Parts of Handsaws

Gullet

• A gullet represents the spaces between the teeth. The gullet is important in determining the amount of wood you can cut with a single stroke. Deep gullets remove larger chunks of wood. Imagine a saw used for cutting a tree, and the enormous one to two inch depth in the teeth. This depth determines the quickness of the cutting. Two-man tree saws are used to remove large amounts of wood and have deeper teeth. Smaller wood saws that require more control have smaller teeth and remove less wood.

Blade and Teeth

• The blade of the saw is the metal portion of the saw that has the teeth on the bottom. They are made of steel. The teeth are located on the bottom of the blade. This is the actual cutting part of the saw. As the saw is pulled and pushed through the wood, it burrows into the wood and removes it.

Back

• This is the portion of the blade located on the top of the saw and opposite the teeth. This is slightly thicker to provide support during blade strokes.

Handle

• The handle is the portion the carpenter holds while cutting through the wood. It was traditionally made of wood. The handgrip is the hole in the middle. Modern saws have handles that have formed grips and have rubber applied to them for comfort. They can also be made out of plastic.