I’ve noticed that a lot of pros have taken to using cordless power tools and power tool accessories for nearly everything, including some operations that could or should be done by hand.
A lot of DIYers do the same, although DIYers and hobbyists working out of a workshop often have greater access and larger tool collections than pros who take limited kits to the field.
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I used an Irwin dovetail and detail pull saw today, a smallish saw with 7-1/4″ blade length, and have been debating whether I should describe it as a tool box must-have.
I like some of Irwin’s saws, and this one is no different. To be fair, there’s not a lot that’s special about this particular saw, aside from the Irwin being both relatively inexpensive and readily available.
It’s a pull-saw, in contrast to “western-style” saws that cut on the push stroke. The thin blade is flexible, which is good for flush-cutting tasks, and also has a small kerf for little waste.
It’s very well-reviewed, with the only negatives I’ve seen focusing on the scarcity of replacement blades. Frankly, it’s inexpensive enough that it’s not a big deal to simply replace the entire saw when needed, or at least that’s probably Irwin’s reasoning.
I’m not going to tell you that pull-style saws are better than western-style hand saws, or that everyone MUST have one of these in their toolbox. The fact of that matter is that it is quite useful, and also a pleasure to use, but is it a necessity?
There are multiple ways to cut dowels flush with a wood surface, and you can also even cut them proud and sand them down. There are also multiple ways to cut dovetails, trim and other smaller pieces of wood, or perform other types of detail cutting. Still, saws like this one are great for such work.
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Sometimes I use an oscillating multi-tool for cutting dowels or other small pieces of wood, and other times jig saws. Heck, I’ve even used wire cutters on smaller dowel sizes. But detail hand saws often provide better results, and even when they don’t work any better or worse, they’re more fun to use – at least in my opinion.
Why Irwin? To start, it has a great price point – $12 to $13 via Amazon, up to ~$16 elsewhere, and it’s easy to find. It’s also a name that you know.
I have recommended Vaughan pull saws before, and my recommendation for that brand hasn’t changed at all, and the same goes for Shark. The problem is that those brands’ saws aren’t as easy to find anymore, and sometimes the pricing is a bit higher than I would consider as introductory.
Read Also: A Quick Primer About Shark and Vaughan Japanese-Style Pull Saws
If you know you want a pull-style saw, whether for cutting details or smaller pieces of wood, there are a wide range of options. But this Irwin pull saw, I think it’s a better introductory option given its price point and availability. The lack of replacement blades and its basic handle style are downsides, but can be overlooked given the price point.
Should you try an Irwin pull-style detail saw? If you ask me, YES – everyone should be open-minded when it comes to trying new tools. If you cut smaller pieces of wood, I think this saw will get used, maybe even becoming a much-loved addition to your toolbox.
Is it the best? No. But it’s a solid performer and great value.
Price: $12-13 via Amazon
Why haven’t you tried pull-style saws before? Or, if you did, would you agree with my opinion that this is a good introductory saw for detail work?
(I believe this saw was a personal purchase, but I have also tested several Irwin saws as review samples in the past. This isn’t my only pull-style detail saw – I own a couple – but I do see it as the best introductory option.)
Jared
I was just looking at pull saws the other day – couldn’t make up my mind what to buy. Mostly I wanted it for my woodturning projects, e.g. cutting pen blanks. I have a bandsaw, but it’s old and was cheap to start with and doesn’t cut straight if I don’t have everything line up perfectly. Plus I use it so infrequently it’s stored up on a shelf and I have to take it down and clear space on my benchtop. I figured a pull saw would be pretty precise and waste less material (so I can get the grain to line up better in the segments of my blanks).
Thanks for the recommendation!
Nathan
I often see people swear by various Japanese style pull saws and you look and other than price many are unsharpenable and they have such nice handles I always wonder why the blades aren’t meant to be easy replacement.
As I’ve not seen one of these before I think I’ll buy one next time I’m putting together a list of things
Thanks.
Scar
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07NVT52F4/ref=twister_B07NVSBDQG?_encoding=UTF8&th=1
I have this one and use it all the time. Replacement blades are 15 bucks, but that is 75% of price of a new one.
Stuart
Japanese-style saws are often designed with replacement blades, but it can be tricky to source them, depending on the brand and style.
ToolGuyDan
May I recommend the Veritas flush-cutting saw for doweling and similar work, instead? I don’t hesitate to use it even on fully-finished surfaces; it’s *that good* at not marking, since all teeth exclusive cut “up”. Like the Irwin, the blade is flexible; unlike the Irwin, it has both high-TPI and low-TPI edges.
