Lets start discussing saws of various types. We will stick with ‘hand’ powered saws and move on to power saws in the power tool section at a later date.

Keyhole or Jab saw

While all saws can do damage if you slip, there is one saw that has the most wicked teeth of them all. It is the key hole saw. You don’t want to even mess around with this saw. The teeth are right out of a midnight horror film and can cut through just about any non-metallic material.

These saws are used for mainly drywall because of the material they remove with just one push or pull. When used correctly they can make cutting out light holes or outlet holes in drywall a breeze. The sharp and pointed tip on these saws make it easy to push right through a sheet of drywall in order to start in the middle of a sheet where the hole is marked out.

You don’t want to grab this if your back itches. As you can see from the picture above, they can remove some material . So before you try to run a piece of drywall through like one of King Aurthurs knights of the round table, put on some gloves. Some good leather gloves are better shredded than your fingers.

The hack saw

Besides a circular saw, the hack saw is probably the most common. We have all seen those movies about the prisoners escaping with the help of a hack saw or even just the blade. The blade is for sure the heart of the saw itself. It is made of high carbon steel with very small teeth along the edge. The teeth are measured by TPI or teeth per inch.

A decent saw will cut right through a padlock or any other case hardened steel object. The secret to using a hacksaw is the motion while cutting. The blade should be positioned where the cutting edges are facing the side opposite the handle. When cutting a metal object, try to use 2 hands and push forward with some pressure down. When back stroking the saw, release the pressure and apply pressure on the forward stroke only. The reason for this is that if you put pressure on the back stroke, you will dull the teeth. Many people are inpatient and use the hacksaw like a jack rabbit. Try to imagine how a jack rabbit would use a hacksaw. Remember it is NOT a race and you will use fewer blades if you just take your time.

Crosscut hand saw

Here is a blast from the past. This type of saw is what the old timers used. There are still some real craftsmen out there that keep this kind of saw on hand. Usually a chop saw is faster and a sawzall will finish up a freehand cut in record time, but some will still swear by these. I have used this saw when all my other stuff is broke, but never because I’m nostalgic or something. Still, it IS pretty cool to know that houses built before 1940 were probably at least 1/2 built with these types of tools, and a good ole hammer and nails.

Coping Saw

Lastly we are going to discuss the coping saw. This is a saw that is used for cutting the intricate cuts on the corners of a mitered joint such as trim. When you are confused about which way to hold the piece when using a miter saw, you can simply cut the pattern straight with a coping saw and then fit the pieces together.

There are many other things that this little saw can do if you have the patience. You can cut holes out of a piece of wood by unlatching the blade and feeding it through a pre drilled starter hole in the wood, reconnect the blade to the handle and cut your shape. If you REALLY have patience (which I do not.. lol) you can cut out professional dove tails and finger joints for gluing. There are even plastics and metals you can cut with professional results. As far as a precise cutting instrument, a coping saw is something you should have in your arsenal of tools for DIY projects.