Silky on sale

[vharrison]

http://www.wesspur.com/Clearance/specials.html

[pantheraba]

Those are very excellent saws...excellent price, too. I have two.

Some folks grouse about the scabbard...I haven't had any trouble with it...except when I tried it on my leg. I think that was the only time I have lost my handsaw in a tree...the climbing rope snatched the handle when I was shaking the rope off a limb and the saw took a 40 foot fall. Luckily, nobody was below me.

[Hobby Climber]

Thanks for the heads up V, but I recently bought a replacement blade for my handsaw from okietreedude's going out of biz sale.

I'm waiting for the Hayauchi pole saw replacement blades to go on sale!


SILKY ROCKS!!!


HC

[sotc]

i bought my first silky from okie tree dude and am not impressed. its got broken teeth and seems way to flexible to me. .02
gonna stick to my fannos

[squisher]

You broke the teeth? How?

[sotc]

swattin dead wood:D

[MasterBlaster]

Man, Fannos have the cheapest steel there is. I'm on my 4th Silky and I haven't broken any of them.

Seriously, Fanno is just about the worst saw made. At least go with Corona.

[squisher]

Damn! If/when we ever meet remind me to keep my mouth shut lest I get swatted.:lol:

[sotc]

i break fanno teeth to but not till theyre used a bit. other than that i havent had any complaints

[Skwerl]

I broke some teeth on my first Silky Zubat blade a few years back. It was an early batch, lot #107 or something. No problems since.

[Paul B]

swattin dead wood:D

its a saw dude, not a hammer. How well does your hammer cut wood? :P

[sotc]

the one with the hatchet on the back?:D

[Paul B]

:) oops, sorry, didnt know you had that model!

[Koa Man]

I have found Kanzawa saws stay sharper far longer than the Silky. You need to buy the better quality saw, as they make a cheaper model that is also pretty good but does not stay sharp as long.
The better model has a green handle, the cheaper one a red handle. I don't even use my Zubat anymore. Kanzawas are also a lot cheaper.

[JonnyHart]

What about the one with the green and red handle?
Much cheaper than the cheapest Silky.

[MasterBlaster]

Who sells Kanzawa?

[rumination]

I know Bishop sells them. I'm not sure who else.

[Koa Man]

Zenith Cutter also sells them at great prices. I bought 7 saws and 10 replacement blades at the 2006 TCI. I have been using their best quality blade for the past 8 months and it still is very sharp. The Silky blades after about 4 months I feel the need to change them.

[Burnham]

swattin dead wood:D

I swat deadwood, too :D ...try the bigazz Silky Ibuki and use the back side of the blade, ya maroon :lol:.

[Bounce]

Before I got my Silky Ibuki I used a Fanno 17" for 8 years. I liked it because I could do one pull stroke and then use the enclosed handle like a pair of brass knuckles to smash off the rest of the branch. It was faster than cutting it the rest of the way. Now that I have my Ibuki though, I can't do this anymore because it doesn't have an enclosed handle. In spite of that, I still like my Ibuki better because it cuts faster and stays sharp longer. IMO, nobody makes better handsaws than Silky.

[MasterBlaster]

IMO, nobody makes better handsaws than Silky.

Me too, so far. Have you tried Kanzawa?

[Bounce]

I've tried the Samuria brand, who I think makes the Kanzawa. I thought they were a close 2nd to Silky, but not quite as good.

[TC3]

I'm gonna check out the Kanzawa this season. I agree with Koa that the Silky blade wears out pretty fast.
Silky has been the best saw for me to date, though the Sugoi is too aggressive for my uses.
Zubat has a beautiful finish cut !

[Frans]

Zenith Cutter also sells them at great prices.

Zenith sells chipper knives at a price which cannot be beat. However, every product I have bought from them has been very very low quality. The chipper knives I bought (for example) lasted a very short time. (they are made in Vietnam, prob. from old Buicks or some other American car or product.) They where crap and required more sharpening than any other North American sourced chipper knife that I have ever bought!
Zenith just sells crap in terms of chipper knives. Over the long term they are the most expensive chipper knife supplier company.

