Thread: Dovetail saw

Adam, I suspect you'll get quite a range of answers!

Lots of people live happily with Japanese saws, you can get a pretty good one for way less than any of the up-market 'Western' saws, so I think it's worth a try to see if you like them. I tried pull saws way back when they were first being touted as the answer to all sawing-related prayers, but I was already too rusted on to push saws, & we soon parted ways. My go-to saw for dovetails in material from around 8mm thick up to 20mm or so is one of my own manufacture: Rock oak 225mm 16tpi.jpg

What's so good about it? It has a 225mm blade, with about 50mm of freeboard under the spine & is toothed at 15tpi (rip). That tpi is happy sawing boards from about 8mm thick though to 20-25mm. But what makes it a dovetail saw for me is the high hang-angle of the handle grip, which is comfortable to hold at the height I usually saw D/Ts at, and also makes twisting the saw to right & left as I go more intuitive. It also has a light-ish spine (5 x 19mm) which keeps it light & maneuverable.

I arrived at this size & shape after quite a bit of trial & error, & most people who try my saw like it, but by no means everyone! So really, you just have to try as many saws as you can get your hands on & see what appeals to you. Some people also like really fine teeth (~20tpi rather than 15), however, bear in mind that teeth of that pitch are a pita to sharpen, and if there's one thing above all else that makes a saw good for accurate sawing, it's having sharp, well-set teeth!

Cheers,

Thanks Ian.

That is a beautiful looking saw.

In terms of trying others, that's where i have the problem.

Long office hours and kids weekend sports remove most options for trying prior to purchase, hence relying on the of advise of others.

I'm anticipating a few different answers but hopefully a common thread will emerge.

If you could get IanW to make one for you I'd be surprised if you wouldn't be overjoyed. I also have been contemplating a dovetail saw (have been using a Japanese pull saw, but not really happy with it) and I've got an old tenon saw that I'm going to sharpen and see how that goes. I've lusted after a lot of the tools I've seen Ian post here though.

Originally Posted by taz01

At the moment i am cutting (Or more accurately, trying to cut) my dovetails using a veritas carcass saw.

The next project i'm looking at involves thin drawer sides so I'm thinking i might need a more appropriate tool.

I'm split in terms of whether to try a Japanese or western so am just wondering what type you all use, and what brand it is.

I don't want to spend too much so definitely looking below LN prices.

Regards,

Adam

There is good and bad news, Adam.

The bad news is that you may not need another saw to cut thinner drawer sides. The thickness of the plate on the Veritas Carcass Saw is 0.02", which is the standard thickness for most dovetail saws. The saw plate you have is either 12 tpi rip or 14 tpi crosscut. Both can cut dovetails pretty well. I think that the tpi and number of teeth cancel out differences in the shape of the teeth.

The good news is that you can still purchase another saw ... for no other reason than just because you want one

Regards from Perth

Derek

Originally Posted by derekcohen

The good news is that you can still purchase another saw ... for no other reason than just because you want one

Yeah, just make sure your wife doesn't see this post.