Does anybody use a padsaw?

[Andy Kev.]

Ages ago on an impulse I picked up a lovely rosewood-handled old padsaw for peanuts at a flea market. It's a lovely thing but I've never had call to use it. It has rather coarse teeth and they are a bit irregular as if previous owners had maintained them without particular care.

I stumbled on it again today and wondered if anybody uses one and if so what for? Was their original purpose the cutting of something like keyholes? I presume they've been superseded by something else as they do not seem to be made these days.

 

[novocaine]

Great for plaster board. Which is about the only place i use one.

 

[Trevanion]

I stumbled on it again today and wondered if anybody uses one and if so what for?

There were three similar kinds of saw, a keyhole saw which was the finest and most delicate, a pad saw which had a larger and sturdier blade, and a compass saw, which had interchangeable blades including the fitting of files and hacksaw blades.

I think the lads who plasterboard have a modern equivalent called a Jab Saw for punching holes in the boards for sockets and such although these are much thicker than the older ones as they are stabbed through the sheet. One use that does spring to mind is the cutting of sash pockets out of a sash window that's in place to repair the cord when it has snapped, it depends on the style of pocket (numerous different methods) but sometimes when you pull the parting bead out there will be two holes bored behind the groove in which you cut between with a padsaw and then give the pocket a tap with a hammer to break the cross-grain connection and free it. Generally, this would be done with an oscillating multitool or a jigsaw nowadays, although nylon cords rarely snap nowadays anyway (I've personally never seen this happen)

I have a few older books on the subject of woodworking so I looked through a few and there was basically a consensus between most of them in that it was used to cut keyholes (by drilling two holes and connecting them with the saw), starting cuts on the inside of a board to a point where a larger saw could be used, or for cutting gentle curves where a coping saw or bowsaw couldn't work, with care not the bend the flimsy blade.

 

[Andy Kev.]

Trevanion,

that's most interesting, especially your third paragraph. The idea of making a keyhole by connecting up two drilled holes is one of those brilliant and glaringly obvious ideas that would never have occurred to me in a hundred years. I'll definitely remember that one.

Andy.

 

[AndyT]

I've got one in beech and a rosewood one "for best" which both came in the box with other tools. They don't take much room, so they have stayed.

One more job where they might be useful, assuming no electric multitool, is for cutting through a floorboard at an awkward spot. Drill a hole on one edge, insert saw, cut across. You might need to do this when it's impossible to lift the whole board, because of carpets or furniture or even a partition wall built on top of it.

That said, I also have a Japanese pull cut plasterboard saw which is more robust and sharper.

 

[sunnybob]

Andy T has described exactly what it was used for :eusa-clap:

I had to cut many a hole in floorboards to fit gas pipes through, and also to make holes bigger because back in the days before power tools we had nothing that would cut a hole larger than 1 1/2" (spade bit in a hand brace).It was 1966 when I saw a hand held power drill for the very first time. :shock:

 

[Doug]

Surprised you never had expansion bits sunnybob I’ve still got a few of my dads for use in a hand brace, even have some 2’ long auger bits that have an eye on the end to put a Tommy bar through they must be 2” diameter.

 

[sunnybob]

The fitter and his mate (me ) had to carry everything we needed in tool bags slung over the handlebars of our push bikes.

We carried the bare minimum and made do with improvisations as and when they occurred.
In a depot of over 20 fitters, there was only one van for emergency response, and one van to deliver pipe and fittings.
Trust me, those bags were heavy enough as they were when biking up and down hills :eusa-hand: :lol: :lol:

 

[AndyP]

This springs to mind sunnyB

[youtubessl]6Mq59ykPnAE[/youtubessl]

 

[Woodbloke]

This springs to mind sunnyB

[youtubessl]6Mq59ykPnAE[/youtubessl]

Gold Hill, Shaftesbury. We used to live near bye and S’bury was our local shopping haunt. I’ve only walked up Gold Hill once and once was enough! Some years ago, Roger Moore was in town for an event and I spotted a dark blue Porsche 911 parked up at the top of the hill in the High St. I don’t believe in coincidences, but the ‘plate on the vehicle read 007 :eusa-whistle: :eusa-whistle: - Rob

 

[sunnybob]

trouble is, when its the truth it isnt funny. :eusa-naughty:
We were issued the same macs that Harold Wilson always wore (Gannex), but no other waterproofs. :eusa-violin:
Those were the days, and I'm very glad theyre gone.

 

[Malc2098]

trouble is, when its the truth it isnt funny. :eusa-naughty:
We were issued the same macs that Harold Wilson always wore (Gannex), but no other waterproofs. :eusa-violin:
Those were the days, and I'm very glad theyre gone.

We were issued with Gannex motorbike coats in the 60s and 70s. They weighed three times as much wet than they did when dry!!!

 

[Phil Pascoe]

The idea of making a keyhole by connecting up two drilled holes is one of those brilliant and glaringly obvious ideas that would never have occurred to me in a hundred years.
Andy.

It's funny sometimes how we presume things to be common knowledge - I was taught that at school at about thirteen. I once passed a tip on to a chap past retiring age who was making top class tools, again something I was taught at about the same age. He said it was brilliant and that he'd not seen it before. This does of course happen in the opposite direction ... :eusa-whistle:

 

[Woodster]

I used to use what looked like a large padsaw at work. It was very handy for some jobs. I think mine was a Bahco, probably still got it somewhere.