fret saw

noun

1. a long, narrow-bladed saw used to cut ornamental work from thin wood. Compare coping saw.

fret saw

noun

1. a fine-toothed saw with a long thin narrow blade, used for cutting designs in thin wood or metal

Word History and Origins

Origin of fret saw¹

First recorded in 1860–65

Example Sentences

They were cleaning out his room, taking away from him everything he cherished; they had already dragged out the chest of drawers in which the fret saw and other tools were kept, and they were now loosening the writing desk which was fixed tight to the floor, the desk on which he, as a business student, a school student, indeed even as an elementary school student, had written out his assignments.

From Literature

Fret′-saw, a saw with a narrow blade and fine teeth, used for fret-work, scroll-work, &c.;

From Project Gutenberg

If two dark and two light veneers are put together, the whole of one panel, both ground and pattern, can be cut at one operation with a thin fret saw; the ornamental pattern drops into the space cut out of the ground, which it, of course, fits exactly except for the thickness of the saw-cut, and the two half-patterns thus filled in are "handed" right and left, and so complete the symmetrical design.

From Project Gutenberg

He bored a hole with the aid of the chisel and hammer, then inserting the fret saw, worked through the width of one of the boards, working against the passage wall.

From Project Gutenberg

Anne D. Williams, a jigsaw historian, cites several reasons for the change, including the introduction in the 1870s of a foot-powered fret saw that turned well-off American women into wood-cutting hobbyists.

From Seattle Times