We have cut on Western backsaws for fifteen years. A customer left a dozuki behind after a class and it has been on the bench ever since, so here is an honest account of six months with a saw that works the other way round.
The kerf
This is the whole story. A dozuki cuts on the pull stroke, so the plate is in tension and can be far thinner than a plate that has to be stiff enough to push. A third of a millimetre against nearly a full millimetre changes what a joint feels like: there is simply less material to be wrong about.
What took adjusting
- No weight on the cut. Every instinct from a Western saw is wrong — it wants to be drawn, not driven.
- Starting is different. You lift into the first stroke rather than dropping into it.
- The spine limits depth absolutely. On anything over about 60mm it is the wrong saw and there is no arguing with it.
Sharpening
You do not. The teeth are impulse-hardened, which is why they stay sharp so long and why a file will not touch them. When it is done you buy a new plate. That is a real cost and worth knowing before you start: a Western saw you can maintain forever is a different proposition from a consumable.
It has not replaced anything. It has taken the work where a thin kerf matters, and left the rest alone.
It lives on the bench now for dovetails and small tenons. The tenon saw still does everything over 50mm deep, and the pair of them together covers more ground than either did alone.