Yes Zenith are cheap to buy, but they just dont hold up so they end up being even more expensive over the long run.

But maybe these handsaws are different?

[top hopper]

Ive never noticed any problems with their knives Frans.

Are you chipping dynamite?

[Paul B]

I have seen but not used the Samurai saws. I get about a year or so from a Zubat blade. I have a Sugoi and find it klunky, it stays home most days.

[sotc]

im not sure which silky i got, its all black with a straight blade about 13 inches long. i made my self use it all day today doing dead wood and mistletoe. it does cut very aggressivly, i dont really like the angle or the straight blade or the way it sticks in the scabbard requiring 2 hands to get out. it was definatly a better experience than last time though.

[Paul B]

hmm, when I used the stock zubat scabbard I used my thumb and one hand (same hand) to release it, now I have a weaver leather scabbard and no issues.

[TC3]

I kinda like the red-dot pressure-point scabbard thingym'bob...Climbing down just to retrieve my handsaw is a time & energy burner.
To each their own.

[Koa Man]

I've tried the Samuria brand, who I think makes the Kanzawa. I thought they were a close 2nd to Silky, but not quite as good.

Actually, you got it backwards. Kanzawa makes the Samurai. When blades are brand new, the Silky cuts a little faster. I actually did a head to head test cutting up to 2 inch hardwood. The Silky will cut through it about 10% faster [10% less strokes] when both are new on 2 inch wood. On 1 inch dia. wood there is no difference in the number of strokes. Testing them with the blades about a month old, the Kanzawa and Silky are about the same. After 1 month, the Kanzawa is faster. 4 months, the Silky is shot, the Kanzawa is still going strong. I use my handsaw a lot when trimming. On many trees [pruning jobs] my handsaw does 90% of the work. I'll take a picture of the Kanzawa blade I use. It is quite different from the Silky blade.

[TC3]

I'll take a picture of the Kanzawa blade I use. It is quite different from the Silky blade.
I'll be curious to see that, Wes. Silky has a tri-angle tooth that my saw sharpening guy won't touch.
Good post. The Zubat cuts amazingly fast when new, but by the end of my season ('bout 5 months) it's a workout. Still a very smooth finish cut, though. Regardless of sharpness.

[Koa Man]

Here is a picture of the Kanzawa blade that I use. I also like the fact that they use a universal mounting. You can use this blade on a pole saw as well. No need to buy two different types of blades. The model I use is their GCK 330 LH.

Frans,
Zenith Cutter is just selling the Kanzawa. They don't make them. Kanzawa is made in Japan, same as Silky.

[TC3]

That's an interesting design. I'd love to spend 20 min. with the designers to hear their line of reasoning ? The hollow pockets must be for emptying sawdust, no ? Pretty innovative.
P.S. I said, "20 minutes..." because of my short attention span & I'm sure they could go on for hours about it ! LOL

[Koa Man]

The design is very aggressive and when new, you need to put very light pressure or it will bite too much and you won't be able to pull it through the wood. It actually works better after it has had about 20 hours of use and the points got some wear on it.

[MasterBlaster]

Crikey, that's music to my ears.

[vharrison]

We received our blades and a new saw today! Thanks Bounce!

[JonnyHart]

So the blade for the Kanzawa just pokes into the handle a little bit and you bolt it in? In Silkys ( or at least the Zubat and Gomtaro), the steel runs the whole length of the handle. I think that's called " full tang construction. A very sturdy design, able to hold up to even the most abusive deadwood swatter.
The Kanzawa blade looks like it could fit on a standard polesaw head with little or no modification.
Bailey's sells these now too, BTW.

[Koa Man]

I have had no problems swatting deadwood with the Kanzawa. I have had teeth broken on the Zubat, but so far none on the Kanzawas. My Zubat just sits at home [for over 18 months], I don't use it anymore. The blade is dull and for what they want for a replacement blade, I bought a Kanzawa saw and 1 replacement blade at the TCI Expo.