Meet Shane Skelton - the Yorkshireman making the world's only traditional hand-made saws from his garage

A cabinet maker by profession, Mr Skelton despaired at the difficulty in buying precision saws capable of cutting in a straight line. Reasoning that he could make a better one himself, he set up shop with a fly press and a supply of well-aged timber.

He soon discovered he was not the only craftsman in the market for one, and seven years later he is turning out up to 100 a year from his garage on the quaintly-named Pheasantry, just off the A64.

It is the world’s only production centre for hand-made saws crafted in the traditional fashion.

Unlike off-the-peg tools, each of his saws is custom-fitted to the hand that will hold it.

“It’s like being measured for an item of clothing,” he said. “Every person has a different shaped hand and our saws are made to fit them like a glove.”

Bespoke tools, like clothes, are not necessarily cheap. But even at between £325 and £2,500 apiece, he says his saws are more economical in the long run.

“They are designed to last an entire career,” he said. “It’s like choosing between a Ford and an Aston Martin, or comparing a Savile Row suit with one from Next.”

Mr Skelton’s press – of a type invented by the Romans and used during the two world wars to push primer into shell cartridges – allows him to notch each tooth of the blade individually.

“It’s how they did it in Georgian times, and a completely different process from disposable factory saws” he said, “Those are done in a machine and rifled through really fast, so they don’t cut straight. They’re OK for cutting through a bit of skirting board, but not fine furniture. And you can’t resharpen them, either.”

Not only the blades but also the handles are steeped in heritage, with wood reclaimed from timbers that once surrounded the bells at St Paul’s Cathedral.

“We source old trees that have been storm damaged – the grain is much better than in younger ones planted just for the timber,” said Mr Skelton, whose wife, Jacqueline, a former teacher, is the only other person on his payroll.

She said: “It’s not been easy. We don’t earn as much money as before. But we are the only hand saw makers in the world.”

Their tools are each named with a nod to Yorkshire heritage – the Otley cabinet maker Thomas Chippendale and the Doncaster-built Mallard locomotive are among the range – and are sent all over the world. Hobbyists in the US are a particularly fruitful source of custom.

“A lot of customers who are professionals in other fields want to get their hands on tools you can’t just go out and buy,” Mr Skelton said.

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James Mitchinson