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The fretsaw is a bow saw used for intricate cutting work which often incorporates tight curves. The tool takes its name from its use in fretwork. [1] Although traditionally intended for woodwork, different blades increase the versatility of this saw.
The fretsaw is a bow saw used for intricate cutting work which often incorporates tight curves. The tool takes its name from its use in fretwork and ultimately from the French freter (lattice)—a reference to the intricate patterns often created using this tool. [1]
The fretsaw is similar in many respects to the scroll saw, which is essentially a powered fretsaw with a table. Blades between the two tools are usually interchangeable, and indeed scroll saws are often known as "fret saws" informally.
Although the coping saw is often used for similar work, the fretsaw is capable of much tighter radii and more delicate work. It has a distinctive appearance due to the depth of its frame (typically between 10 and 20 inches (25 and 51 cm)), which together with the relatively short five-inch (13 cm) blade makes this tool appear somewhat out of proportion compared with most other saws. Compared with the coping saw it has much shallower blades, which are usually extra-fine, up to 32 teeth per inch (13 teeth per centimetre). This allows much tighter curves to be cut—with many blades even sharp corners are possible—but the blades are also much more fragile compared with that of a coping saw. Unlike the coping saw, the blade has a fixed orientation in relation to the frame. This means that the fretsaw is less useful when cutting long narrow components, but the increased depth of the frame does allow access much further from the edge of the board.
Because of its sheer size, the frame makes up a large proportion of the total weight of the tool and has a relatively large moment, which in the hands of an inexperienced user can create a tendency for the direction of cut to drift away from that desired. To counter this the fretsaw is usually used with the handle (and blade) aligned on a vertical axis which reduces the effects of this torque. The effect may also be lessened with a shorter (and lighter) frame, although this also reduces the size of components that may be worked. A cutting or fretwork table, also known as a V-board, made of either wood or metal and which clamps to the edge of the workbench, may be used to support the work piece whilst allowing clearance for the saw blade by means of a V-shaped slot cut into it.
The blade is usually clamped into position using a pair of wingnuts. Although wing nuts are usually intended for operation without tools it is often impossible to apply sufficient force purely by hand. Wingnut wrenches greatly increase the torque that may be applied, ensuring that the blade is securely clamped.
Although traditionally intended for woodwork, metal cutting blades are readily available increasing the versatility of this saw. Spiral blades are also available which have teeth on all sides of the blade, and will cut in any direction without the need to rotate either the saw or the work piece. This can be useful when access is restricted due to the size of the component being worked, and compensate in part for the inability to rotate the blade in the manner possible with a coping saw. However, they also have a wider kerf and as such remove more material than a conventional blade. Also available are abrasive blades with no actual teeth, but consist of a wire coated with diamond, carbide, or other abrasive material.
These alternative blades make the fretsaw suitable for many tasks traditionally performed by the piercing saw, although piercing saw blades are typically finer still than the finest fretsaw blade.
A circular saw or a buzz saw, is a power-saw using a toothed or abrasive disc or blade to cut different materials using a rotary motion spinning around an arbor. A hole saw and ring saw also use a rotary motion but are different from a circular saw. Circular saws may also be loosely used for the blade itself. Circular saws were invented in the late 18th century and were in common use in sawmills in the United States by the middle of the 19th century.
A saw is a tool consisting of a tough blade, wire, or chain with a hard toothed edge used to cut through material. Various terms are used to describe toothed and abrasive saws.
A table saw is a woodworking tool, consisting of a circular saw blade, mounted on an arbor, that is driven by an electric motor. The drive mechanism is mounted below a table that provides support for the material, usually wood, being cut, with the blade protruding up through the table into the material.
Machining is a manufacturing process whereby a desired shape or part is achieved by the controlled removal of material from a larger piece of raw material by cutting; it is most often performed with metal material. These processes are collectively called subtractive manufacturing, which utilizes machine tools, in contrast to additive manufacturing, which uses controlled addition of material.
A file is a tool used to remove fine amounts of material from a workpiece. It is common in woodworking, metalworking, and other similar trade and hobby tasks. Most are hand tools, made of a case hardened steel bar of rectangular, square, triangular, or round cross-section, with one or more surfaces cut with sharp, generally parallel teeth. A narrow, pointed tang is common at one end, to which a handle may be fitted.
