Paul Sellers' panel saw

[Clay Parrish]

I have seen several Paul Sellers vids where he uses a handy little panel saw to rip boards at his bench. What I can't seem to find out is what size and tpi (or make) that the saw is (maybe 'it' is actually several saws). Sellers has posted so much material on saws, I am having trouble finding info on that one.

It seems like a convenient size for smaller rip jobs. I currently have nothing between my Veritas rip dovetail saw and a big 26" Disston D-8 8 tpi rip saw. I would like something for ripping small boards for boxes or little bookcases.

This is the best pic I could find.

14586612093260.jpg

[Phil Mueller]

He (or someone) is pretty good about answering email. You may want to go to his blog and post the question with picture.

[Nick Stokes]

I have seen several Paul Sellers vids where he uses a handy little panel saw to rip boards at his bench. What I can't seem to find out is what size and tpi (or make) that the saw is (maybe 'it' is actually several saws). Sellers has posted so much material on saws, I am having trouble finding info on that one.

It seems like a convenient size for smaller rip jobs. I currently have nothing between my Veritas rip dovetail saw and a big 26" Disston D-8 8 tpi rip saw. I would like something for ripping small boards for boxes or little bookcases.

This is the best pic I could find.

14586612093260.jpg

I've seen nearly every video and read every blog. Best I can remember it is either an 18 or 20" disston, filed rip.

PS advocates for all of your saws to be filed Rip. He does this to help beginners to not feel overwhelmed. When he films, he is very careful not to use all of the fancy stuff like jointer planes and veritas low angle stuff... he wants to show that a rip saw would work fine, as would a stanley #4...

In his private work, he would most definitely use a cross and a rip panel saw.

[Mike Allen1010]

For ripping thin stock (>3/4") vertically at the bench, I've had good luck using a 20 inch, 11 PPI panel saw filed rip. The finer pitch makes for a smoother final sawn surface and still moves right along. I also have an 8 PPI panel saw filed rip for thicker stock.

FWIW, I find panel saws in general really convenient when working at the bench on smaller components like drawer and door parts. Lightweight and maneuverability make them much easier to use than full-sized saws, and in some cases easier than backsaws, for some of these smaller scale sawing jobs.

Best, Mike

[lowell holmes]

You can cut a handsaw down, make one, ebay, or the best bet go to Lie Nielsen.

I've re-handled one and made one by cutting down a hand saw. The saw plate on the cut down saw is a bit wide for my tastes, but it works.
I filed it rip.

My panel saw is an old one that I put a new handle on and sharpened it. It is crosscut and does a nice job. I sometimes rip with it.
If you haven't looked at the Lie Nielsen saws, do so. Maybe you will want to buy one or use the image in making one.

[lowell holmes]

[In his private work, he would most definitely use a cross and a rip panel saw.][/QUOTE]

I attended classes at Waco Texas when he was there. The saws in the class were all filed rip. I saw him making things and he used the class saws.

Tage Frid (RIP) advocated filing all saw rip. I have saws filed crosscut and rip. I like the feel of a cross cut saw, but a 10 tpi rip saw will do just fine on cross cut.

Often the cuts were cleaned up with hand planes.

[Patrick Chase]

Sellars spells his preferences and logic out pretty clearly in these articles:

https://paulsellers.com/2014/05/ques...minate-part-i/
https://paulsellers.com/2014/05/why-...inate-part-ii/

TLDR - He's not dogmatic, and urges people to choose based on convenience and affordability. Note that the resulting recommendations are quite different for people who file their own saws vs ones who don't.

[Kees Heiden]

Hmmm, that was the typical kind of stuff Sellers writes. Two pages of randomly dispersed opinion without any real information. He starts as usual claiming that the shop he worked at, back in the fifties, presented the ultimate in hand tool skills, and that the millenia of handtool woodworking before him didn't really exist. Then the usual stab at the current toolmakers. And then page on page of wandering thoughts without much clear information.

Ripsaws can be used for crosscuts, but you'd better relax the rake angle quite a bit. A dedicated ripsaw is a lousy cross cutter. So, when you slowly accumulate your set of tools, it is not a bad idea to learn to sharpen your own saws and have some saws dedicated to specific tasks.

In comtrast, when I watch a Sellers video, the impression he makes is completely different. Those are usually informative and well presented and you can see that he really is a good craftsman.

[Chris Hachet]

[In his private work, he would most definitely use a cross and a rip panel saw.]

I attended classes at Waco Texas when he was there. The saws in the class were all filed rip. I saw him making things and he used the class saws.

Tage Frid (RIP) advocated filing all saw rip. I have saws filed crosscut and rip. I like the feel of a cross cut saw, but a 10 tpi rip saw will do just fine on cross cut.

Often the cuts were cleaned up with hand planes.[/QUOTE]

I usually touch things up with a hand plane to get them to fit just the way I want after cutting. One way hand tool woodworking is easier IMHO....I can get an exact fit much easier with a hand plane and a shooting board than I can by taking off a little bit at a time at my chop saw...

[Daniel Rode]

I wanted a small saw to use at the bench as well. I found an 18" saw listed as a 'boy's saw' on eBay. I think I paid $15 with shipping. You can see it here. Another option is to find a larger saw and cut it down. I recently sharpened it and it's a pretty handy size. I have a mixed bag vintage of saws, none of them particularly good but the sharp ones cut wood pretty good.

I would like to eventually get a pair of decent panel saws.

[george wilson]

When we (The toolmakers in Wmsbg.) made a first big batch of crosscut and rip saws (sorry,we took no pictures),we filed both crosscut and rip saws rip. This was because Jay Gaynor,our boss at the time,thought all saws in the 18th. C. were filed straight rip,we found that the crosscut saws did not saw well compared to the modern type of crosscut filing. I looked at the unused saws in the Seaton Chest and decided their teeth were NOT sharpened at all,but were just punched out and left for the user to file. Most tools sold then did not have the edges finished. Chisels and gouges were supplied unhandled. So,we filed the crosscut saws properly,and they cut great.

Althouh the Seaton tools were unused,the teeth were very,very dark. It really was hard to tell what had been done to them. We were not allowed to clean the teeth for a better look,so I can understand the confusion about their filing.

[steven c newman]

My 10ppi "panel saw" was sold by a company from Cleveland, OH. and made by Atkins. It is filed rip, as well
Cleveland saw.jpg
Works quite well, in fact.

[Patrick Chase]

Hmmm, that was the typical kind of stuff Sellers writes. Two pages of randomly dispersed opinion without any real information. He starts as usual claiming that the shop he worked at, back in the fifties, presented the ultimate in hand tool skills, and that the millenia of handtool woodworking before him didn't really exist. Then the usual stab at the current toolmakers. And then page on page of wandering thoughts without much clear information.

Yeah, he's not my favorite, but I figured that as long as people were claiming he advocated this or that we'd might as well have a link to (some of) the source material.

My favorite Sellars-ism was when he fulminated against the horrendous dangers of linseed oil and claimed that even rags laid flat will autoignite. He doesn't seem to get the simple concept of power density...

[lowell holmes]

He doesn't seem to get the simple concept of power density...[/QUOTE]

What is power density? Just wondering.. ... ......

[george wilson]

Power density aside,I recall when an oily rag(linseed oil) started smoking in the cabinet maker's shop. Had it burned that shop down,mine was connected to it. I never,ever leave rags with a drying oil in it laying around in my shop.