Replies

1. 
   Snort | Dec 24, 2002 03:53am | #1

   Hey there Limey, I like pullin', the blades last a lot longer...but, I also cope everything but shoe with a jig saw...

   I can't cope, but my helper can<G>

   EliphIno!

2. 
   Piffin | Dec 24, 2002 05:03am | #2

   I keep three in that bench. Two cut on push, one one pull. That way I can get to several different shapes easy, and if a blade breaks, I'm not slowed down much - nor is the other guy on the other step ladder helping me with crown.

   I cut on a bench that is about knee height for this. I've got a bud who cuts on saw horses at about 34" to 36". I prefer push, he like pull.

   .

   Excellence is its own reward!

   "The first rule is to keep an untroubled spirit.

   The second is to look things in the face and know them for what they are."

   --Marcus Aurelius

1. 
   Sancho | Dec 24, 2002 05:06am | #4

   I like push its alot easier for me to control when Im copin... 

   At Darkworks  Customer satisfaction Job One..Yea yea were all over it , I got my best guys on it.........

1. 
   xMikeSmith | Dec 24, 2002 06:02am | #5

   you don't push a rope.... you don't push a chain.. you don't push...

   ah.. you get it Mike Smith   Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore

1. 
   Sancho | Dec 25, 2002 01:49am | #11

   True Mike but I rough with the coping saw and finish with the dremel. 

   At Darkworks  Customer satisfaction Job One..Yea yea were all over it , I got my best guys on it.........

2. 
   TheOldCynic | Dec 25, 2002 07:28am | #13

   It would seem to me that if the saw you have is of even a little better quality than the spring frame one I had as a kid, it will be stiff enough that a push on this end of the handle will be transferred (morphed?) into a pull on the far end of the blade.  In other words, no matter if you are pushing or pulling on the handle end, the blade is still being pulled through the wood.  If the blade is tensioned properly, it don't matter none which way you saw.

   This may be the origin of the phrase, "Different strokes for different folks."

   Doc - The Old Cynic

   If there's one thing I can't stand, its intolerance.

   ps.....Have politically incorrect non-inclusive Merry Christmas, everyone!!!

1. 
   ToolDoc | Dec 25, 2002 08:06am | #14

   When using my coping saw I like to use it to cut on the pull stroke and I use Olson coping saw blades,also use them in my scrollsaws....

                                  ToolDoc

2. 
   kennedy136 | Dec 24, 2002 06:17am | #6

   Piff,

          I keep two saws with the blades teeth set at right angles to the frame(one to the right and one to the left) and set to cut on the push stroke.  This works best for me but others seem to like pulling the saw.  I say whatever gives you the most control.  I also like saws with flat frames as opposed to those that are a piece of  round rod bent into the shape of the saw.  I find these flex too much.

                                                                  Mark

1. 
   DougU | Dec 24, 2002 08:38am | #7

   I do what Piffin does, one each way, but mostly I cope with a right angle grinder.

   Doug

1. 
   JeffBuck | Dec 24, 2002 10:14am | #8

   I confuse myself when I think about this.....

   I cut on the pull....teeth facing up at me.....but I hold the coping saw upside down...with the wood handle facing up...and kinda wrap my fingers under the metal frame....and have the wood cradled in between my thumb and pointer finger. They wrap the handle.

   So..I have no idea if I put the blade in right side up or up side down.....but the teeth gotta face me when the whole thing's held up side down.

   There...hope that clears things up for ya!

   I think I started this way back when I was a little kid and Dad first had me cope the shoe..then the base..and so on and so on.....

   Just feels natural now. I feel as I have much better control and can go much quicker...pretty much full speed the whole way thru.

   JeffBuck Construction   Pittsburgh,PA

    Fine Carpentery.....While U Waite                  

3. 
   SgianDubh | Dec 24, 2002 05:05am | #3

   Coping saws generally cut on the pull stroke-- but there might be exceptions. Think of a piece of paper being pulled towards you. It automatically straightens when you include resistance at the back end and pull the front end. Reverse the procedure, and it will want to buckle. Coping  saw blades, like paper, are thin, and therefore analogous to that piece of paper.

   With the handle limey, you're just setting yourself up for some major pish-taking, especially by people like me from north of the border, ha, ha, but the above 'pull' method is the most used. Slainte, RJ. 

   Some stuff I've made.
1. 
   philm | Dec 25, 2002 06:59pm | #15

   Sgian Dubh,

                  I take it north of the border is Canada,

     not Scotland .

4. 
   BossHog | Dec 24, 2002 05:33pm | #9

   I always set them up to cut on the pull stroke. Seems like if they cut on the push stroke, the frame could flex and the pins slide out of the slots if the blade got hung up.

   A computer lets you make more mistakes faster than any invention in human history - with the possible exceptions of handguns and tequila.

1. 
   Piffin | Dec 25, 2002 12:38am | #10

   That's true with the cheaper saw frames that let it flex too much.

   I'll agree that I probably break more blades cutting on the push but like others mentioned, I feel I have more control.

   .

   Excellence is its own reward!

   "The first rule is to keep an untroubled spirit.

   The second is to look things in the face and know them for what they are."

   --Marcus Aurelius

5. 
   meas1cut2 | Dec 25, 2002 02:44am | #12

   Guilty of lurking also, but recently ran into some 5 1/2 in. colonial base with alot more profile than the usual Anderson. Coupled with the fact that my 10 in. slide saw won't cut the stuff standing up, production slowed to a crawl. I learned to cope with a grinder, but have used a coping saw for years now. Thought about going back or getting a dremmel. Any suggestions.

   Also, for me, a new coping blade seems to "stick" more than an experienced one. Seems backwards as I relish the first few cuts with a freshly sharpened mitre saw blade.

6. 
   PhillGiles | Dec 25, 2002 10:01pm | #16

   I was taught to use a coping saw the same way you'd use a fret saw: the handle is below the workpiece and your line of sight is above; therefore, you cut on the pull so that you can see the cut-line as the teeth engage the piece.

   I have seen someone cut with the workpiece held vertically in a vise rather than on the flat and she uses the cope like a regular saw (i.e. handle in her line of sight) and so she cuts on the push stroke still using the same principle of watching the teeth engage the piece.

   .

   Phill Giles

   The Unionville Woodwright

   Unionville, Ontario

7. 
   bd342 | Dec 25, 2002 10:29pm | #17

   I like the push stroke, if I put it to cut on the pull stroke the blade has a tendency to splinter the face of the joint . No such problems on the push stroke. Of course I usually use the medium blades which are a little stiffer than the fine blades you would use for extremely detailed coping such as some chairails... In that case I will put them in "backwards". and carefully cut on the pull stroke.

8. 
   Sancho | Dec 27, 2002 05:33am | #18

   Guys I stand corrected, I had to run some base today so I turned the blade around and I pulled instead of pushed. You guys were right its alot easier. I am humbled...:>)

    

   At Darkworks  Customer satisfaction Job One..Yea yea were all over it , I got my best guys on it.........