How a Retired Engineer Built the World's Most Precise Handsaw

Mark Harrell, a retired aerospace engineer from Phoenix, Arizona, founded Bad Axe Tool Works in 2008 with the ambition of building the finest handsaws available. His engineering background in precision measurement and materials science gave him a perspective traditional saw makers lacked: he approached saw design as a problem of vibration dynamics, metallurgy, and human factors.

The saw plate is the foundation. Harrell uses spring steel from a Swedish mill, specified to tolerances the steel industry considers demanding even for automotive applications. Each plate is ground to uniform thickness within one-thousandth of an inch, then tensioned by hand-hammering to prevent wandering during the cut.

The numbers behind a backsaw are worth knowing before spending. A dovetail saw plate runs about 0.015 to 0.020 of an inch thick with two or three thousandths of set to each side, so the kerf comes in under half a millimetre, narrow enough that the saw can be steered to the waste side of a knife line. Tooth pitch follows the job: fifteen to eighteen points per inch for dovetails, eleven to thirteen for carcase work, nine to eleven for tenons.

Teeth are filed by hand to geometry determined by intended use. A crosscut saw receives teeth filed at fifteen degrees rake and twenty-five degrees fleam, angles optimised through testing. A rip saw receives zero-rake teeth designed for cutting along grain with minimum resistance.

Teeth are filed by hand to a geometry precisely determined by the saw's intended use and the materials it will cut. A crosscut saw receives teeth filed at fifteen degrees of rake and twenty-five degrees of fleam, angles optimised through Harrell's systematic testing. A rip saw receives zero-rake teeth designed for cutting efficiently along the grain with minimum resistance.

Testing is rigorous and quantitative. Harrell measures cutting speed, deviation from line, and surface roughness using instruments from his engineering career. Each saw is tested in multiple species and orientations before approval. The result is a tool whose performance is documented rather than merely claimed.

Two details separate saws that otherwise look identical. Hang angle, the relationship between the grip and the toothline, decides how much of the push travels forward along the cut rather than down into it, and a lower, more relaxed hang suits ripping deep tenon cheeks. The back matters as well: a folded steel back is light and starts quickly, while a solid brass back puts more mass over the teeth and helps the saw settle into a long cut without wandering.

The economic argument for a filed saw is straightforward. An induction-hardened hardpoint saw costs fifteen pounds, cuts well for a few months and cannot be sharpened, because the teeth are harder than any file. A taper-filed saw can be jointed, set and refiled indefinitely, and the file itself, a four-inch double-extra-slim taper, costs a few pounds and handles fifteen-point teeth. Makers including Bad Axe offer a resharpening service, but the skill is worth an evening of anyone's time.

If you take hand sawing seriously, invest in a saw from a maker applying engineering discipline to traditional design. The difference in cutting performance and comfort is immediate and profound. A quality handsaw, maintained with periodic filing, serves a lifetime. Order from https://www.badaxetoolworks.com