In short, whereas pull saws in general are an “improvement”, I view the Veritas as an “enabler”: a tool so good at its job that it actually allows me to do things I otherwise could not.
Stuart
Problem is, the Veritas is only a flush-cutting saw, and at more than double the price. It’s easier to justify something like that after first trying a more general-use pull saw.
Stuart Y
I have both. This type of saw is very useful, however I learned the hard way that this type of saw has a set that will mar the surface finish if you use it for a flush cut to cut off dowels and through tenons. I recommend a true flush cut saw for ‘flush cuts’ because they don’t have the set in the teeth and won’t mar a delicate surface.
MT_Noob
I’ve got the small Dewalt double-sided pull saw. I found myself reaching for it so often I got a second one. One to keep in the portable toolbox and one to keep in the shop.
Small grammar/spelling comment… (no biggie, but I think maybe there is a typo)
“If you know you want a pull-size saw, whether” I suspect was meant to be “full-size” saw…
Stuart
Thanks! I meant “pull-style,” but kept thinking about whether I should talk about other sizes before deciding against it. I guess it bled through a little anyway.
Todd
I always have the Irwin in my bag, I often find I can cut things with it faster than running down to my van to grab my cordless saws.
Noah
I use this saw many times a week doing finish carpentry. It’s a great little saw for the price. Beats taking out a cordless saw or fein tool for small, precise cuts.
Matt J.
I’ve had this saw for about 8 or 9 years now. Great little saw…sharp as anything (I have the scar to prove it!). Also, I’m pretty sure Shark makes this for Irwin as the Shark handle looks identical and the Shark dovetail blades fit like OEM. I have the Shark ryoba-style double sided and from looking at the Irwin one at Lowes. that also looks nearly identical (although the TPI on the blade is different). I suppose it’s possible that both handles come from the same foreign supplier?
Either way, I’ve not been able to find a reasonably-priced source for replacement blades since my local tool store no longer stocks them.
Madara
I really like my Irwin, but I wish the release button was positioned better. I occasionally hit it with my thumb.
Josh Olsen
This Tajima saw is 100% a toolbox essential. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00023S4R6/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I use it for everything from trimming dowels to cutting 2x4s…It is often so much faster than breaking out even a cordless saw.
Matthew Cote
I keep a Japanese pull saw in my tool belt permanently. I am a full time framing carpenter, and this saw gets used at least a couple times a day. Often for cutting a small notch to place a string line in, or making a small awkward cut up on a roof when I don’t have a circular saw with me. I personally prefer the Silky brand saws. They are razor sharp and cut very well. I’ve had a couple different sizes but the 170 is my favourite to carry on me. If you’ve never used a silky you need to try it.
https://www.amazon.ca/Silky-Folding-Landscaping-POCKETBOY-346-17/dp/B0014C7XS0
RKA
Lots of good options out there. For general construction type stuff, I tried a bahco profcut (12”), and it did a great job of finishing off stopped cuts I started with a circular saw. No mess, no noise, no power tool bouncing around screwing up your work. Sometimes simple is good. Same for a handplane, but that’s a little more complicated since you have to learn to sharpen the blade and set up the plane. The saw is cheaper and dead simple, just don’t force these Japanese style saws, let them work at their own pace. No reason not to keep one in your toolbox for $20 unless you never cut wood. 🙂
Corey Moore
Gedore No.401 is what mine’s stamped, but if I recall I purchased it labeled as a low-profile handsaw. Only 1¼” height, ¾” diameter 4″ length handle, replaceable 8.5″ blade, and cuts on the pull, it’s been invaluable in delicate cutting situations regarding cable with fused cladding p, cladding with delicate wires inside preventing the usual snapping method, and weird areas of no clearance where I may have pieces or forms of metal that I need removed.
The-Dung
Stanley has a mini dual edge. The handle can also be use with other regular reciprocating blades with the quick change screw.
https://www.stanleytools.com/products/hand-tools/cutting-tools/saws/434-in-fatmax-mini-flush-cut-pull-saw/20-331
Gordon
I have the Kolbalt branded version of that. 1. You have to use a screw driver to lock the blade. The thumb screw is a joke. 2. The tip of the blade is not a cutting tooth so you can’t pull all the way through the wood. It snags and causes tearout. 3. I haven’t seen replacement blades in a store yet.
