Hand Saws.
The saw cannot be classified with any other tool. It is essentially a tool for use across the fibre of the wood, and the separation is a cutting, not a tearing action, as fully explained in the work already alluded to. The carpenter and joiner has some six or
Fig. 78.— Hand Saw.
Fig. 79.— Tenon Saw.
eight saws, comprising the rip, cross-cut, hand, panel, tenon, dovetail, bow or turning, and keyhole. The hand-saw type includes the hand saw proper, the ripping, half-ripping, and panel saws, all of similar outline, but differing in dimensions and in form and size of teeth. There is no sharp distinction between these tools, as they merge one into the other; yet at the extremes it would be impossible to substitute the ripping and panel saws one for the other. The hand saw, however, which is a kind of compromise between extremes, is used indiscriminately for all purposes,
Fig. 80. — Bow or Frame Saw.
especially by the carpenter. Fig. 78 is a saw with nibbed back. Straight back and skew back or round back saws are made, and the teeth of the latter do not require to be set. The typical hand saw has a blade which is from 24 in. to 28 in. long. Its blade is as thin as possible, consistent with sufficient strength to prevent the saw buckling under thrust; the taper of the blade is
