy wrote: > > > Try Japanwoodworker.com > ----- Original Message ----- > From: Spiro > To: blindhandyman@yahoogroups.com > Sent: Tuesday, June 02, 2009 3:09 PM > Subject: Re: [BlindHandyMan] any joiners about > > these sound like an improvement. > Where does one acquire them? > > On Mon, 1 Jun 2009, Tom Fowle wrote: > > > I have two "japanese" style hand saws, > > one is a "back saw" for I assume doing accurate joinery type cuts > and the other > > is a double edged rip and cross cut saw. > > They are very thin and flexible, and the handles are long wooden > ovals that > > extend maybe 8 or 10 inches beyond the "pull" end of the saw. > > You have to stand back from the work a bit to get a good straight > pull. > > > > I am no joinery crafts person, can barely cut to follow scribed > marks straight > > but these are easy to use when you keep them going straight so > they don't > > bind, and I think they bind less than "push" > > saws. > > > > Hope that helps > > Tom Fowle > > > > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
