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Carpal Tunnel
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A "coping saw" is a carpenter's doohickey in which a slim blade is stetched tightly across the open end of a U-shaped hand-held frame. It is used for cutting small things out of wood and for humbling the operator in a visible and lasting way.
The etymology of this word is apparently derived in some inapparent way from the top course of a masonry wall -- called a "coping" -- which is slanted to cause rainwater to run off. One doubts that such a course of bricks or stones was ever cut with a coping saw. The etymology of "coping" in the brick-wall sense appears to derive from a liturgical vestment -- the cope -- which is a sort of clerical poncho, open in the front and joined with a fancy clasp. In that both masonry coping and the liturgical cope may be said to "cover" something -- be it a wall or a priest -- this makes a certain sense. But it gets one no closer to understanding how the lowly coping saw got its name.
Who will solve this riddle for the old padre?
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Carpal Tunnel
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the M-W10 shows 4 meaning for COPE-- with several different roots.
the fourth Cope is is from the french couper, to cut
to cut (a structural member) to shape a coping or conform to shape of an other member, NOTCH.
that the meaning i associate with a coping saw. it cuts molding to fit against another molding. (exterior joints are mitered, but inner corners are coped.)
the other meaning of cope come from OE, or LL cappa. a head covering --the long ecclesiastical vestment
and meaning 2 to be covered as with a cope (like the top of wall might be coped)
#3 from coupen, MF to strike (which leads to maintain a contest or combat.. and to be able to cope with daily stress)
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Carpal Tunnel
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Dear Father Steve: I spent over an hour searching, and was finding only places about "coping" with emotional problems, until I had the inspiration to search for "capentry coping" and up jumped a site by Bob Vila, of "This Old House" fame, and lo and behold, he has a site about the coping saw. Hallelujah! http://www.bobvila.com/HowTo/index.html?/HowTo/IHouse/WorkshopGarage/Copingsaw.html
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Carpal Tunnel
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Thanks, Bill, for the referral to the Bob Vila site (altho I'm still pretty angry at Bob for selling his soul to Sears for thirty pieces of silver, in violation of his contract with public television). At the site, it says: "The coping saw and its cousin the fretsaw perform other tasks, too, as both are designed to cut along most any curve at a range of angles." A fretsaw is, apparently, "A long, narrow-bladed saw with fine teeth, used in making curved cuts in thin wood or metal."
This leads one inexorably to the conclusion that if you can't cope, you should fret.
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old hand
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old hand
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This leads one inexorably to the conclusion that if you can't cope, you should fret. Oh, such a cutting remark! And I bet you think a bandsaw is for use on musical groups. How about the holesaw, the whipsaw, the sabre saw, the hacksaw, scroll saw, rip saw, crosscut saw, and maybe even the see saw? 
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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And then there's the saw as a saying (from MW):
Main Entry: 4saw
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English sawe, from Old English sagu discourse; akin to Old High German & Old Norse saga tale, Old English secgan to say -- more at SAY
Date: before 12th century
: MAXIM, PROVERB
That in mind (maxim, proverb), apply this meaning to Geoff's:
holesaw, the whipsaw, the sabre saw, the hacksaw, scroll saw, rip saw, crosscut saw, and maybe even the see saw... and Father Steve's coping saw and fretsaw.
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Carpal Tunnel
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And the pruning saw.And the pit saw. At Plimoth Plantation there is a pit with a floor over it. Logs were held in place on top and a two man saw through a slit, with one man in the pit and the other on top could saw the desperately needed planks. If you have not already seen it, here is link to Plimoth Plantation. I got "page not found" on pictures listed. http://pilgrims.net/plimothplantation/vtour/index.htm#1627
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
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Father Steve: How nice to see your post. Where have you been all this time? To me a fret saw is a modified backsaw used for cutting the slots on the fingerboard of a stringed musical instrument such as a guitar. An adjustable depth stop is used to keep the cuts uniform and in fitting with the tang of the fret. See http://www.stewmac.com/cgi-bin/hazel.cgi?action=SERVE&ITEM=catalog/sku.html&sku=5320
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
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holesaw, the whipsaw, the sabre saw, the hacksaw, scroll saw, rip saw, crosscut saw, and maybe even the see saw?
These are, of course, all specialist saws, geoff.
Holesaw - also known in UK as Keyhole saw - was developed by and for voyeurs.
whipsaw was originally the w-hip saw, itself a contraction for wide-hip saw, used by cosmetic surgeons
sabre saw I'm not so sure about - I think it is a tree-surgeons implement and the name is derived from s'arbre saw.
The hacksaw is used for cutting the legs from under unwanted visitors to your computer.
scrollsaw has become corrupted from swroll saw (far to difficult to pronounce, especially after several quarts of wood-cutters ale) It was, of course, originally used for cutting slices from deep-frozen swiss roll.
RIP saw is used in coffin making, as I hardly need to tell you.
crosscut saw is the remark you make in anger to someone who has said something that makes you sore.
See saw? Now, you're just being ridiculous!
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Carpal Tunnel
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http://makeashorterlink.com keepsthepagefromgoingwide.thankyou
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The Commando sez: "whipsaw was originally the w-hip saw, itself a contraction for wide-hip saw, used by cosmetic surgeons." This is a common misconception.
The whipsaw is actually half of the saws comprising a set used by sexually-odd people who are into whips and chains, the other being, obviously, the chainsaw.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Joking aside, whipsaws are two man saws, because the blade is so long and flexible it cannot be pushed.
And there are two ways of sharpening and setting teeth of such saws. Cross cut saws have teeth with only a small amount of set and sharply pointed teeth, meaning alternate teeth are bent only enough to make cut slightly wider than the thickness of the saw. Ripsaws are for cutting along the length of the log, and must have extra width to the set to overcome tendency of wood halves to bend toward the cut, pinching the blade and the teeth have chisel like points.
I think the name "whip" came from the rapid long arm motion possible with a two man saw.
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
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I think the name "whip" came from the rapid long arm motion possible with a two man saw.
Or possibly from the "whupp" noise that such a saw makes, at the point where the direction changes. This is caused by a flexing of the blade as the tension changes from a forward to a backward motion. (Forward/backward are used relatively, in this case - there is no front or back to a whip saw!)
You can tell the expertise of the sawing team, to some extent, by how little "whupp" they make.
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old hand
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old hand
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The hacksaw is used for cutting the legs from under unwanted visitors to your computer.
See saw? Now, you're just being ridiculous!
I think you've got it wrong, chum. Around here, the hacksaw is a trite saying by staff writers, per the meaning WordWind supplied. See saw is akin to the keyhole saw you mentioned, but it describes the result of its use, not the use itself. Odd, however, that it describes both the present and past tenses, as though it also has some video recording capability.
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
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>> See saw is akin to the keyhole saw you mentioned <<
Well, Geoff, you may be right there, but I had a second thought about it, and reckoned that it might be the instrument that a Bishop uses when wishing to divest himself of part of his territory.
BTW, I prefer your definition of hacksaw to my original one, although surely it is what is used when journalitic triteness is edited out?
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Carpal Tunnel
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"I see, I see" said the blind man, as he picked up his hammer and saw.
and what about saw-bucks*, (instead of buck-saws) and saw bones?
and does any know what kind of a saw-set a saw-bones uses on a bone-saw set?
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Carpal Tunnel
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Dear of troy: are you referring to the sawbuck as slang for tendollar bill?
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Carpal Tunnel
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Dear Father Steve: in a collection of oddball words, I found what you need: "Acopic"= a remedy for fatigue.
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