Niwaki Moku Folding Saw
*Price correct at time of publishing
Tested January 2026
I’ve used many different pruning saws over the years but hadn’t tried a Niwaki before. Pruning saws cut on the pull stroke and they come in many sizes, the Moku is a small saw intended for finer pruning jobs.
My first thought when I took it out of the box was how lightweight it is, definitely the lightest I’ve ever held (only 113g). The blade is 190mm long, handle 230mm giving an overall length of 420mm when opened. The Beech wood handle is well finished; it doesn’t have any additional grips but it's comfortable to hold and slightly wider at the base so unlikely to slip out of my hand. The blade has small but extremely sharp teeth; it’s made from impact hardened SK-5 steel (high carbon Japanese steel) so will stay sharper for longer.
The saw is functionally very simple, the blade opens out easily and locks in place when fully opened, to close it there’s a metal locking device which needs to be pressed in. I did find the blade to be quite flexible, it’s only 1mm thick so when closing can be awkward to align with the gap in the handle and may take a few attempts, also the locking device was quite hard to press in but I’d imagine over time it will loosen off.
Its performance it doesn’t disappoint at all - it’s for pruning branches up to 60mm in diameter, so for big pruning jobs a larger saw would be more suitable but I used the saw to prune and thin out some of the smaller apple trees this winter, it's fantastically sharp and the compact size really was beneficial for getting into some tight spaces.
Like other Niwaki tools it's designed to be high quality, unfussy and to do the job well. With the handle being wooden it would probably be best to use in dry conditions to avoid swelling and I’d give it a clean and dry after use. As the saw is lightweight and compact it would fit in a pocket but Niwaki offer a holster should you want it to hang from a belt.
Conclusion: I think the saw performs well for its intended useand is a great addition to my tool collection.
