# Hand Held Reciprocating Saw for Butchery?



## ChefCosta (Apr 10, 2014)

Greetings,
Looking to develop some custom meat fabrications that I can play around with before requesting them from our lamb purveyor. I need to be able to cut lamb bones but do not want to invest 3K or the floor space for a band saw. Looking to do things like splitting the spine, squaring off the ball joint to facilitate removal of marrow, etc. I realize that this may qualify me as a psychopath but has anyone tried this with a hand held reciprocating saw? Obviously safety precautions like clamping the meat in place, eyeware, etc would be followed. Basically looking for a cheap, effective implement...any suggestions?


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## Ucmd (Apr 10, 2014)

Why not just a hand saw? Much cheaper and safer.


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## ChefCosta (Apr 11, 2014)

We tried with the hand saw and couldn't get the cuts as clean and as straight as we wanted.


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## scotchef38 (Apr 11, 2014)

Dont see why not but it will be hard to keep sanitary and you would need some long blades which can be a bit flexi.Great idea -i will be interested to see how it works.


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## knyfeknerd (Apr 11, 2014)

Was the hand saw you tried a bone saw? A true bone saw would make a big difference.
I think a reciprocating saw would be really wonky and really unsanitary.
You could just get a super cheapo bandsaw and throw it away....................



..............good luck disposing of the corpses.


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## Chuckles (Apr 11, 2014)

I've used one. It was one hand operated. I abandoned the method quickly. This is a craftsman C3 line. Way better for this than the two hand operated ones. 

What is more overkill the power saw or double fisting coffee and an energy drink?


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## Bill13 (Apr 11, 2014)

Milwaukee make a pretty inexpensive band saw that we use a lot doing electrical work. I was able to use it one handed but I would think it would be easy to put in a clamp if you needed both hands free. http://www.milwaukeetool.com/power-tools/corded/6242-6


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## jared08 (Apr 11, 2014)

I use a sawzall for doing deer in the garage, dont know how I feel about it in a professional kitchen tho..


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## JohnnyChance (Apr 11, 2014)

I have used a Sawzall before, I did not find it terribly effective and switched to a hand/hack saw.


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## 29palms (Apr 11, 2014)

I've used a sawzall to split deer too and it works great. Only thing is you either need to find raw blades, or find a way of taking the paint off of regular blades. I like to split them and keep the chine on the loin - makes a great French rack. We also cook the ribs in foil on coals - we have delicious venison around here.


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