The Saw Point - a serious exploration of knife saws .

meako

meako

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Further to my recent and still very much alive thread about faux antler I have another puzzler.
This time it's knife saws. The good, the bad and the pointless-
I have read them variously described as something that cuts through timber "like a beaver on crack" (one of my fave similes of all time -think it was Carl in reference to the Opinel?)
I also own a couple that would be as effective and useful as a barbed wire condom that is to say only a mad man would bother to use them.
I'll take pics tomorrow but no time and too dull at the moment.Kids about to arrive home TGIF and do that baby bird food squawking thing.
Once again I'm looking for best and worst.
All pics and comments /thoughts welcome.
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kkrrccck-Daverick you will maintain heading and try to keep it on the deck this time :rolleyes::thumbup: kkcchlk Meakitz out.
 
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I love the saws on my SAKs (Alox Farmers and Electrician Plus), I use them during hiking quite a bit too cut branches under 2" to be used around camp.

I remember getting cheap knives as a kid as they almost always came with what I thought was a saw but was really a fish scaler. I remember thinking "these things are useless!"
 
Camillus made a damned good saw. But it's still second fiddle to a SAK saw, due to the shorter usable length.

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I have some terrible saws at home. I'll try to post pics tonight.
 
My woods folder almost always has a saw, and almost always a SAK. Victorinox Red Alox Farmer, Lumberjack, OHT GAK, or my old Trekker. Most camping trips that saw sees more use prepping the camp fire than my heavy choppers. In the Army I used it to fine tune my hooch by removing limbs in the way and adding camouflage/concealment. One of my favorite features in a SAK.
 
meako said:
I have read them variously described as something that cuts through timber "like a beaver on crack" (one of my fave similes of all time -think it was Carl in reference to the Opinel?)
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Yup, that was I!

I very rarely carry a knife with a saw blade on it anymore. I figure that if it's not that thick, then I can just notch it and break it off. If is that thick, then a dedicated saw is in order. I keep the Opinel saw in my woods rambling bag, alternating with a Fiskars black plastic handle sliding blade thing that is even better than the Opinel. I love folding saws, and they make certain outdoor tasks much easier. The SAK saws are wonderful in a pinch, but the short blade length limits what real work can be done with them. They will get you there, but it takes a longer time than a real saw.

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Army Aviator's Knife by Colonial (there was also a Navy version with bail), in service from about 1944 to 1960
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The contract specified that the saw blade had to be able to saw plexiglass, aluminum and wood.






And here it is flanked by a Schrade 8OT and a Buck 301
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Great pics everyone.I'm with Carl on this .I prefer a proper saw .The saw and glass saw yes it has both on the SAK Rescue knife are both 'sawesome'.
Jack suggested a comparison between the Regimental Sheffield sak and a proper Swiss sak.the first difference I noticed was the saw:o
Any word on the GEC lumberjack saw?
 
In the photo that I posted above, that's my grandfather's saw set next to the old fiber handle Victorinox officer's knife. It's one of the handful of tools that he had with him when he immigrated to the US. Of course, a saw set can't be used on the Victorinox saw but I added it to the photo for fun. The knife didn't belong to him. I bought it from another collector.

meako said:
...Any word on the GEC lumberjack saw?
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Arathol said:
Its not a saw. Its a dull blade with saw shaped bumps on it. Totally worthless. There was a long thread on this when the Lumberjack was released.
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The combination of a saw and screwdriver is an old idea and I was surprised that GEC recreated it... more than once. I never liked the idea of a sharp edge on a screwdriver. Just seems like a bad idea. If you're applying torque and your hand slips, you may need stitches. At least one modern example by another company put a removable cover on the saw. But in my opinion it's just not a very practical design.

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supratentorial said:
In the photo that I posted above, that's my grandfather's saw set...
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Thanks for that pic - brings back a lot of memories. I found one in my grandfather's garage, and I thought it was a pair of hog-ring pliers. (He worked for the NC Dept. of Agriculture.) It wasn't until later a family friend showed what the saw set does - and in woodshop I found out the hard way what kerf means.

supratentorial said:
The combination of a saw and screwdriver is an old idea and I was surprised that GEC recreated it... more than once.
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Man I want one of those, but I can't justify having something that utilitarian and never using it.

My preferred knife saw is on my Victorinox Huntsman. Still the best of all the pocket-knife-sized folding saws I've used.

~Chris
 
I sought the saws on my big Colonial SAK homages, and found them not. That might say something about the difficulty of making a good pocket saw.
The Vic saw is great.
 
+1 again on the SAK saws. The saw on my Farmer is awesome. It's cut branches, PVC pipe, etc with ease. An impressive little saw :thumbup:
 
orca8589 said:
Man I want one of those, but I can't justify having something that utilitarian and never using it.


~Chris
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No you don't. Its big, thick, heavy, the saw is useless. Good idea, poor execution. The knife blade is pretty good, and the handle material nice a grippy. Even so, it is more of a conversation piece than useful tool.
 
Only saw blade I have on a knife is the Vic Alox Farmer. I have used it to cut some small pieces of wood to the length I needed to temporarily shim up a door while I was measuring for placement of the hinges.

One of those situations where a bigger saw would have been too much for the job, plus I didn't want to walk out to the shed to get one. It's a small saw for times when you need a small saw.
 
Now that is classy and "sawsome":thumbup:
The saw looks similar to the saw on a couple of Vic German Army knives I have.
 
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A Vic SAK and a Richards Regimental-the difference is obvious.And thats the fish scaler for recognition.
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Sorry not the best pic-this one is the Rodgers regimental -the saw is much better than the richards but not in the same arena as VICs.
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this one is a Stanley knife by Camillus? (I think). great little saw but just too short for anything more than cutting sprue of plastic model kits and the like.
Lets face it. These things were not built to do carpentry.
I remember the disappointment when the lumberjacks came out -perhaps the most cartoonish of all GECs knives -just was wondering if they had proven themselves out in the big bad world -I'm thinking nope.:)
Ah well ,without mistakes there would be no perfection.
 
Saw and serrated blade.

One thing I like about saws on slipjoints --- I've yet to find one that needed even periodic tuning.

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