While teaching in England this summer I had a sudden and miraculous encounter with Pégas coping saw blades – and I am a convert.

I rarely say this sort of thing, but here we go: Buy them. Buy as many as you can afford. Encourage the company to make more blades like this.

If you want to skip the backstory and just order the darn blades, go to Tools for Working Wood if you live in North America. Go to Workshop Heaven if you live in England or Europe. Click until it hurts.

OK, so here’s the background: I use coping saws quite a bit to remove waste and to cut curves. I’ve been using them since age 11 and am more comfortable with this tool than any other. For years I suffered with my Craftsman coping saw and home-center blades. These blades worked, but it was a struggle.

In the 1990s, I bought an Olson coping saw made in Germany and started using the company’s blades. This was a huge improvement over the home-center stuff. In fact, the Olson saw and blades were the best I could buy for many years.

But things change.

Olson moved the manufacturing of its coping saws overseas for some parts. The Olson blades are still good – way better than the home-center blades – but they don’t hold a candle to the Pégas blades. The Pégas blades have less set and last much longer than the Olson blades.

During the last few months, I’ve been using and abusing both brands in my shop. I can get about one carcase of dovetails out of an Olson blade. The Pégas blades just keep cutting and cutting. I’ve made four carcases with one Pégas blade and am still going.

OK, so here’s the crazy part. Pégas blades are cheaper than Olson blades at Tools for Working Wood (as of this moment).

And this, my friends, is why I remain an independent writer. I’ve never received a free tool or blade from anyone, so I am unencumbered by obligation or guilt.

Support Pégas as long as they hold the line on quality. I will.

— Christopher Schwarz