Nakaya Ryoba 240mm Double-Edged Saw

A ryoba is the Japanese double-edged saw: one edge carries fine crosscut teeth and the other carries rip teeth, so a single saw handles both cutting across the grain and cutting along it. The Nakaya Ryoba 240mm is the company's straightforward, economical version of this classic pattern, with a 240mm blade that is only 0.5mm thick and 23 crosscut teeth per 30mm. Like all Japanese saws it cuts on the pull stroke, which keeps the thin blade in tension for a straight, clean cut with little effort. The blade is mounted on a traditional straight wooden handle and secured with a screw, so when the teeth eventually dull the blade can be swapped for a genuine Nakaya replacement blade (sold separately) rather than resharpened. Nakaya, based in Sanjo, Niigata, has more than a century of saw-making history and specializes in replaceable-blade saws. A good all-round workshop saw for cutting stock to length and width, and for joinery such as tenons and other cuts that call for both crosscut and rip teeth.