# The Ooga Japanese rip saw



## WayneC

Thanks for posting this. Blake found a similar saw here in the US a while back. Here is his blog post. You may find it interesting.

http://lumberjocks.com/Blake/blog/8804


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## llwynog

Thanks for the link Wayne, I did not know there was already a post about it.


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## Sodabowski

O_O !!!


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## llwynog

It looks like the Japanese characters in the name went down the drain. Funnily enough, they were displaying properly when I hit the preview button.


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## b2rtch

Very interesting, thank you.
Bert


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## Bertha

Supercool saw!


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## WayneC

I think you and Blake will have some common interests. He is a great guy. Hopefully he will wake up and post. : ^)


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## woodklutz

Wonderful blog. Thanks for teaching us about something so exotic.


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## BTKS

Thanks for the review and link. Cool pics and some real skill involved. This type of ripping will make you get the most out of every piece of wood.


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## ward63

What a cool find!!! I've seen these around at mom & pop tool shops but have never been able to afford one.
I have a large ryoba that gets a lot of use and cuts really fast.
Great job on the handle too. I think ash is an excellent wood to use.


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## Blake

Good morning Wayne.

Nice saw and some interesting additional information from what I was able to gather. I love my saw but I'm content to let it hang on my wall. Bravo for actually using yours.

I like that ink block painting of the Japanese sawyer. Where did you find it?


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## llwynog

Hi Blake,
The woodblock print in the beginning is from the most famous ukiyo-e artist Hokusai (you know the famous prints with the mount Fuji you see everywhere, just search for ukiyo-e in google and your have 99% of chances that the first image that comes back is a print from Hokusai).

If you search for "大鋸" in google images, you will find several variations of this particular print. (it seems LJ forums do not use unicode for character encoding so I am afraid that the Japanese characters will be turned into question marks once again.)


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## llwynog

I stand corrected.
For some reason the Japanese characters got mangled in my post but are left intact in the comment. So you can just copy/paste this into your google images.


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## Bertha

Now I've got these saws on the brain. This will likely not go away until I purchase one. I really appreciate you posting this interesting saw and especially the glimpse of lore behind it.


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## llwynog

He he, I know how you feel, do you want me to talk to you about the yariganna (槍鉋), Japanese ancestor to the handplane (actually, I find it is a somewhat distant cousin to the drawknife). Although I am pretty sure I have no use for one, I can't take it out of my mind since first read about it… I know that someday, on a flea market…
Here is a picture of some of them if you dare : 
http://www2.odn.ne.jp/mandaraya/2b-yari.htm
You can see a craftsman using one further down the page.


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## mafe

Really interesting.
Thank you for sharing this story and info with us.
I'm a big fan of Hokusai by the way.
Best thoughts,
Mads


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## WayneC

Hi, was browsing ebay this morning and saw a similar saw listed…. Here is a link.

http://cgi.ebay.com/VINTAGE-ANTIQUE-JAPANESE-RIP-SAW-MAEBIKIOGA-HAND-FORGED-/280671871617?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item415958e281


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## fissionchips

I snatched one up on ebay thanks to the bug that Toshio Odate implanted in my brain. What I find interesting is that for such a massive tool, the handle is generally made from very soft wood (paulownia) to give a cushioned grip-old-fashioned ergonomics.


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## llwynog

True,
Mine came with a pine handle but I could not salvage it so I replaced it with an ash handle.


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## noah_2

i was wondering what the thickness of the plate is. i am trying to find a way to rip logs i find downed in the woods and not having to dig under to create clearance for saw would save a lot of work. i like the idea of cutting sideways . i bought a piece of steel 12" long but it is only about 1/32 thick and i am thinking this is too thin for a maebiki saw. the steel, though new, has a bad bow in it. if anynone has tips on straightening plate steel i would appreciate. i dont even no which way it is bowed as it settles bent in both directions. it feels like it snaps into place when you shift it side to side. makes cool noises.

thanks, noah


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## fissionchips

Yup noah these saws are thick-about 0.1" at the tooth end, tapering off slightly towards the back. Your sheet is a better thickness for creating say a large ryoba saw, though you might have to go apprentice with a blacksmith in Japan to learn how to make one.


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