Gents Saw- Need Some Coaching Please

[Alan S]

... There are exceptions, of course: if there's a hole in the roof in the middle of the worst rainstorm of the year, parental teaching may have to go to the curb until the water's staying outside, where it should, instead of all over the living room floor.

That sounds to me like teaching something pretty important too.

[Admiral]

 I have a Crown gent's saw which I would happily give to you but I do not want to make a lifetime enemy and ruin three budding woodworkers.

 Curt, now, now, the Crown can be made into a quite serviceable saw, along with vintage Craftsman gent's saws; it takes some judicious sharpening, proper set applied, and a little plate polishing, in short, its a project saw but for $25 or so that's to be expected  The quality of the steel is good, and I've always re-filed them rip, as for some reason totally unfathomable to me, those that I find are filed crosscut.  Thing is, you put $50 worth of time into getting them into good shape, and I'd like it if the back were a bit heavier.  Because of its handy size, I keep one in my travel tool chest and it's done yeoman's work (I have basically extras of all essential tools in there, one of the benefits of being a tool monger....) and a couple in my saw till.

All that being said, for the OP's purposes, the Veritas is the best value.  Pax makes a gent's saw as well, LN used to back in the day but they discontinued it, a used one might be out there.

[Augustus Single Action]

Thank you for the feedback CPutnam. I must say that perhaps my budget was a little low. I think it just got bumped up 50%, which is fine. Also, I’ve been in contact with forum member Enjuneer regarding some candidates. One of the lessons we are learning around our home is as follows: things can be fixed if the item purchased was made properly the 1st time. I’m not a fan of haul it to the curb when it breaks. Thus, I just want to make sure I purchase properly. With all that said, spending time with the boys (we all worked together today on an old Craftsman table saw) and me leaving them heirloom tools when I’m gone is important.

[Bibliophile 13]

Thank you for the help.  My knowledge has increased 10 fold due to the responses.
Biblio- if I were to go used carcass, would you be kind of enough to provide a vintage manufacturer?  I am partial to older tools.  If the budget needs to be enhanced, so be it.

I highly recommend an old Disston #4, which is the carcass saw I use most frequently.  They came in different lengths, but 12" seems to have been the most popular.  There are other excellent vintage saws, however.  Spear & Jackson, Simonds, and Atkins all manufactured excellent backsaws, and any of them would serve you well.  If you find one in the wild, often the teeth will be dull and need sharpening before the saw is usable.  (Saw sharpening can be learned, but that's another whole issue. It's best to begin by sending them out to a sharpener.)  You can sometimes find them refurbished and sharpened, which would be great.  You should be able to find a refurbished one in your budget, but it may take some searching and patience.  Posting a Want-to-Buy ad down in the Swap-N-Sell forum would be a good start.

As to the Veritas saws, I've used them.  They're good saws.  They come sharp.  But I don't really like them as much as I like my vintage carcass saw--a Disston. Aside from the nice handles, the vintage backsaws also have thicker blades, and while that makes them a little heavier than a lot of modern backsaws, it also makes them a lot less likely to kink if you accidentally twist them mid-cut.  Yeah, I know the spine of the saw is supposed to prevent that.  It does, usually.  But believe me, it's possible to kink the blade of a backsaw if you wrench it hard enough.  (Yeah, I was a sawing novice once myself....)  In my experience, the vintage backsaws stand up to harder use.

[bandit571]

My hands do not like a broom stick handle for a saw.
...they do like this ..

   
Disston No. 4....sharp, filed as a rip saw...

[Carl Grover]

I've had a gent's saw for a long time. I practice with it as often as I can.


It's no picnic.


carl

[Bill_Houghton]

I've had a gent's saw for a long time. I practice with it as often as I can.

carl

And are you now a gentleman?

[bandit571]

And are you now a gentleman?

"Only by an act of Congress.."

[Mike Brady]

 Curt, now, now, the Crown can be made into a quite serviceable saw, along with vintage Craftsman gent's saws; it takes some judicious sharpening, proper set applied, and a little plate polishing, in short, its a project saw but for $25 or so that's to be expected  The quality of the steel is good, and I've always re-filed them rip, as for some reason totally unfathomable to me, those that I find are filed crosscut.  Thing is, you put $50 worth of time into getting them into good shape, and I'd like it if the back were a bit heavier.  Because of its handy size, I keep one in my travel tool chest and it's done yeoman's work (I have basically extras of all essential tools in there, one of the benefits of being a tool monger....) and a couple in my saw till.

All that being said, for the OP's purposes, the Veritas is the best value.  Pax makes a gent's saw as well, LN used to back in the day but they discontinued it, a used one might be out there.

I occasionally teach a beginning dovetailing class, so I see a variety of saws in the hands of students.  in my January class I had a guy who made the classic mistake of just dipping his toe into the endeavor and he bought a $40 Crown saw instead of the $65. LV saw that I recommend as the least costly good saw.  He struggled all day with that thing, so I finally let him use my Lie-Nielsen tapered saw for the last hour.  He emailed me a week later and told me his new LN saw had just arrived.
  As Admiral said, the Crown saw could be tuned to work better,  but paying someone to do that ads another $35. to the ill-spent $40. purchase, and the back of that saw is way too light weight.
Sadly, Lie-Nielsen quit making their gents saw that sold for just $75.  I have both the rip and crosscut versions and they are great saws.  I even asked Kirsten at LN if they could make one , but she said they don't take special orders any longer (they used to make miter box saws on special order).  Grab a used LN gents saw if you see one.

Just remember that saws get dull just like any edge tool does, so you should also learn to sharpen and set a saw.  Rip (dovetail) saws are very easy to sharpen and set.

[Augustus Single Action]

Update- purchased a Geo Bishop back saw from forum member Enjuneer. Looking forward to receiving it. Saw has a neat history as spending time at a public school, so it seemed fitting to teach me and my boys on.