Picked a band saw over a hand saw for breaking down a whole hog last Friday

I had to choose between my old hand saw and a new band saw for breaking down a 200 pound hog. Went with the band saw and it ripped through the spine in under 30 seconds, but I lost a ton of control on the finer cuts. Anyone else run into this trade off when going electric?

2 comments

2 Comments

wendy721mo ago

That's the thing with power tools, they give you speed but take away the feel. It's like the whole world these days, everything is faster but you lose that connection to what you're actually doing. My grandpa used to say a sharp hand saw is faster than a dull power saw any day, and he was right in a way. Sometimes I wonder if we give up too much control just to save a few seconds.

kelly.daniel1mo ago

Totally feel you on this. I did a similar switch with my bandsaw last fall and honestly, I still grab my handsaw for the rib plates and the neck area where you want to feel every joint pop. The bandsaw absolutely destroys through the back legs and spine but it's like driving a truck when you need to parallel park on those finer cuts. You're not alone in missing that control.