Michael wrote in
:

I'm making some oak and cedar boxes with hand tools only, and I want
to resaw 3/4 inch boards to 1/4. My current hand saw takes about a
year and a half to get the job done, and I'm wondering if I'm better
off buying a course cutting hand saw, maybe a 9 pt or so. Does anyone
have any experience or advice for this project?

As everyone else has said, you need a ripsaw. Ripsaws are
available at the likes of Home Depot or Lowes for a fairly
low price; they are crap - the handles are so badly mis-shapen
your hands will cry in agony after 5 minutes use (as a rule
of thumb, if there's a straight line anywhere on handle, the
saw is worthless - doubly so if it's also plastic).

There are a few serious saw makers who offer saws sharpened
as ripsaws. They are not cheap.

The third alternative is to get an old saw from a flea market
or antique store and sharpen it. In my (limited) experience,
about 1 saw in 4 in "ye olde antique mall" is a rip saw, you'll
want to familiarize yourself with what a rip profile looks like
so you recognize the one you want. It is not difficult to
sharpen ripsaw teeth (crosscut is more complex, altho still not
difficult). You may find the available saws have had paint
slobbered over them by hack artists, but it can be scraped off.
A little rust is no problem, it will wear off in use and leave
a nice patina.

John