I have one, and yes, I do like it to the "western' style.
But one issue I find is that when I pull, the end tends to vibrate, so it doesn't come thru the piece as easily as I would expect it to..
Two things:
1 - Sometimes if you pull too hard, and/or bear down on the cut in an effort to be more aggressive, this can happen. Try "letting the saw" do the cutting a bit more, and back off a bit. Also a shorter blade tends do the vibration thing a bit less, so don't necessarily go with a larger/longer saw if you don't need to.
2 - Look into "dozuki" saws. These Japanese saws have a rigid spine (similar to an English "back saw") and you pretty much get no vibration/wiggle of the blade. They also have very thin blades and therefore make very thin kerfs. As well, the blades are easily replaceable (and often relatively inexpensive to do so). They are usually made as a crosscut saw, where they excel. But the crosscut versions also work pretty well in ripping. If you do want a dedicated rip saw, blades are available (though a bit harder to find in the US).
The downside to a dozuki style saw is that the spine means you can't cutter deeper than the blade itself, so if you are cutting all the way through a thick piece of stock they sometimes aren't the best tool for the job.
Make sawdust!,
s6
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