This saw has a 16 tpi Japanese-tooth pattern blade that gives a fine, smooth cut. The blade is 8.5" long, 2.5" deep and a mere 0.010" thick. The total length when folded is just under 12" . For reference, this is item #60T56.01 and sells for $29.95 (Canadian) from Lee Valley.
The saw cuts very clean and fast. However technique is critical. The teeth on the Dozuki are angled so as to cut on the pull stroke and they are *very* aggressive. You can either pull slow and light for maximum control and precision, or hard and fast for the greatest rate of sawing. It is very important to get the speed up when doing heavy cutting as otherwise the saw will bind. As well, again because of the very aggressive nature of the teeth you want to run it flatter across the wood than a western saw.
To get a performance benchmark I compared it against the saw on my Swiss Army Rucksack which is one of the better small saws out there. It readily performs much higher than the saw on my Leatherman Supertool for example. I sawed up 18 pieces of scrap with both saws. The wood ranged in size from 1.0" to 1.75" thick and from 3/4" to 2.5" wide. The result in terms of number of strokes and time :
| Model | cut direction | Edge length | Cut Rank | Time Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| cm | ||||
| Dozuki | pull stroke | 8.5 | 100 | 100 |
| SAK | both ways | 3.5" | 19 +/- 2 | 32 +/- 5 |
The Dozuki readily outperforms the small SAK saw. No care would be needed to to measuring the performance of each so as to be able to rank them as the difference in cutting behavior is so great. The Dozuki out performs the SAK saw over 5:1 in terms of number of cuts needed and over 3:1 in terms of time. Note as well that fatigue is critical, on larger wood this difference in performance rises extremely as fatigue is *much* higher on the SAK saw. Note even when you factor in the difference in edge length (8.5" vs 3.5") the Dozuki still out cuts the Rucksack saw by more than 2:1 in terms of number of strokes.
As a standard benchmark I used the Dozuki to cut through some 2x4 including some sections which had knots (can't always pick clear wood). The saw performed very well and the fatigue rate was very low. I could consistently go through a piece in 10 - 12 s. The major thing that was slowing me down was keeping a consistent straight cut when running the saw at high speeds. Because the kerf is very small, and the blade flexible, any small deviation will cause a lot of friction and greatly reduce performance. With more practice running the saw very fast, I would estimate that 8-10 s times are possible and that 6-8 s times are about the upper limit.
The Dozuki also performs well on seasoned timber. I cut up several pieces of a mixture of Pine, Spruce and Juniper. The difference in cutting ability of the two saws is even greater than on the scrap :
| Model | cut direction | Edge length | Cut Rank | Time Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| cm | ||||
| Dozuki | pull stroke | 8.5 | 100 | 100 |
| SAK | both ways | 3.25" | 9 +/- 2 | 19 +/- 3 |
The Dozuki now out-cuts the SAK saw over 10:1 in terms of the number of strokes required and over 5:1 in terms of time.
Because this saw cuts only on the pull stroke, the push is very easy, almost a glide, and this significantly reduced fatigue compared to a saw that cuts both ways. As well the triple beveled teeth reduce the amount of force needed to actually draw the blade through wood. Both of these factors as well directly improve control.
This is the main and really only drawback. As the blade is very thin it bends easily. Combine this with a temper that seems like it is almost annealed and you get a blade that takes a perm. set with little lateral force . Compare this to western saws which have spring tempered blades and the lack of durability is tremendous. However, if used properly the lack of "stiffness" is not a problem as you will only bend the saw if you push too hard which is poor technique.
The teeth are really aggressive on the draw and it is near impossible to cut rope or similar with them unless the rope is under extreme tension. However you can cut cordage easily with the push stroke. The blade can be used on bone, however I have seen the teeth of such saws snap off readily under impacts that would not have so grossly damaged the teeth of western saws - so care is in order. If you have to do such cutting that I would go slow and light.
The blade was off center and would want to bite into the handle during the folding. It is not a severe problem, you just have to push to the right to make sure the teeth clear the handle, but there is no need for it to happen.
The spine support is not very stiff at all, it behaves much like mild steel. It would be much better if it was decently spring tempered.
You can comment on this review by dropping me an email : cliffstamp[REMOVE]@cutleryscience.com or by posting in the following thread on Bladeforums :