Coping Saw
80Coping without Fretting
Hand saws are common carpentry tools for the everyday carpenter but there are so many saws from the coping saw to the dovetail saw that it is hard for the ordinary DIY enthusiast to get to grips with them and what they are specifically used for. Each saw has a different purpose but the most versatile saw is the coping saw which as its name suggests can cope with everything. To complicate things even further certain saws have more than one description to their name. A coping saw is often called a fret saw but there are subtle differences between the two saws as described below.
A coping saw offers the ability to have the cutting blade adjusted to any given angle, thus providing flexibility in the way you approach the work. The tension of the saw blade is adjusted with the handle by twisting it. Coping saw blades are standard and will fit all saw types.
 | This high quality coping saw can be adjusted to any angle, providing the best approach to your work. The tension is adjusted be means of turning the handle, and the saw frame accepts standard coping saw blades with pins Amazon Price: $11.75 List Price: $15.99 |
 | Amazon Price: $6.42 List Price: $13.85 |
Cope or Coping saw
Coping saw make up
Make up of the coping saw
The blade is quite small (usually 6 inches long) and has very sharp teeth. The teeth are 9 to the inch. The handle can rotate and acts like a spiral to tighten the blade. The blade is held in position by two spigot pins, one on either end of the frame. The spigots can be turned to any angle before tightening the blade thus allowing the blade to cut in any direction.
Blade renoval
Removing the saw blade is easy: just twist or unscrew the handle and the blade is loosened. This allows the blade to be turned to the correct cutting angle. A small bar allows the user to secure the blade in place while the handle tightens up the frame. The blade thus remains at the correct chosen angle.
Working and coping with the saw
The blade can be dropped onto the saw frame easily and this allows cutting to start inside the timber (no need to cut in from any edge). A small hole is drilled in the wood and the tiny slim blade is fed through the hole before attaching it to the saw frame and locking the blade in place, using the handle.
Blade placement
The blade will slip through a hole as small as 3/16th of an inch. At any time you can stop the cutting and loosen the blade, change its direction, tighten by twisting the handle and start cutting again.
Saw guide
 | Amazon Price: $6.97 List Price: $10.79 |
Birdsmouth board
The vee-board (v-board) is occasionally known as a birdsmouth board
A v-board is a type of saw guide that can be used to assist cutting with a coping saw. The board is flat and has a cutout in a vee shape at one end. The board is clamped to the work surface (bench) in such a way to allow the work-piece to be kept steady as the coping saw cuts in all its magnificence.
Hole saws
 | Amazon Price: $7.72 List Price: $14.22 |
 | Amazon Price: $95.39 List Price: $196.08 |
Cutting and jigging
Other interior and cutout saws
The pad saw can cut holes in wood without cutting in from any edge as it can begin cutting in a pre drilled hole. The pad saw is best described as just a wooden handle like a file handle. This handle has locking screws on it and you can attach a narrow blade into it and tighten it in place resulting in a dagger like tool. If the blade breaks the longer section can be reinserted into the handle making it very versatile.
A hole saw is a cylinder type of blade with a drill bit running through its center. The bit provides the holding position as the saw teeth cut a bigger circumference hole in wood, metal or plastic.
Fret Saws
 | Amazon Price: $23.99 |
 | Amazon Price: $21.50 |
Coping Saw versus Fret Saw
The Differences: Coping saws versus fret saws
Coping:
The blade is easily removed and reinserted and can cut thicker materials more accurately than the fretsaw. Coping saw blades cut thicker and much more coarsely than the fretsaw blades. The thickness of the cut wood is only limited by the metal frame of the saw. The frame also limits how far from the edge the cutouts can be made. The coping frame is strong and rigidly holds the blade at the desired angle required. Wider frames are made to allow deeper cutting facility and the saw cuts equally well with external shaping. The shorter stroke length and thicker cutting blade mean that the coping saw will break fewer blades than the more delicate fretsaw.
Fret:
The deeper frame of the fretsaw (some are 20 inches deep) allows the craftsman to make cutouts well away from all the timber edges. This saw cuts on the backward or downward stroke (pull) rather than on the ‘push’ or forward stroke. The much thinner blade cutting is a feature of the fret than is missing in the typical coping saw blades. The fret is excellent for use when cutting very thin materials thus allowing for fine intricate work. The fretsaw’s purpose is to create fretwork and is more suited to this work than the coping saw which can also be used for frets.
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Are you Coping well?Loading...
Hey Mark, it is obvious to me that you are a talented woodworker. Have you considered being an instructor?
Great hub and well laid out on the page.
Re rminela: Thank you for your comments and the compliments too. I have been an instructor in the past but never with woodworking. I love the name of the saw because it suggests that no job is too difficult. The coping saw is a beautiful saw to use and its name is so onomatopoeic. I am fretting, now, about my next hand saw hub whose title you can no doubt guess!
Re Twilight Lawns: Thank you for your comments and offer of work too! Do not get into a flap when you cut the flap and remember the adage: Measure once and cut twice…oops…No!!!No!!!…the other way round i.e. measure twice and cut once. Phew! I do think you will ‘cope’ rather well with the task.
Good advice on saws. Great information to reference.
Thank you for your comments Erin Blakes. This is one of the most useful saws in any carpenter's kit. Great for working in confined areas.
Twilight Lawns Level 7 Commenter 17 months ago
How can you make a potentially boring subject (such as the vast and differing saws available) so interesting? I am only a casual DIYer, but reading that, the thought crossed my mind that I shouldn't even try to do the work I have in mind, but i should wait for you to come and do it for me.
Here we go. I live in a Victorian house with a letterbox which proves that the Victorians either didn't have large envelopes, or there was a maid to take it in when the postman called. When you get a chance, Mark, pop over and enlarge the hole for me, please... I have a nice brass letter box flap to install. Thanks.