Flush Cut Saw confusion at Lee Valley

[Ron Kanter]

I just spoke to customer service at Lee Valley about their flush cut saws. He told me that the web site is wrong about which saw has set and which doesn't.
Web site says single sided flush cut saw has no set. Double sided saw has set on top face. CS guy said that is wrong; it is actually the single sided saw that has some set.

Anyone have one or the other and can confirm which is set and which is without set.
And aside (no pun intended) from the set question, would you recommend single or double sided version?
Thanks

[Jim Belair]

It makes sense that the single would have no set so it could be used in either direction. For that reason I prefer a double- cut from both directions and some set to ease the cut. I put a layer or two of masking tape on the non set side to add a bit more clearance since I'm going to finish off with a block plane anyway.

[Sean Hughto]

FWIW, I recommend this one:

http://www.leevalley.com/us/wood/pag...63&cat=1,42884

[Bill McNiel]

I have the double sided saw (05K36.01) and it has teeth set to one side only. for me, this works very well.

[lowell holmes]

I've had the double sided flush cut saw for 10 yrs. ?
It has set on one face and no set on the other.
It is the same saw Bill has.

[Patrick Chase]

I just spoke to customer service at Lee Valley about their flush cut saws. He told me that the web site is wrong about which saw has set and which doesn't.
Web site says single sided flush cut saw has no set. Double sided saw has set on top face. CS guy said that is wrong; it is actually the single sided saw that has some set.

Anyone have one or the other and can confirm which is set and which is without set.
And aside (no pun intended) from the set question, would you recommend single or double sided version?
Thanks

LV sells no fewer than 4 flush cut saws, 2 branded as Kugihiki (here and here) and 2 branded as flush-cut saws (both here). I have both Kugihiki and neither have set. I also have the single-sided flush cut saw, and as others have said it doesn't have any set. I don't have the 2-sided flush cut saw, but the catalog agrees with what Lowell said - it's set on one side.

If you think about it a bit it makes sense to have set on the top side of the 2-sided saw because there's no reason to flip it over - you can approach the cut from either side while keeping the setless side down. In contrast you have to flip the single-sided saw to approach the cut from the opposite direction, so it must be setless on both sides.

FWIW the 2 Kugihiki are my favorite of the lot. The thicker-bladed and coarser-toothed (light-handled) one cuts very fast while still being flexible enough to lie flush.

[Rob Lee]

I just spoke to customer service at Lee Valley about their flush cut saws. He told me that the web site is wrong about which saw has set and which doesn't.
Web site says single sided flush cut saw has no set. Double sided saw has set on top face. CS guy said that is wrong; it is actually the single sided saw that has some set.

Anyone have one or the other and can confirm which is set and which is without set.
And aside (no pun intended) from the set question, would you recommend single or double sided version?
Thanks

Hi Ron -

At first blush - this sounds like a wetware issue....

Have our CS Manager looking at it!

Cheers -

Rob

[Rob Lee]

Here we go - straight from the designer:

"The single edge flush cut saw 05K3412 has no set on the teeth. The teeth are very fine and binding is not an issue when items such as plugs are trimmed…long cuts may become problematic.

The double edge flush cut saw 05K3601 has both sets of teeth set to the same side, the set is about .005”. The side with set is laser etched “this side up”. With this saw, longer cuts are possible without binding, however the saw has a tendency to move away from the flush surface, due to the asymmetrical set. "

Cheers -

Rob

[Ron Kanter]

Thanks, Rob.
The customer service guy tried very hard to be helpful.
When I questioned his information, he asked if he could call me back. He called back in an hour and was very clear that the web site was wrong. I have no idea how he came to that opinion.
Thanks again for truly great customer service. Not many places where the head of the company jumps in to set things straight.

[Mike Henderson]

I've had the double sided flush cut saw for 10 yrs. ?
It has set on one face and no set on the other.
It is the same saw Bill has.

I have the same one and it's as Lowell described.

Mike

[glenn bradley]

I have the double sided saw (05K36.01) and it has teeth set to one side only. for me, this works very well.

Ditto. Odd that there would be confusion.