This is going to be one of those entries where many (of the few) will read and roll their eyes, muttering, “What navel-gazing minutiae. Bloggers are losers…”

I think the blogger=loser is true in some cases – but generalizations are always problematic.

This entry, however, is boilerplate blogger blah blah.

I’m just writing because it occurred to me that I just have a crapload of saws.

I’m not a saw collector per se; each has its own function.

Screwdrivers, where you have a blade, phillips or (for some) hex-heads, they are all pretty much the same: Just different sizes of the different heads. Yes, there are some specialty screwdrivers (right-angle and so on).

But saws – with, to be fair, a fair amount of overlap – serve some very different purposes.

Here are the hand saws I own:

• Crosscut saw – Your basic 24-inch saw for lumber: 2x4s and other standard construction timber. Teeth staggered (to the left, then the right) to make for quicker cuts.
• Back saw – Use with a miter box to cut construction/trim timber at various angles. Unlike the crosscut, its teeth are inline, to make a cleaner, narrower cut. The “back” refers to a reinforcement on the top of the saw (opposite the teeth) to keep the saw from flexing; again, keeping the cut cleaner.
• Drywall saw – Looks like a knife with a blade that exhibits large, staggered teeth on the bottom instead of a cutting edge. As the name implies, to quickly cut/cut holes in drywall. Pretty much its only use.
• Hacksaw – Handle with a horizontal U-bracket. The hacksaw blade – thin, narrow, staggered teeth – attached at the bottom of this U-bracket. Cut various types of metal, usually thinner metals (aluminum downspouts, thin copper tubing). Somewhat bulky in size, but the U-bracket is so items can be cut so the U-bracket (a brace) doesn’t interfere with the material being cut.
• Hacksaw blade handle – Sorta a specialty item, this is a plastic grip that allows one to attach a hacksaw blade, so it ends up like a knife. Good for tight spaces (ceilings, car engines).
• Scroll/coping saw – Very much like a hacksaw (handle with U-shaped bracket; blade at bottom) but for wood, and for fine cuts of odd shapes. A very thin blade (height and width) for clean cuts. Electric scroll saws are very popular; I don’t own one.

Here are the electric saws I own:

• Circular saw – The powered equivalent of the crosscut saw. Mine is one my dad won at a golf tournament decades age; guess what – still works (yes, with updated blade). Can buy a variety of blades for various uses for this saw, the vast majority of work done with a circular saw is cutting construction timber.
• Jigsaw – The powered equivalent – to some degree – of both the hacksaw (metal) and the scroll saw (wood). Interchangeable blades; up and down cutting action.
• Reciprocating saw – I have a Milwaukee™ – it’s a tool that thrusts a (changeable) blade horizontally back and forth. Used to cut wood, metal, tile and more. Known generically by the trademarked name Sawz-All® .
• Table saw – As the name says, a table with a circular saw blade. Move the wood through the blade instead of a circular saw’s blade through wood. To be honest, my table saw is still in a box. Just don’t need it…yet.
• Drill saw bits – Any number/flavor of bits one can attach to a any drill to “saw” (usually circular holes). I have a hole saw bit with about dozen or so saw blades I can keep/remove to saw – as opposed to drill (bits/speed-bores) – holes. Especially useful for holes for doorknobs and other construction items.

The one thing I’m missing is a chop-saw: Kinda like a circular saw/table saw combo. The saw is mounted on a vertical arm on a cutting platform, and instead of moving the saw through the wood, one pulls the saw arm down and “chops” (get it?) the wood. Variants of this combine mitering and other circular saw functionality in one unit.

I’ll get a good chop saw in the same way I got my reciprocating saw: Needed it.

I needed the Milwaukee to help fix the bathroom; some other chore will require some circular/miter saw more sophisticated than what I currently have.

Whatever. But see how the “stoopid/vacuous” entry about my saws wasn’t totally self-indulgent.

Yes, YMMV (Your mileage may vary….)!