Coping Saws Q&A | Paul Sellers

In this video Paul addresses some of your top questions surrounding the Coping Saw in hope to help others in their quest to get good results. To push or to pull? That is the question.

Pushing or pulling:
0:18 Does the type of wood and the work at hand affect the choice to push or pull?
2:23 Does the thickness of the wood affect the choice to push or pull?
2:56 When you’re cutting a tight curve or shallow curve, does that affect the choice of a push or the pull stroke?
4:22 Should you cut with the grain or across the grain?
4:37 Does the hardness of the wood, that is, hardwood vs. Softwood affect whether to push or pull?
5:48 It's my understanding and experience that the coping saw blade should be installed to cut on the pull stroke. Is that correct?

Tension:
6:42 Should you slacken off the tension after use, will it prolong blade life?
6:49 Is there a good method by which proper tension can be achieved on a coping saw?
6:53 How tight is tight enough?

Dovetails:
8:43 Why not use a coping saw to clear the majority of the waste in dovetails joints?
8:47 How does one make such sharp turns when cutting out waste while making dovetails? See 3:10
8:55 When I try to cut out the waste dovetailing, the blade resists turning horizontal at the bottom of the cut. What should I do?

Difference Between a Fret Saw and a Coping Saw:
10:37 What's the difference between a coping saw and a fret saw?

Buying a Coping Saw:
12:39 Do I need to buy one of the new, expensive, truss design coping saws?
12:46 Recommendations for purchasing a decent coping saw? Are there any contemporary brands worth considering? What to look for when buying a saw?

Buying Blades:
13:49 Most of the coping saw blades I can find are 14tpi but I think I saw you mentioning that you use one with more than that. What do you normally recommend?

Technique:
15:42 Are there any "exercises" we can do to practice and become better at using a coping saw?
16:07 Do you have any helpful tips for keeping the saw 90 degrees perpendicular to the face of the board?

Bonus:
18:51 I would like to make some wood puzzles for my daughter using a coping saw. What maximum thickness of the material can a coping saw "cope"? I ask, because, I need rather thick puzzle bricks. What material could you recommend in my case?

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