It’s time.
You’ve stalled long enough.
She’s not having it anymore.
Breakfast seemed a little cold this morning. So was the morning kiss. And your coffee was just a little too bitter.
It wasn’t long before you realized what the cold front was about.
You promised you’d build her a set of beautiful, modern nightstands six months ago and she’s not waiting any longer.
You binge YouTube woodworking vids, yes—Woodworking for Mere Mortals with Steve Ramsey, that sort of thing—but hardcore woodworking’s not really your thing.
To ACTUALLY build a nightstand??? What on earth made you promise her that???
Where do you even start? She explicitly said she’s not interested in store bought nightstands. If it doesn’t have “authentic” stamped all over it you’re in the dog house for a looooong time to come!
Better get going.
So, you reach for your back saw—a Christmas gift from your sister—grab a piece of pine and start hacking at it.
But you’re having a difficult time controlling the saw. It seems to stick when you cut. Sometimes it just jumps right out of the cut.
And it’s taking forever to cut through this 1-inch pine!
Why don’t they design these things to cut on the pull?!?
Actually…
When it comes to woodworking the Japanese do things differently.
And some of what they do is just plain better.
One of the major differences between Japanese woodworking techniques and western woodworking techniques is that while some of our tools cut on the push, theirs cut on the pull.
That’s true for their woodworking saws and their woodworking planes.
They do things differently in many other ways too, like not using glue, screws or nails for much (but not all) woodworking projects.
Many of their buildings are constructed this way. And although it seems ludicrous, especially since they have earthquakes, these designs seem to grow stronger with time.
They say it’s because these structures can move more freely, due to lack of fasteners, that they can withstand natural disasters better.
The Japanese truly know what it means to think outside the box.
If you really want a taste of common-sense tools, get yourself some Japanese woodworking saws.
They’re incredible.
Not only are they much easier to work with due to the completely different cutting method, they also come with super sharp replaceable blades that cut through wood in no time.
They’re available in a number of styles, like single edge and double edge.
Because the blade cuts on the pull, it doesn’t have to handle as much pressure as a push saw. That means they can make the blade much thinner. This is great for finer work, like cutting dovetails.
You can’t go wrong with a Japanese saw. There’s a reason they receive excellent ratings on platforms like Amazon.
Read an in-depth review of the Gyokucho 372 dozuki razor saw to see how fantastic these saws are.
