I have a Japanese Kataba saw (the ones in the Axminster catalogue) with a rip-cut "hassunme" profile. "Just the thing for effortlessly ripping long boards" they say... well, they would, wouldn't they!
The problem is that I find it exceptionally difficult to use, far from effortless, in fact so difficult that I assume that there must be something drastically wrong with my technique. I'm trying to rip some 20mm(ish) thick european oak, but it seems similarly difficult with pine and other woods that I have tried.
With a traditional (to us) western pattern saw you'd work from the top, sawing at an angle, and it cuts on the push stroke. So when ripping the teeth essentially chisel through the fibres at and angle, and thinking about it each fibre is supported by the one below it so it's a relatively easy, clean cut.
However, with a japanese pullsaw it seems to me that working from above means that the teeth are always digging directly into the end grain, and I can't square this with an "easy sawing action".
Sawing from underneath (if you see what I mean) is easy, the saw glides through the wood as I would expect, and I can easily see the cut line on the surface. However this isn't a comfortable working position, not practical for long boards and strikes me as not being the technique at all.
Saw from the top, but hold the saw such that the teeth form an oblique angle with the board surface? Fine, works, but how do you follow the cutting line (not that you have much chance with a ripsaw if it wanders off the line anyway)?
Or perhaps it shoudl be held so that the cutting edge is perpendicular to the board surface?
Anyone care to enlighten me on correct technique?
-- Richard Sampson
email me at richard at olifant d-ot co do-t uk