Showerthought: back in 2005 we built a whole deck with a handsaw because my circ saw died, and the old timer taught me something

Nora Grant · 2026-10-02T02:50:04.326315+00:00

I was framing a 14 by 20 deck out near Cedar Rapids when my worm drive just quit on me mid cut. No warning, just dead. This was before I carried a spare and the nearest store was 40 minutes away, so the old timer I was working with handed me his handsaw and said we are not losing the day. I figured we would get maybe half the rim done and have to come back. Turns out that old Disston ate through wet treated lumber faster than I expected once he showed me how to let the saw do the work instead of forcing it. We finished every joist and the whole rim by sundown, arms burning the whole ride home. The cut ends honestly looked cleaner than some of my power saw work from that summer. Now I keep a decent handsaw in the truck for cuts where a blade is too much and the guys think I am weird for it. Has anyone else had a tool die at the worst time and ended up doing it the old way?

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Showerthought: back in 2005 we built a whole deck with a handsaw because my circ saw died, and the old timer taught me something | Carpenters - Hub Chatter