A Classic Hand Saw Like This Is Hard to Find

There was a time when most every household in America owned a hand saw.  This hand saw was sometimes used for making furniture and cabinets, but the majority of the time it was used to make repairs around the house or build things necessary for everyday living.  Electric circular saws were too expensive for the average person to afford, so the need for a good crosscut was paramount.  It always had a comfortable wooden handle, was usually 26" in length, had a minimum setting of 10-12 tpi (teeth per inch), was made in the US, and it bore a medallion of the saw manufacturer on the handle.

I recently was given the opportunity to try out a saw that fit this same criteria, the Great Neck N2610.

My Search for a Modern Saw

Walk down the hand tool aisle of your big box stores today and you will find quite a few differences between the tools of today the classics of yesterday.  Most crosscut saws today feature carbide teeth, set at 6-8 tpi, with plastic handles. They butcher end grain and are less comfortable than the saw our parents and grandparents used.  I also found most hand saws today are 20" in length.  These tools are made to use, abuse, wear down, and throw away.

The other hand saw option you have is to purchase a very expensive high end saw at a woodworking specialty store.  I have no quarrel with these saws, they are very nice and high quality.  Attached to the high quality is also a high price tag.  It is relatively impossible to find a saw in this category for less than $100.  My purpose was to find a solid hand saw the average American could afford on a budget.

The Great Neck N2610

I emailed the Great Neck Tool company after reading a few Amazon.com reviews of this product.  Within no time, they sent me a N2610 in exchange for an honest review of their product.  I was a big fan of the this saw from the moment I held it.  I became a very big fan after cutting my first piece of lumber.  Here is how this saw stood out from the pack:

Comfortable Handle

The handle was large and made of wood.  My hand slid in and it fit well, offering the opportunity to saw comfortably for a long period of time.  I also found the wood easier to grip than many of the plastic handles out there today.  Anyone who has ever done a lot of hand sawing will tell you this is probably one of the most important features of a hand saw.

The Cut

When you look at tpi, you have to balance speed of cutting with the quality of the cut.  The lower your teeth per inch, the faster the cut and the rougher the finished product.  Although it may not seem so, there is a big difference between 8 tpi and 10 tpi.   In my opinion, the best cut for a beginning woodworker comes from a 10-12 tpi saw.  The Great Neck N2610 was no exception, it cut effectively without shredding the edges of the end grain.  A quick clean up with a file and some light sanding will leave the edge of your work ready to accept stain.

Full Sized

Apparently, I missed the boat somewhere.  When did a 20 inch saw become the standard?  To my knowledge, Disston Tools, America's leading hand saw maker for over a century, did not manufacture a 20" standard cross cut saw.  If you use the entire length of the saw, a 26" hand saw cuts much faster than a 20" model.  The full 26" length of this saw was definitely a feature I liked.

A Few More Details

After speaking with a company representative, I learned Great Neck has been producing this exact same saw for about 30 to 40 years without any changes in design.  Although improvements have been made to the process, the product itself has remained untouched.

Another thing which hasn't changed is where these saws are manufactured.  The N2610 is a proud product to wear the label "Made in the USA."  Around since 1919, Great Neck Tools started out in the tool industry making saws in this country, and it still makes them here today.

Care for Your Handsaw The blade of this handsaw is a chrome nickel steel blade with a water based lacquer, pretty much an industry standard for your general hand saw.  After you are done sawing for the day, Great Neck suggests a light coat of oil be applied to prevent any rust from forming on the blade.  I gave mine a quick shot of AmsOil on a rag and a light wiping and the saw was ready for storage until the next project. Conclusions The saw was a real pleasure to cut with and left a nice edge for any saw under $30.  This saw cut just as well as a Disston I own, perhaps even a little better.  I feel with its features at the price point given, you would be hard pressed to find a better saw.  In fact, citing reasons previously stated, I believe this saw is in a category all its own.

You can read more about Great Neck Tools, the multiple brands they own, and the wide array of tools they produce at the website www.greatneckbrands.com.  

The Idle Woodworker Blog was Featured on About.com

I would like to thank Ryan Kunkle from the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania for featuring my Christmas Platform blog post in his About.com Model Railroad Blog a few days back.  Ryan has some great articles regarding designing and setting up very aesthetic model railroad scenes.

A big reason any I began blogging at the end of last year was the limited information available for certain projects, such as a Christmas Train Platform.  By sharing information and things I have learned, I was hoping to inspire others in their own projects.  

Keep an eye out for upcoming posts as we finish up 2012 and head into 2013.  

I promise to finish the Depression-Era Vanity I introduced you to back in June, as well as test drive and review a hand saw the Great Neck Tools company will be sending my way.  A few other things in the works are farmhouse-inspired kitchen pieces I designed, removing tool rust with electrolysis, and some tools I originally thought were limited, but now cannot live without.

As for the Minwax Facebook contest, I did not win the big trip, but still receive a great consolation prize.  Congrats to Tom P. of Indiana, PA for his truly wonderful restoration of a family heirloom grandfather clock.  I really appreciate all of your votes, it is wonderful thing to know your work is truly appreciated.

The Importance of Old Hand Tools

In an effort to break from refinishing blogs, I would to write a little bit about old hand tools and why I still use them almost every chance I get.  Woodworking and refinishing may be my favorite hobbies, but collecting old tools runs very close behind. Up until about 100 years ago, the average person did not own a single power tool - everything a homeowner made was exclusively by hand.

Classic Stanley Handyman Plane

So why would today's craftsman even bother using hand tools when power tools make it faster and easier to product good quality product?  There are five main reasons I choose to use a number of old hand tools:

Price - If I had an empty garage and a $200 tool budget, almost every piece of equipment I would buy would be a hand tool (the only exception would be an electric drill.)  You get more for your money with hand tools, and could outfit your entire shop on a minimal budget.

Durability - This may not be the case with the hand tools made today, but the durability of an average hand tool over 30 years old is usually very good. In an age when premium brand power tools may only come with a one year warranty, the lifetime of a classic hand tool, with care, can last generations.

Intimacy with the Craft - Some woodworkers, such as Roy Underhill, see the use of power tools as a step away from the traditional craft, making wood working more business and less art. While a power tool may help you produce volume, properly tuned hand tools can help you produce quality and detail.

Yankee Push Drills are so great, they deserve their own blog post

Efficiency - If you are not producing multiple copies of the same piece, you may find hand tools can make you more efficient and saved time.  The time to set up your table saw, jig, router, or other power tool may nullify the time saved when only making one or two passes. 


Experience - Why do we still make our children memorize multiplication tables when you can buy a calculator for less than $5?  Doing something by hand the long way can train your brain to develop its own shortcuts and recognize patterns or mistakes.  The same can be true for woodworking, where your experience from using hand tools can make you even more competent using power tools.  In fact, most professional furniture trade schools first cover mastery of hand planes, chisels, and turning before you plug in your first power tool.

My grandfather sharpened his own hand saw, an art long lost.

I was recently blessed with the opportunity to go through my grandfather's tools and select the pieces I would take home and use in my own shop.  I feel very honored to be able to use the same tools which have shaped so many pieces of furniture and metalwork from my family's generations.

To carry on these traditions is truly a very humbling experience.  All of the photos listed in this blog post are not only classic hand tools, to me they are also family heirlooms.