Patent Publication Number: US-2005126011-A1

Title: Handsaw with Pressure_Controlled handle

Description:
Many kinds of handsaws are available on the market today. Most of the design variations have to do with blade or handle type to best fit a particular type of job. A wood saw might have relatively coarse teeth, and can cut soft and hard woods. However, a single wood saw blade cannot be optimized to cut both hard and soft stock. If it cuts hard stock well, it will tend to cut soft stock slowly. If it cuts stock well, it will tend to cut hard stock with difficulty.  
      Our invention allows optimization of applied pressure to the stock being cut with a simple adjustment of pitch between the handle and blade of the saw. 
    
    
      Two directional forces are necessary in using a handsaw. One force is oriented parallel to the stroke of the saw to move the teeth through the stock. The other force is oriented perpendicular to the stroke of the saw to push the teeth into engagement with the stock with each successive stroke.  
      The line (or curve) of the teeth on a handsaw determines the direction of the stroke for the saw. The pitch on the handle governs the ratio of pressure devoted to parallel force versus perpendicular force. For typical handsaw designs, the pitch on the handle is fixed relative to the stroke direction because the handle is fixedly mounted to the blade. Our handsaw design allows the handle pitch to be changed to optimize cutting of softer or harder stocks, thus improving saw performance for a wider range of applications. The degree of pitch is indicated in our preferred embodiment with “Heavy” indicating high relative perpendicular force applied and “light” indicating low relative perpendicular force applied. Variations in terminology could, of course, be used.