The Japanese saw or nokogiri (鋸) is a type of saw used in woodworking and Japanese carpentry that cuts on the pull stroke, unlike most European saws that cut on the push stroke. Japanese saws are the best known pull saws, but they are also used in China, Iran, Iraq, Korea, Nepal and Turkey. Among European saws, both coping saws for woodworking and jeweler's saws for metal working also cut on the pull stroke like Japanese saws. Cutting on the pull stroke is claimed to cut more efficiently and leave a narrower cut width. On the other hand, a pull stroke does not easily permit putting one's body weight behind a stroke. This can be readily solved by using a vice or clamping. Another disadvantage, due to the arrangement and form of the teeth, is that Japanese saws do not work as well on hardwoods as European saws do. Japanese saws were originally intended for comparatively soft woods like cypress and pine whereas European saws were intended for hard woods like oak and maple.
A bandsaw is a power saw with a long, sharp blade consisting of a continuous band of toothed metal stretched between two or more wheels to cut material. They are used principally in woodworking, metalworking, and lumbering, but may cut a variety of materials. Advantages include uniform cutting action as a result of an evenly distributed tooth load, and the ability to cut irregular or curved shapes like a jigsaw. The minimum radius of a curve is determined by the width of the band and its kerf. Most bandsaws have two wheels rotating in the same plane, one of which is powered, although some may have three or four to distribute the load. The blade itself can come in a variety of sizes and tooth pitches, which enables the machine to be highly versatile and able to cut a wide variety of materials including wood, metal and plastic.
A hacksaw is a fine-toothed saw, originally and mainly made for cutting metal. The equivalent saw for cutting wood is usually called a bow saw.
A modern bow saw is a metal-framed crosscut saw in the shape of a bow with a coarse wide blade. This type of saw is also known as a Swede saw, Finn saw or bucksaw. It is a rough tool that can be used for cross-cutting branches or firewood, up to six inches (150 mm) in diameter. The name 'Swede saw' probably derived from the ovate metal tubular frame version, invented in the 1920s by the Swedish company Sandvikens Jernverk, and additional patents by two Swedish immigrants to the US. Modern versions all share those common features.
A miter saw or mitre saw is a saw used to make accurate crosscuts and miters in a workpiece by positioning a mounted blade onto a board. A miter saw in its earliest form was composed of a back saw in a miter box, but in modern implementation consists of a powered circular saw that can be positioned at a variety of angles and lowered onto a board positioned against a backstop called the fence.
A backsaw is any hand saw which has a stiffening rib on the edge opposite the cutting edge, enabling better control and more precise cutting than with other types of saws. Backsaws are normally used in woodworking for precise work, such as cutting dovetails, mitres, or tenons in cabinetry and joinery. Because of the stiffening rib, backsaws are limited in the depth to which they can cut. Backsaws usually have relatively closely spaced teeth, often with little or no set.
A coping saw is a type of bow saw used to cut intricate external shapes and interior cut-outs in woodworking or carpentry. It is widely used to cut moldings to create coped rather than mitre joints. It is occasionally used to create fretwork though it is not able to match a fretsaw in intricacy of cut, particularly in thin materials. Coping saw blades are always thicker and much coarser cutting than typical fretsaw blades and many others of its family members. Coping saws can however cut slight bends in the work, allowing circles to be cut if used carefully.
Grinding wheels are wheels that contain abrasive compounds for grinding and abrasive machining operations. Such wheels are also used in grinding machines.
A scroll saw is a small electric or pedal-operated saw used to cut intricate curves in wood, metal, or other materials. The fineness of its blade allows it to cut more delicately than a power jigsaw, and more easily than a hand coping saw or fretsaw. Like those tools, it is capable of creating curved cuts with angled edges, by tilting its table along the axis of the cut.
In the context of machining, a cutting tool or cutter is typically a hardened metal tool that is used to cut, shape, and remove material from a workpiece by means of machining tools as well as abrasive tools by way of shear deformation. The majority of these tools are designed exclusively for metals.
This glossary of woodworking lists a number of specialized terms and concepts used in woodworking, carpentry, and related disciplines.
A piercing saw, also known as a jeweler's saw or jeweler's blade, is a type of saw commonly used in jewelry making on sheet metal. It is usually used on softer metals as the saw is delicate.
A cold saw is a circular saw designed to cut metal which uses a toothed blade to transfer the heat generated by cutting to the chips created by the saw blade, allowing both the blade and material being cut to remain cool. This is in contrast to an abrasive saw, which abrades the metal and generates a great deal of heat absorbed by the material being cut and saw blade.
A jigsaw is a saw which uses a reciprocating blade to cut irregular curves, such as stenciled designs, in wood, metal, or other materials.
A compass saw is a type of saw used for making curved cuts known as compasses, particularly in confined spaces where a larger saw would not fit.
