Handsaw

A hand-powered saw with teeth cut into a blade, used to cut wood into pieces for building or joining a wooden object, with no engine or motor behind it. The teeth cut in one of two basic patterns: crosscut teeth, shaped like small knives, cut across the wood grain, while rip teeth, shaped like small chisels, cut with the grain and clear waste faster but leave a rougher edge. Handsaws have an ancient lineage: Egyptian hieroglyphics depict woodworkers sawing boards, and ancient bow saws have been found in Japan, while the cutting marks a saw leaves in old timber are themselves evidence used to date historic woodwork. Blade material moved from bronze to steel as steelmaking industrialized, and by the early twentieth century the wood most favored for handles in the United States, applewood, was used at a rate of about two million board feet a year. The handsaw sits alongside the chisel, hand plane and lathe as a basic hand tool of woodworking.