View source for Hand saw

{{short description|Wood cutting tool}}
[[Image:Crosscut saw.JPG|thumb|right|280px|A crosscut hand saw]]
[[File:Pily platnice.jpg|thumb|right|280px|Different sizes of hand saws]]
[[File:Roman hand saw Cambodunum.jpg|thumb|280px|Reconstructed Roman hand saw (1st–3rd century AD)]]
[[File:Cross-cut saw.JPG|thumb|right|280px|Close view of cross-cut saw teeth]]
In [[woodworking]] and [[carpentry]], '''hand saws''', also known as "panel saws", are used to cut pieces of [[wood]] into different shapes. This is usually done in order to [[Woodworking joints|join]] the pieces together and carve a wooden object. They operate by having a series of sharp points, called teeth, of a substance that is harder than the wood being cut.

Hand saws have been used for thousands of years. [[Egyptian hieroglyphs|Egyptian hieroglyphics]] exist depicting ancient woodworkers sawing boards into pieces, and ancient [[bow saw]]s have been found in Japan. Cut patterns on ancient boards are occasionally observed to bear the unique cutting marks left by [[saw blade]]s, particularly if the wood was not 'smoothed up' by some method. Twenty-four saws from eighteenth-century England are currently preserved.<ref name=":0">Olmert, Michael (1996). ''Milton's Teeth and Ovid's Umbrella: Curiouser & Curiouser Adventures in History'', p.178. Simon & Schuster, New York. {{ISBN|0-684-80164-7}}.</ref>

Materials for saw blades have varied over the ages. [[Bronze]] saws were likely used before [[steelmaking]] technology became extensively known and industrialized.

The most popular material for handles of hand saws is applewood; in the early 1900s 2,000,000 [[Board foot|board feet]] of applewood were used annually for this purpose.<ref>Burks, Jeff (2015). "Woods Used in Saw Handles". Lost Art Press, Traditional Hand-tool Skills". blog.lostartpress.com.</ref>

Sometimes cultures developed two main types of saw teeth: the [[Saw#Types of Saw Blades and the Cuts They Make|cross cut]] saw teeth and the [[Saw#Types of Saw Blades and the Cuts They Make|rip]] saw teeth.{{cn|date=January 2025}} These cut into the wood using different mechanisms. [[Crosscut saw]]s have sawteeth that are shaped, often with a [[file (tool)|metal file]], in such a way that they form a series of tiny [[knife]]-like edges. Crosscut saws are meant to cut perpendicular, or against, the [[wood grain]]. [[Rip saw]]s, on the other hand, have [[chisel]]-like sawteeth and are meant to cut parallel, or with, the grain. Wood fibers are contacted by the teeth and 'ripped' apart from the bundle of other fibers. It is common that people do not recognize the difference and use saws both ways.{{Citation needed|date=January 2025|reason=article needs statistics or source to prove that this is a common occurrence.}} However, a rip saw is much faster than a cross-cut saw when cutting with the grain but leaves a very rough cut, often with splinters on the surface, and has more difficulty maintaining a straight cut when cutting across the grain. The cross-cut saw can cut in any direction but is much slower than needs be when cutting with the grain.{{Citation needed|date=January 2025}}

The development of saws was also affected by several factors. The first was the importance of wood to a society, the development of steel and other saw-making technologies, and the type of power available. These factors were, in turn, influenced by the environment, such as the types of wood or metal available. Finally, the types of jobs the saws were to perform was also important in the development of the technology.<ref name=":0" />

Among [[Basque people|Basques]] and [[Australians]], traditional hand sawing has generated [[rural sport]]s. The Basque variant is called [[Basque rural sports#Trontza .28sawing.29|tronral]].

==See also==
*[[Saw]]
*[[Saw#Types of saws|Types of saws]]
*[[Musical saw]]s
*[[Saw set]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Hand saws}}
*[http://www.onlinetips.org/sharpening-hand-saws How to Sharpen a Saw Blade] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120916203841/http://www.onlinetips.org/sharpening-hand-saws |date=2012-09-16 }}, article on how to sharpen a handsaw yourself

{{Cutting and abrasive tools}}
{{Woodworking}}

[[Category:Hand tools]]
[[Category:Saws]]
[[Category:Woodworking hand tools]]

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