Other than that, it’s a great little saw. I use it with regular sawzall blades a lot. Especially wood blades for pruning trees/shrubs once a year.
Hilton
Thanks, I didn’t realise you could use recip baldes, guess I haven’t taken mine apart recently. I did however work out quickly that there is plenty of set so I bought a Veritas version for proper flush cuts on delicate surfaces.
Mopar4wd
I have had a 2 sided shark saw for years. Love it often quicker to grab off the pegboard then take out a power saw. The handle started to flex lately. I think for the price point I might give the Irwin a shot.
Rami
I have ryoba, dozuki and kataba -saws from Gyokucho and a japanese flush cut saw ( a real flush cut saw, with teeth facing one side only) as my good saws. I have a couple of cheap saws similar to this Irwin for dirty work. I might buy that Irwin for dirty work too.
Koko the Talking Ape
I WILL tell you that pull saws are better than the push-style. The pulling action means the blade doesn’t have to be as rigid, which means it can be thinner, which means the kerf is smaller, which means it cuts faster. It also means less fatigue, because you don’t have to use arm muscles to push the saw into the wood. Very light pressure is plenty.
Also, the Japanese-style crosscut teeth are exceptionally effective. They are sharpened on three sides, and are often hardened. Besides cutting quickly, they leave an extremely smooth surface, needing very little sanding or planing to make it finish-ready. (The ripping teeth work well too, but the improvement over Western-style saws isn’t as great.)
Of course, it takes practice to become good with a pull saw.
I have two, both from Rockler. Replacement blades are still available from Rockler, but if I’d been smart, I would’ve bought spare blades at the same time I bought the saws. Incidentally, they CAN be resharpened, but it requires a special file, and probably a lot of skill.
Gardeners and outdoorspeople swear by Silky saws, which are foldable, but probably cut more coarsely than the saw designed for woodworking.
But there’s a particular pull saw designed for logs and green wood. Supposedly it can cut a 2×4 in half with twelve strokes. That’s probably faster than it would take me to plug in my circular saw, and lighter and safer.
Hilton
You get various types of Silky saws that have different saw tooth patterns.
Koko the Talking Ape
Good to know! I don’t know any woodworkers who use Silky, for whatever reason.
Flotsam
i have a few and i couldn’t say what brands or anything. They are effective in the limited use they get. I also have a Silky for outdoor use, excellent saw!
About the Irwin, who makes this for them anyone know?
tim Rowledge
The Silky GomBoy proved very useful when I was building my house. And it’s almost worth it just so one can ask “where’s my Silky GomBoy?” on a building site…
Paul
I’ve had this saw for a few years and it’s become a “must-have” for small hardwood projects like picture frames and boxes. A pull saw is a lot easier to use on really small projects like cutting HO scale railroad ties and buildings.
NoahG
Honestly, the Harbor Freight pull saw is a great value for the price.
Autolycus
Us poor carpenters, over the water in England, have a long history of using many types of wood saw. Most of these have to cut on the push stroke, so have to have thick blades for strength and a correspondingly wider kerf for clearance. Not good for accurate, clean cuts.
Now there is a better way.
For many years I have only used Japanese pull saws – mostly with replaceable blades and all with far superior accuracy and sheer cutting ability to anything that has to be pushed.
Yes these are slightly more expensive – but with far less effort and far more to offer than old saws, I cannot recommend pull saws more highly.
After all, if you like living in the past, you have only yourselves to blame when the fake-tanned, silly hatted one sneaks into your own big house on Pennsylvania Avenue – and squats there..
But all is not entirely lost – Amazon have a reasonable range of pull-saws, or you can source directly from Japan, online.
…and you have elections later in the year..!
Robert Adkins
You just insulted half the American people. You really should stick to tools instead of acting like one.
Autolycus
That’s just one of the joys of being British..!
Have a nice day now.
Stuart
Troll again and you’ll see your commenting privileges revoked. No politics.
Robert Adkins
Haven’t quite bought into the Japanese style saws yet. Years ago I modified a small, fine-tooth miter saw to be a flush saw, and it works great. I seldom use it, I seldom need to flush-cut dowels or box joints. The main deterrent is my coping saw. It’s fast, deadly accurate, and smoothness is limited by the user. The other day I needed to cut a piece of 3/8 birch ply about 3″ wide. I marked the length but forgot to square it across. It it was not critical so I decided to try it by eye. I cut the darn thing perfectly square and so flat I couldn’t see light under the edge. Coping saw/cold dead hands.