Jumping in late on this thread but here's something to
add to the differences between push and pull saws -
the former have fixed teeth per inch from handle to
tip while the japanese pull saws often have much
finer teeth at the handle end and graduated to larger
teeth towards the tip. The blade width, not the thickness,
also increases from the handle towards the tip.

So, if the cut is started with the fine teeth, light
pressure and short strokes to initially establish the
line of the cut using the finer teeth, the amount of
wood being "bitten off" by each tooth is very small.

If you watch the motion of the blade from the side
as it's used to rip you'll see the fine teeth do most
of the cutting on the visible face and the coarser
ones mainly cut "inside" an on the back/bottom of
the cut. On the back/bottom of the cut, the teeth
are cutting just like a push saw, acrossed or
"with the grain"

You might want to check out Toshio Odate's book
"Japanese Woodworking Tools, Their Tradition,
Spirit and Use" - Linden Publishing,
ISBN 0-941936-46-5 , $24.95 US, I found
"kataba" and "kataba-nokogiri", kataba being a single
cutting edge saw, ryoba being a double cutting edge,
and "kataba- nokogiri" described as a single cutting
edge rip saw.

Its interesting that the western saw requires that
you push the teeth into the wood, removing it with
brute force. To do that the saw must be stiff and
beefy. Japanese saws works sort of like judo - the
teeth pull small pieces of wood from its surroundings
and less per tooth cut than on a western saw. because,
in tension, the kerf is narrower because the blade
is thinner and the set is narrower.

It's kind of like provoking a response versus evoking
a response. You can try to push the bully over
backwards, but, with proper technique, it's easier
to to get him to contribute most of the energy required
to put him on the ground. Less grunting and sweating
letting the saw do most of the work - but it requires
a bit more focused attention on the task.

babble mode off

charlie b