The best affordable joinery saw for hand-tool woodwork.

What's the best tenon saw for under $100? Let's find out!
Buy a saw from this video (affiliate) Scroll down!

Become a member of this channel!

Wood Work for Humans Tool List (affiliate):

Follow me on Instagram: @rexkrueger

[erichenao]

that side eye at the end on to the spear and jackson…classical. Hysterical!

[chris_thornborrow]

God I love your attitude Rex. Spear and Jackson makeover rather than Veritas. Man after my own heart.

[frankpoulin]

"It looks like Batman took up woodworking"

SOLD!

[j.d.anderson]

I recently discovered your channel and I've been binge watching the last few days. All can say is: Wow, thank you! Finally a channel that is truly for the poor man! Your common sense, no bull s#*@ advice and way of doing things is so refreshing. Don't get me wrong, I'm huge fan of Stumpy Nubs, The Samurai Carpenter, & those guys. Paul Sellers is my hero, I want to just like him when I grow up. But don't have and probably never will have the money to buy all those really, really, nice tools... Because they are really, really expensive. But I can relate to your videos, and watching you, and seeing you do what you do, really inspires me. Thank you for showing that you don't have to be very wealthy to have a decent wood working shop.

[elanman]

Spear and Jackson are a British company. In the UK where untill recently there was no such thing as a "Back Saw" all saws with a spine were called "Tennon Saws". Which saw you call a dovetail saw and which a carcase saw etc is personal choice. In the shop you would ask for a tennon saw of the apropriate length and tooth count. Say a 14" 12tpi tennon saw as a carcase saw, 12" 14 tpi tennon saw for Joinery and 10" 16 or 20 tpi as a dovetail or trim saw. Since the most hobbyists now learn from YouTube many UK manufacturers now name saws by function as that is what customers are asking for.
I assume the name Tennon saw came about because it describes the function of a back saw i.e. it can make both rip cuts and fine cross cuts with a thin supported blade.

[matthewgartner]

A quick tip for cleaning different shipping oils off of metal. Use soap and hot water. I know everyones hesitation with RUST but if you use boiling hot water to rinse, it drys quick. Then rub some machine oil on it and rust won't be an issue.

[AlanTherby]

I just tried searching for best hand saw for beginner woodworker -- I haven't even started on my first project yet, but I need a decent handsaw that doesn't cost an arm and a leg. 100 (even slightly under at 70-90) is a bit out of my price range. I've been watching some videos stating my first project should be a work bench, however, I got a circular saw for Christmas and I don't even know how to rip boards without a bench, so I figured maybe I should make a pair of sawhorses, and the one video I liked (the design I liked) requires a hand saw to cut angles. So I'm still looking. In any case decent video even if I can't really afford either of those saws, you earned a subscription.

[solypsomancer]

Rex:
I have been calling you my Youtube woodworking guru for a bit.
One piece of advice you gave shines over any other.
"If you have hobby skills a wood shop will take you gladly over someone walking down the street, " I paraphrase.
I have an interview for a frame carpentry job on Friday and a woodworking shop coming up soon.
#thankyou #headingtopatreonrightnow

[clintstinkeye]

This got me pondering...
I'm a former shipwright and I've known scores of shipwrights.
I've never seen this saw take up space in any of the master woodworker's shops.
Japanese style saws are the dominant theme for that spot in woodworking from my experience.
I'm not saying anybody is right and someone is wrong, it's just an observation.
Kinda interesting for me to reflect on.

[EngineerMikeF]

Rex- Reason you ruined the fine teeth on the dozuki is you are applying pressure that is beyond the fine tooth capacity. Per Katz-Moses, you use only the weight of the Suizan dozuki saw itself for downward pressure because you are trying to produce a smooth cut to just inside the waste of joinery cuts. I add just a teeny amount more pressure on mine, and it seems to hold up. Saying isn't super fast. But I (you, they, we) don't reach for hand tools for speed.

[pigzoid]

As a current owner of the spear and Jackson tenon saw I am very glad I watched until the end and I am certainly excited to follow along

[timothylarson]

I have the S&J model above this, that has the removable handle and teeth that can be sharpened. It was really rough straight from S&J. I flattened the teeth on an avail. Reset the curf and properly sharpened it. I now have a saw I like. Not sure if my time was more than the difference of getting a better saw up front... but I love the challenge and that's worth something.

[jimcarter]

The Spear and Jackson surprised me how well it works. Reason for getting was I sent a twelve inch vintage Disston to Matt Ciani to make really dialed in, like the saw a lot and wanted a perfect small crosscut in till, but eyesight won't allow me to do cc filing anymore. After seeing another you tuber recommend this saw though it might fill in for awhile for crosscutting.First thing was to strip lacquer off blade and handle with acetone, then reshape handle, filed teeth, at first not impressed but kept at it. Settled in with about .039 total kerf and a pretty aggressive rake. It works very well now and crosscut or rips well.

[GoogleAreDumb]

I have the S&J saw. First thing I did when it arrived and I first held it was make a disgusted noise, and then took a rasp and some sandpaper to the handle. Five minutes later, it was 1000x better than it was out of the packaging. Whoever designed that monstrosity of a handle certainly never held the damned thing. Or was an alien.

[darkJohnSmith]

I recently purchased a very nice, very old, large saw-sharpening vice. Made of iron and very heavy-duty.

$30, because few people use them these days.

Let me tell you, sharpening your own saws is wonderful. I highly recommend it.

Not difficult to learn. Doesn't take long, and they don't need sharpening often.

Don't be afraid to learn! Once you do it, you'll love it. I was intimidated at first, but it's much easier than I thought.

[MrMNRichardWright]

I took the hint a long time ago, I saved up and got the Veritas, haven’t looked back. Can’t wait to see how you do with that side glance saw.

[bmillare]

this was hilarious to watch. Great humor and editing.

[jwdougherty]

One thing that I picked up about back saws is a trick to test the cut "balance." You draw a number of lines vertically down the face of a scrap board from an end. Then cut down one line starting at one side. Don't attempt to follow the line. Hold the saw properly and let the weight guide the cut. Watch whether the cut wants to wander off to one side. If it does, lay the saw flat on a good surface with the side of the saw toward which the cut wanders upward. Then lay fine grained, hard sharpening stone on the face of the saw and covering part of the edge and run it gently from the heel toward the toe of the blade. No need to press. Any over-set tooth will be abraded off. Repeat until the kerf is straight. You can also narrow the kerf and smooth out cut quality this way. Just be sure the narrowing is symmetrical. Peter Sellers may have a piece about this.

[MatthewPowell]

I have the Veritas dovetail saw. Such a pleasure to use!

[Bahloo]

I love your humour in getting the information across