BLUEHARD Saw Fine pitch 240mm 651 by Gyokucho

• Blade length: 240mm
• Overall length: 580mm
• Blade thickness: 0.45mm
• Traditional rattan wrapped paulownia wood handle
• Progressive rip pitch: 2.5mm to 3.9mm / 10 to 6.5 tpi

The Gyokucho 651 'Blue Hard' Ryoba Komame has a slightly squarer blade, a thinner plate (0.45mm) and finer teeth than the standard range of Ryoba, making it much better suited to light, accurate work. An excellent general purpose saw for the cabinetmaking workshop, the progressive rip teeth on one side of the blade and 1.2mm crosscut teeth on the other cover a good percentage of eventualities and for unfinished surfaces you can even flex the blade slightly and use it as a flush cutting saw. The blades of Gyokucho saws are treated using a process called electroless nickel plating, this has three functions. Firstly, it protects the blade against corrosion, secondly it provides a nice shiny mirror surface, and thirdly its low friction properties inhibit resins and sap from building up on the blade - anything that does manage to get stuck to them can easily be washed off with warm soapy water. The teeth are differentially impulse hardened, one by one, bringing the outer surfaces to RC68 or more whilst still leaving the 'root' of the tooth soft and therefore much less prone to fracture - not unlike tiny Japanese sword blades. They are equally happy working in softwoods or temperate hard woods and can, with care and a light touch, be used on exotic timbers too.