Definitely not opposed to buying a good saw.
I just don't know what to look for specifically. I had no idea there were so many options lol. I'm wrapping up my 2nd precarve. I feel comfortable making the plunge and feel like I can layout the gun and turn out a functional piece.
I know to not even bother trying with my current big box store hand saw..I had enough trouble cutting out patch box lids with it.
You can learn a great deal from the fine furniture Master/Instructor Paul Sellers. He has a host of video on YT and many of them on planes, saws, chisels and the making/sharpening/refurbishing/setting of all of them. I need to get a few more finer-toothed old saws for my woodworking but learned to get by most inexpensively with Japanese pull-saws (which require learning a different technique for accurate cuts).
Saws, just like chisels and planes, must be sharp for best work and sometimes you can find a service in your area for such.
A pal had a sharpening man come 'round once every week or two and pickup/return tools that he'd sharpened. I had him fix up a few of my saws and auger bits before I learned how. Very reasonable. Saw plate sharpening I pretty much learned from Paul Sellers. And he'll teach you how to get by without a "proper" set, but to punch set the teeth, lube the plate, etc.
On my deer rifle I got in a hurry narrowing the forestock and wound up having to leave a few light saw marks on the gun to have any wood ATALL left on that side. It unbalances the foreend a bit, but is a good lesson learned and NO one has ever pointed it out to me or appeared to notice without me pointing it out. So I don't anymore. ALSO I'm moore careful with my cuts and have since acquired better rasps and planes.
But also I'm now in the market for a bandsaw, old and trusty...
