Never underestimate the usefullness of the hand saw!

[Jdurg]

I have to say that having a good hand saw is a great addition to your tool set, as well as a good hand planar.  I've yet to purchase a circular saw as I've been trying to cut back on spending, so that makes cutting out straight pieces a bit difficult.  (A jig saw can NOT cut a long straight line).  I do have a 10" Compound Miter Saw which can make cuts about 4.5 to 5" in length, but that's about it.  For the sides of my control panel, I either needed to wait for my father to clean out his garage so I can borrow his circular saw, or I had to make do with what I had.  I'm impatient, so I made do with what I had. 

I cut as much into the panel as I could with the miter saw, then used the perfectly straight line it cut as a guide for the hand saw.  With a it of sweat and muscle, I took the hand saw I had and put it along the guide and began to cut.  I wound up cutting the entire 28" length of the board with the saw and it came out damned straight.  The hand planar I have cleaned up the cut a bit and now the front side of the CP is just drying as I've glued and clamped the support blocks to it so I can attach it to the bottom.

Tomorrow I'll really get into the wood working when I try to cut the angled side panels using funky angles on my miter saw and hoping that I measured right so they fit.  If it all works out, I may even have some pictures to update in my projects announcement thread. 

So NEVER underestimate how awesome a hand saw can be when building a cab.   

[SavannahLion]

There's something to be had in constructing something with less "powerful" tools. I find people who use hand tools almost exclusively seem to have a different mentality than those who exclusively use power tools. Not sure what it is exactly. Seems like hand tool users take more pride in their work. Good work on rediscovering the lowly hand saw. 

My father had a huge collection of hand saws ranging from a 6 foot monstrosity down to a tiny hand saw whose blade is no longer than twice the length of a typical sewing needle (no idea what it was used for). He's been known to construct entire homes with no other saw other than hand saws.

I guess his carpentry work was really well known. After his death, I had to fend off bastard scavangers wanting his tool collection (for free no less  ). I guess the scavangers probably wanted to showcase his tools along with whatever it was he supposedly built for them.

[sstorkel]

Actually, there are a lot of people who collect older tools. Stanley planes, Disston saws, and other hand tools can command quite a high price! It's a common practice for people to pay $10 for a box of old tools at an estate sale, clean them up if needed, and then sell them off for hundreds of dollars each.

[SavannahLion]

Actually, there are a lot of people who collect older tools. Stanley planes, Disston saws, and other hand tools can command quite a high price! It's a common practice for people to pay $10 for a box of old tools at an estate sale, clean them up if needed, and then sell them off for hundreds of dollars each.

Knowing that, that pisses me off even more. We still get phone calls from some of my dad's so-called friends asking how I am and wondering if I've decided to get rid of X or Y. I think those cocks are worse than scavangers.

[sstorkel]

Knowing that, that pisses me off even more. We still get phone calls from some of my dad's so-called friends asking how I am and wondering if I've decided to get rid of X or Y. I think those cocks are worse than scavangers.

Best thing you can do is hang on to that stuff! At least until you know whether it's worth money.

My grandfather used to work as a machinist. I'm not sure what happened to his tools when he died. Now that I'm doing some work as a machinist, I sure which I had them! Even cheap Chinese versions of the stuff I need often runs $100+. Name-brand stuff (Starrett, Brown and Sharpe, Mitutoyo, etc) often costs 3-5X more! Of course, not every tool is worth money. My Dad recently gave me a Craftsman hand plane that he'd owned for 30-40 years. Turned out it was a complete piece of junk and not worth saving.

If you think the tools are high-quality and you're not planning to use them, it may pay to take care of them. Don't, for example, leave them in the garage to rust. Keep them inside. Treat the metal with camelia oil or wax to help prevent rust. Don't loan them to friends, especially friends who don't know what they're doing!

[IA1NY]

We still get phone calls from some of my dad's so-called friends asking how I am and wondering if I've decided to get rid of X or Y. I think those cocks are worse than scavangers.

I agree.  I have tools from my grandfathers that I use both at work and at home.  I love therm, they work great and every time I pull them out, I remember a good time with my grandfather.  It's not worth selling the tools to some @#%& who is "wondering" if I want to sell them.  I probably take care of them better than the tools that I buy now.

Even though I use mostly computer driven tools now at work, my Yankee is the one tool that I use more than any other hand tool at home.  I think I'm one of the only of my generation who does this, but for small jobs at home, it's the one I go to for driving screws...

[danny_galaga]

good work with the hand tools (",)

its hand tools all the way for me right now as i live in a unit and dont want to go crazy (well, i DO have an electric drill)

a jigsaw CAN cut long straight lines though if you clamp a bit of right angle on the piece...

[TOK]

good work with the hand tools (",)

its hand tools all the way for me right now as i live in a unit and dont want to go crazy (well, i DO have an electric drill)

a jigsaw CAN cut long straight lines though if you clamp a bit of right angle on the piece...

I never had success straight cuts using a jigsaw. It didn't have to do with the base of the saw not tracking straight, it had to do with the blade flexing. I did make some control panel cuts with a jig. I always cut outside the line and sand down.

[shardian]

I've gotten many of my tools on clearance at Lowes. They always clear out stuff in February each year, and sometimes November. They also reset all of their shelving every few years and clear out TONS of stuff all over the store. Anyways, I got my laser circ saw for $25, a palm sander for like $10, a 10" miter saw for $50. I also passed on several others along the way because I didn't have a use for them at the time.

Rule of thumb at Lowes clearance, hunt down the dept. manager and ask them to knock off a little extra. They ALWAYS do, sometimes a considerable margin.

[fjl]

You can also build a sawboard for a jigsaw so you can get yourself some really straight cuts.

[shardian]

You can also build a sawboard for a jigsaw so you can get yourself some really straight cuts.

Have you tried this yourself? It doesn't work. The blade drifts and binds, especially in 3/4" material

[sstorkel]

Have you tried this yourself? It doesn't work. The blade drifts and binds, especially in 3/4" material

This can work, but you need the right jigsaw and the right blade. For the saw, you want one that supports the blade well. The option of an orbital cutting motion may be necessary for some situations. The blade must be matched to the material and it must be sharp! There are a million blades out there, some are much thicker than others. The thicker the blade, the less likely it will deflect. I found a Bosch-branded blade that was pretty good in this respect. Unfortunately, I don't remember the model number.

Of course, even if you have the right equipment you need to know how to use it! It's important to enter the cut straight, keep the base plate of the saw tight against the workpiece, and don't try to push the saw through the wood too quickly. You don't want to go so slowly that you're burning the wood and blade, but you don't want to push so hard that the blade ends up deflecting off the cut line. Blades need to be changed frequently; a blade that's dull or has the teeth even slightly bent will always tend to wander away from the cut line or deflect.

[boogieman]

I have really started liking "pull saws".  They allow me to cut much straighter than the push-pull regular type of hand saws.  They are also much faster.  You can get them in more modern versions with a "pistol grip" type handle like a shark saw / irwin or similar but anyways here is what I am talking about http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_saw

I recently turned part of a large deck into an extra storage room using only one of these for cutting the wall studs.  I think it was a lot more enjoyable than using a circular saw.  I did use a circ for the plywood however, just mainly to speed things up a bit.