Hishika Japanese Hand Saws
The Japanese tradition of woodworking has some fundamental differences from Western woodworking. One of those fundamental differences is that Japanese saws cut on the pull stroke. Many people who are comfortable with the Western style of saw find this awkward at first, but there are some undeniable advantages. It is possible with a pull stoke saw to make the blade much thinner than on a push type saw, since a pull-stroke saw does not need to have any inherent rigidity. This allows the blades on Japanese saws to be dramatically thinner than even the best Western saws. The thin kerf of a Japanese saw means that less material is removed, which translates directly into less effort being exerted by the user. The teeth on fine toothed Japanese saws, are shaped differently than Western saws. On the finest quality saws, like those of Hishika, these teeth leave a glass smooth surface.
Hishika makes high-end hand made Japanese saw in the best tradition of Japanese sawmaking, as well as more modestly priced machine made saws which are also the best in their class. The market for Japanese saws is dominated today by machine made saws, which are much less costly to produce, but a fine hand-made saw like the Hishika hand made saws do have distinct performance advantages over their machine made counterparts that will appeal to the connoisseur.
Features of Hishika Hand-Made Saws that are not found on any Machine-Made Japanese Saws- Blade thickness tapers towards the back to reduce friction and give the cleanest cuts.
- The blade backbone is slightly curved for more effective sawing. This is very important for dovetail saws.
- The whole blade is hardened for flexibility as well as hardness.
- Blades are hardened one at a time, as has been done traditionally in Japan.
- Blades are hand-hammered to flatten and relieve stress, as was also done on Western saws until the mid-20th Century when cold rolled steel completely took over in saw making. This is one reason why pre-War western style saws are superior to any western-style saws made today.
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Click on Image to Expand Hishika Douzuki Saws Hishika Douzuki (also spelled Dozuki in the US) Saws are Japanese rip-cut dovetailing saws. Douzuki saws have a rigid steel back and very fine teeth. |
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| Stock # | Description | Size | Price | Qty | Buy | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HI-180DR | Hishika Douzuki (Dovetail) Saw | 180mm
(7") blade |
$94.95 | |||
| HI-240DCC | Hishika Douzuki (Dovetail) Saw Cross Cut |
240mm
(9 1/2") blade |
$99.95 | |||
| HI-240DR | Hishika Douzuki (Dovetail) Saw Rip Cut |
240mm
(9 1/2") blade |
$99.95 | |||
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Click on Image to Expand Hishika Douzuki Saws - Machine Made Hishika Douzuki (also spelled Dozuki in the US) Saws are Japanese rip-cut dovetailing saws. Douzuki saws have a rigid steel back and very fine teeth. |
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| Stock # | Description | Size | Price | Qty | Buy | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HI-G150 | Hishika Douzuki (Dovetail) Saw | 150mm
(6") blade |
$32.95 | |||
| HI-G210 | Hishika Douzuki (Dovetail) Saw | 210mm
(8 1/4") blade |
$35.95 | |||
| HI-G240 | Hishika Douzuki (Dovetail) Saw | 240mm
(9 1/2") blade |
$42.95 | |||
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Click on Image to Expand Hishika Super-Fine Saw These Hishika saws have a .1mm thick blade that is 2 3/8" long. Used for doing ultra-fine dovetails on small items like jewelery chests. |
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| Stock # | Description | Size | Price | Qty | Buy | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HI-SF1 | Hishika Ultra-Fine .1mm thickness Saw | 30mm
(2 3/8") blade |
$39.95 | |||
Click on Image to Expand Hishika Ryoba Saws The Hishika Ryoba saws features a hand made saw blade hardened piece by piece by hand as has been done traditionally in Japan for centuries. The whole blade is hardened to have flexibility as well as hardness. The blade thickness is differentiated, i.e., tapering towards the back to produce friction-free strokes and the cleanest cut surfaces. |
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| Stock # | Description | Size | Price | Qty | Buy | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HI-240RS | Hishika Ryoba Saw | 240mm
(9 1/2") blade |
$94.95 | |||
Click on Image to Expand Hishika Kugihiki Saws The Hishika Kugihiki saws features a hand made saw blade hardened one at a time by hand as has been done traditionally in Japan for centuries. The whole blade is hardened for flexibility as well as hardness. The blade thickness tapers towards the back to produce friction-free strokes and the teeth are sharpened with no set to produce the cleanest cuts. Kugihiki saws are intended for flush cutting of pins and similar applications. The blades are quite fragile and should not be used in applications that might over-stess them, such as cuts that are more than about a half inch in depth, except in very thin stock. Because of the way that the blade is tempered, it will break if too much stress is put on the blade. This is only an issue if the saw is used in a way for which it was never intended. |
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| Stock # | Description | Size | Price | Qty | Buy | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HI-180KU | Hishika Kugihiki Saw | 180mm
(7") blade |
$59.95 | |||
Click on Image to Expand Hishika Kataba Saws The Hishika Kataba saws features a hand made saw blade hardened piece by piece by hand as has been done traditionally in Japan for centuries. The whole blade is hardened to have flexibility as well as hardness. The blade thickness is differentiated, i.e., tapering towards the back to produce friction-free strokes and the cleanest cut surfaces. |
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| Stock # | Description | Size | Price | Qty | Buy | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HI-P180 | Hishika Proonly Kataba Saw | 180mm
(7") blade |
$79.95 | |||
| HI-P240 | Hishika Proonly Kataba Saw | 240mm
(9 1/2") blade |
$84.95 | |||
| P-JS-IK | Canvas Pouch
Holds 5 Japanese Saws |
NA |  |
$19.95 |
