That's it, I'm a western saw kinda guy

[CatButler]

Wow,

This generating an interesting discussion. I kinda wish Bill Anderson would pop in. The hardwood vs construction lumber is a different path together. My Western backsaws are setup for hardwood, so they are a fairly thin blade without a lot of kerf. If I was going to cut 2x4 or PT 2x4, I would want more kerf. IIRC, the Asian saws have a tapered blade, so the teeth are wider than the top. That eliminates the need to kerf the teeth. I actually used my $20 BORG Ryoba to cut 2x4s, mostly because I don't want to use my good saws for it and if I concentrate and keep form, I'm not too bad. If I used the tips in the AskWoodMan videos. I may even be better.

As for hardwoods, using the Asian saws to cut deep tenons has gotten me in trouble more than a few times, but I was holding the work in a style much more suited to a Western saw.

 

[Len]

I found the video interesting, but some of the techniques are a little different than I learned when stationed in Japan a couple of lifetimes ago. He seemed to be using a lot more pressure on the saw than the way I learned to do it. I was taught to guide the saw, but let it do the work. Also, I would find getting down on my knees like that for doing the rip cuts to be a problem these days. I would be more likely to mount a piece like that vertically in my WorkMate, or a vice, for doing the tenon rip cuts he showed. Starting the cut with a finer stiff back saw is one of the things I did learn. I also find handle down or up doesn't make a lot of difference, I do both depending on the situation. The key for me is a shallow angle between the work and the blade, whichever way the handle is.

Len

 

[CarvedTones]

I thought about the knees also watching the video. Getting down on my knees like that would be easy; getting back up not so much...

 

[CatButler]

I thought about the knees also watching the video. Getting down on my knees like that would be easy; getting back up not so much...

I was thinking at least my saw benches wouldn't go to waste.