Synopsis: A coping saw has plenty of uses in the shop: cutting coped joints for molding, cutting curved parts for furniture, cutting interior shapes, trimming the waste from joinery. Michael Dunbar explains how to choose and use this simple tool. He details how to install the blade, how to hold and guide the tool for best results, and how to make coped cuts for seamless corners.
When I was in junior high school in the early 1960s, I had to take what was then called “Manual Training.” Each student had to build a wooden tie rack for his dad. Because we were 14-year-old boys, the instructor would let us use only two tools—a rasp and a coping saw. I grew up thinking that coping saws existed only so that kids and klutzes wouldn’t hurt themselves.
Not so. I use a coping saw in a professional woodworking shop every day. The saw can simply and quickly cut coped joints for molding or curved parts for furniture and other work. Its blade can be threaded through stock to cut interior shapes or worked into tight places to trim waste from joinery. All this from a tool that’s inexpensive and simple to maintain. Whenever I gather my tools, the coping saw is among the first I reach for.
A coping saw has a C-shaped steel frame whose two arms are slightly farther apart than the blade is long. These arms pull the thin, flexible blade taut. In the end of the wooden handle and the front arm, two slotted yokes hold the blade.
The handle also holds a captive nut that loosens when the handle is turned. This allows the blade to pivot relative to the frame so that you can adjust the saw to the cutting situation. Be sure to turn the two yoke pins equally to avoid twisting the blade, and re-tighten the handle afterward.
Not all coping saws are created equal. I prefer an all-steel saw with some heft. For example, Woodcraft sells a sturdy model for $13.99 (product #141403). Cheaper, lightweight models tend to have weaker frames and poorly attached handles.
Low-quality blades also can be a problem. Some brands are not as sharp as others; some break easily. I only use Stanley blades, which are available at Ace Hardware. Coping-saw blades are made for different purposes and materials. The fewer the teeth per inch, the coarser the cut. Available sizes include 10, 15, 20, and 24 tpi. For most work, I use a 15-tpi blade.
From Fine Woodworking #178
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You can install the blade to cut either on the push or pull stroke, although for most work I find that a pull cut is easier to control. Of course, the saw gets its name from the coping cut used to fit molding together in place of a miter joint.
The coping saw blade is installed with the teeth pointing towards the handle. Unlike a hacksaw, which has the teeth pointed away from the handle, the coping saw cuts on the pull stroke.
The blade in a coping saw is mounted with the teeth facing the handle so that it cuts on the pull stroke. Attempting to cut on the push stroke can cause the frame to flex, relaxing tension on the blade and allowing the blade to bend and wobble in the cut.
A coping saw consists of a C-shaped frame that holds a blade at high tension. The blades are between 6 and 6 ½ inches long, and have pins at the ends that hook into the slots of the frame. You adjust the tension by twisting the handle of the saw. Some have a knob screw on the frame for further tightening the blade.
For safety, keep appendages, hands and other objects away from the sharp teeth. Never apply more force onto the saw than you could using your bare hands. As with any other bladed tools, the user should wear long sleeves, padded work gloves and safety glasses to prevent bodily contact with the blade or cutting debris.
Fret Saws —also referred to as Jeweler's Saws, are hand saws that are smaller than Coping Saws and use shorter, unpinned blades that are intended for fast turns and maneuverability. Using the proper blade, they can be used for either metal work or woodwork.
The main disadvantage that I have found with the vast majority of coping saws is that the frame is not rigid – bends easily – and therefore does not follow a cut line.
A coped joint at the end of a length of wood does not shrink from the meeting surface on the adjacent piece because wood shrinks in its width and not by any noticeable amount in its length. Hence we use a coping saw to make the shaped coping we call a coped joint.
When it comes to metal, a coping saw can definitely cut it — including tin, aluminum, copper, metal sheet and more. If you're looking to cut metal with your coping saw, make sure your blade has a TPI of 24 or above. While a coping saw can surely get the job done, a hacksaw is a much better option for cutting metal.
The coping saw is just a narrow blade held taut in a C-shaped frame with a simple handle. Yet it can literally run circles around any other handheld saw, even a jigsaw. With a coping saw, you can cut out a heart in the back of a child's chair or make gingerbread trim for your roof eaves.
A coping saw is commonly used in woodworking to cut intricate curved or rounded shapes. A typical example would be wooden flooring where a plank meets a door frame. It can be used to cut out the shapes of the door jamb, the curves of simple architrave or the intricate patterns of more ornate mouldings.
Coping saws must have an extremely narrow blade so that they can make very sharp turn to cut intricate designs and shapes. A hacksaw is designed to cut steel, or pipes that require a straight line. You may slant the cut line with a hack saw, but you would be unable to make a “U” turn cut like you can with a coping saw!
The saw can simply and quickly cut coped joints for molding or curved parts for furniture and other work. Its blade can be threaded through stock to cut interior shapes or worked into tight places to trim waste from joinery. All this from a tool that's inexpensive and simple to maintain.
Saws - because they cut on the pull, the blade can be thinner. It is also easier to control without much experience. Planes - they also cut on the pull. The plane is a blade and a wood body….
Hacksaw blades should be mounted in their frames with the teeth facing forwards. They are designed so that the blade will cut on the push – the forward stroke – rather than the pull, or backwards stroke.
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From Fine Woodworking #178