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GTIN: 04903524037001
Why the Japanese pull saw, known as the dozuki, makes an amazing addition to your woodworking arsenal.
The Gyokucho dozuki saw is a fine example of common sense. While a western saw cuts on the push, a dozuki saw cuts on the pull. If you dig into Japanese carpentry, two tools come to the fore: the pull saw and the kanna (Japanese plane).
The dozuki is a back saw, but it’s different from a western back saw (like a dovetail saw), in that it cuts on the pull, not the push.
The Gyokucho dozuki saw is a phenomenal woodworking tool.
Easy to use.
Because the dotsuki cuts on the pull stroke, it cuts easier than a western type saw.
Much quicker.
The dozuki cuts much quicker than a standard western backing saw.
Excels at delicate woodwork.
The dotsuki’s blade is thinner than a western back saw’s. Its teeth are minute, and the pitch so fine that it’s perfect for making delicate woodworking cuts.
Blade is replaceable.
The Gyokucho dotsuki’s blade is easy to remove. But don’t try to sharpen one. Gyokucho hardens their saw blades. Buy a replaceable blade and get back to cutting in less than a minute.
Although I used the 225 mm saw, there are a wide range of dozuki saws, with varying widths, lengths, number of teeth and TPIs. However, most of these pull saws share significant features. They’re mostly made of the same material (high speed steel), and they cut on the pull, not the push.
Handle material: Cane-wrapped wood.
Blade material: high speed steel.
Cutting direction: reverse (cuts on the pull).
TPI: varies.
Number of teeth: varies.
Teeth type: rip cut.
Blade thickness: varies.
Cutting length: varies.
Maximum cutting depth: varies.
Height (heel): varies.
Height (toe): varies.
Width: varies.
Length: varies.
Weight: varies.
The dozuki cuts on the pull stroke, making it easier to use than a traditional western saw. If you’ve never worked with a woodworking saw, but you’d like to, the dozuki is a great tool to start with. If you’re a veteran woodworker, you’ll get the hang of the dozuki in no time.
The Gyokucho dozuki is not a heavy-duty saw. It’s made for delicate woodwork. Use it for cutting small dovetails and tenons. Even though it’s made for fine work, I used it on pine and PVC pipe. It outperformed a western back saw by far in both those cases.
Because the dozuki cuts on the pull stroke, the blade is thinner than those found on western saws. A pull cut does not need as sturdy a blade as a push cut. If a western saw’s blade isn’t sturdy, it’ll bend and/or break. Since the dozuki’s blade is thinner, it cuts a thinner slit (kerf). This is handy for delicate work, which is what the dozuki excels at.
Because the dozuki has small teeth with a small pitch, you can make narrower cuts. There are enough teeth in contact with the workpiece for it to give a smooth cut. Large teeth are best used on large cutting surfaces.
A saw with a fine pitch takes longer to cut through a work-piece, but offers the following benefits:
It allows you to cut narrower material.
It’s perfect for delicate cutting.
It doesn’t rip apart softwood.
The dozuki saw’s blade is replaceable. If your blade is done, remove the old one and slide in a new one. In less than a minute your dozuki is ready for action. Easy. Because the blades are made from high speed steel, you won’t be able to sharpen them using a standard saw sharpening tool. Since most dozuki saws have far more teeth than a standard western saw, it would be a tedious task in any case. It’s much easier to buy replacement blades, which Gyokucho sells.
Follow these steps to remove the dotsuki’s blade.
You can attempt to sharpen the dozuki’s teeth if you’re brave. The model I bought has 174-minute teeth. If you assign a sharpening and setting time of 30 seconds per tooth, that translates to 87 minutes of work. That’s if you’re skilled at sharpening small saw teeth. There’s one more thing. Gyokucho hardens their dotzuki’s teeth. You’ll have a tough time trying to sharpen them with standard files. You’ll need diamond-coated files. These blades aren’t made to be sharpened. They’re made to be replaced.
You can’t really sharpen these blades, so you’re left with two options: discard or convert. Since it’s made of HSS, these blades are hard, which means you’ll be able to use them as scrapers. Or you could shape them into some other tool to extend their life.
I couldn’t find any information about Gyokucho’s warranty, or whether they even offer one.
Debates about eastern woodworking VS western woodworking abound. Some eastern woodworking techniques make more sense than western woodworking techniques, while the reverse is also true. In many ways, eastern woodworking is far different from western woodworking. For instance, many eastern woodworkers sit on the floor and clamp their work-piece with a foot. That’s a far cry from the lofty woodworking tables favored in the west. It seems eastern woodworkers prefer simple tools, while western woodworkers prefer convenient tools. Marriage is inevitable. If you’re in the western world and start using some eastern woodworking tools, you’ll value them as part of your arsenal. But in the end, it’s a personal preference that dictates what you load your toolbox with.
To test the dozuki, I cut pine, balsa, and PVC.
I stacked and glued 10 mm thick balsa wood. The dimensions of this block are roughly 100 mm x 50 mm x 50 mm. I cut half of each block with the standard backsaw I bought from a local shop and the other half with the dozuki. The two balsa blocks gave me an opportunity to rip-cut and cross-cut. (What will I do with these blocks? Probably shape some crankbait fishing lures.) The dozuki gave a much smoother cut with the rip-cut than the standard back saw. The dozuki did a fantastic job with cross-cutting the balsa wood, whereas the standard back saw had a tough time making it through. In fact, I couldn’t keep the standard back saw from going off course, while the dozuki stayed the course without much guidance.
I bought a length of 40 mm pine. The actual width and height are ~43.3 mm x ~42.4 mm. The dozuki worked FAR better than the standard back saw on the pine. In fact, I timed how long each tool took to cut through the pine. It took me 150 seconds with the standard saw, while the dozuki only took 20 seconds. Vast difference.
PVC is outside the dozuki’s scope, but I wanted to see what these saws would do to plastic. For this test, I cut a 40 mm PVC tube with a wall thickness of 2 mm. The dozuki flew through the PVC tube in five seconds, while the standard saw slogged through in 16 seconds.
