Reddit reviews Stanley FatMax 17-202 14-Inch Back Saw

If you decide to go the hand tool route, money and space are a lot less of a concern. Rather than throw out hypotheticals, I'll give you some examples of tools you can actually buy right now:

Panel saw. Yeah, 10 bucks. It's actually a nice saw too. The only issue is the teeth cannot be sharpened - but it's 10 bucks. Use this for breaking down big stock into smaller stock

Back Saw. Also 10 bucks. Same as above. Disposable but cheap and will last a long time (it's disposable because the teeth have been hardened). This is for precision cross cuts and cutting tenons.

Dovetail/fine joinery saw. 25 bucks plus a 3 dollar xx slim double taper saw file to make it not suck.

Now for some planes. These may seem kind of pricey for "broke" status, but these aren't POS-get-you-by planes. These are lifetime tools. To get something comparable new, you are looking at 150.00 to 300.00 a piece. You can get better deals by bidding on some planes, but these are all "buy it now"

Stanley #4. Needs some love but that's a good user for 30 bucks.

Stanley #5 for 42$

Stanley #7. 90 bucks.

Pick up a 4 dollar card scraper too.

Chisels

Narex $36. Use one of these and a block of wood to make yourself a router plane also.

Combination square 10 bucks.

A cordless drill of some sort and some bits (assuming you have one already)

70 bucks in 2x12's so you can make a knock down Nicholson style workbench which doesn't need vises. When you are done working, break it down and put it in the closet.

35 bucks for a pair of holdfasts from Gramercy

30 bucks worth of F style clamps from harbor freight will get you started there.

14 bucks to get sharp (not at all ideal but completely workable on a budget)

So for 410.00 or the price of a decent sander and miter saw, you can make literally anything in a small space with a small amount of localized dust. The trade off of course it time and labor.

Down the road you are definitely want to get some better saws, maybe some specialty planes, different chisels, some better measuring/marking equipment. But this will more than get you started.

YouTube is good for tutorials. For dovetails, and mortise-tenon joints, you would need a good set of chisels. I these from Bahco, and I like them. you will also need a 3000/8000 grit sharpening stone, and a sharpening guide for the chisels.

Other than that, a nice tenon saw, like this and a regular crosscut saw like this.

A wooden mallet would be good for the chisels too.

Do you have any tools already? I made a reply a few weeks ago with basic woodworking tools and you can probably find it in my comment history.

Bahco is nice and quality, Stanley, not so much, but saws get more beat up than chisels, and they are much harder to sharpen, so on a hobby level, buying cheap, and replacing frequently, can often be a good choice.

Try a sturdy backsaw. Should do the trick. You don't need a special clamp - anything to hold it still, including your knee. The trick is the right saw. If you have access to a Sawzall as recommended by others, that will work, but I fear a bowsaw will eventually cut straight, but the first 1/2" or so could be wobbly.

Yes, with the proper saw that's in good shape with sharp teeth, it shouldn't take you more than 30-90 seconds to cut through a 4x4. I would recommend getting 2 or 3 saws. First and foremost I would suggest this one: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000CEF5HM/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The coarse side can be used to cross cut a 4x4 easily and the fine side can be used to cleanly flush trim materials

This saw is for fine work only: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001DSY7G6/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

And has a stiffer back than the first saw, but because of the spine can't be used for through cuts.

And if you think you're going to be almost all rough work, this fatmax will make quick work, but again because of the spine won't let you do through cuts (which is fine for cutting 4x4 because you can rotate the wood): https://www.amazon.com/Stanley-FatMax-17-202-14-Inch-Back/dp/B000VSKORU/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1494708186&sr=8-6&keywords=stanley+fatmax+saw

If you're only gonna get one I would recommend the first one. You can always stabilize it with a block of wood to keep the spine stiff, and then use it for through cuts and flush trimming by taking the block away.

The trick is, once you get a nice saw, fight your natural efforts to try to do "effort" to cut more. The saw's teeth do all the heavy lifting here, your sole job is to hold it up and glide it back and forth. Almost no downward pressure is needed for most saws

Even though I have a miter saw, having at least 1 or 2 hand saws has been invaluable. Once you get a piece assembled you can't always take it back to the miter saw, and sometimes it is just truly quicker to handsaw right where you are at than walk over to the miter saw, line it up to the fence, measure, double measure, line up the blade, cut, find out your piece is ever so slightly taller than the blade capacity and now you still have to finish it up with a handsaw anyway.

You probably want a back saw. Something like this

The tall rigid blade gives you something to ride along your knuckle and helps keep it straight.