A wood-cutting label describes a relationship to the grain, not simply the outline of a saw. Okada Hardware’s Z-Saw reference distinguishes crosscutting from ripping and explains the teeth behind those terms. Read that distinction before treating two similarly sized blades as interchangeable.
Technique and structure
Z-Saw describes crosscutting as cutting at right angles to the grain, with knife-edged teeth that cut the fibres. Ripping runs parallel to the grain and uses teeth the maker compares to plane blades, removing material along that direction. The geometry is therefore part of the task specification, not an ornamental difference between blades. Z-Saw also identifies its own crosscut/rip/diagonal designs; the existence of these combined-use products does not make every blade a universal saw.
Read the back as well as the teeth
In its precision-saw explanation, the maker describes a back that supports a very thin blade. It also says the long back makes these Panel Saw examples unsuitable for cutting off thick material. A feature that supports one kind of work can constrain another; the label alone is not a promise of unlimited cutting depth.
For international readers
Keep the intended cut direction, material and exact blade’s limits together. This is an explanation of Z-Saw’s terminology, not a tested ranking of Japanese and Western saws or a compatibility list for every handle.
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日本語
鋸の横挽き・縦挽き：木目と刃の形を確かめる
ゼットソーの用途解説は、木目に直角の切断を横挽き、平行の切断を縦挽きと区別します。横挽きは繊維を切るナイフエッジ状の目、縦挽きは繊維を削る鉋刃状の目と説明しています。薄い精密鋸を支える背金は、厚材を切り落とす際には制約にもなります。刃形と作業条件を組み合わせて確認するための解説です。