Dovetail saws…
Sawing dovetails with only the width of the saw plate between them.
Do you have one?
Do you like it?
We use them all the time but how much have you really thought about them?
The length of the saw plate and the tooth count (teeth/points per inch). The design and the feel of the handle in hand…would you prefer a closed handle to an open one? What about a canted blade- what are your thoughts on those? What the heck is a canted blade anyway?
What would you change about the current saw market if you had the opportunity to do so?
There’s an interesting discussion going on at the Bad Axe Tool Works Facebook page and you may consider throwing in your two cents. Why?
Because Mark Harrell, owner, operator and the ‘man behind Bad Axe’ is one of those people that listens to his clients. He welcomes you and I, the consumers to tell him what we like and don’t like in our dovetail saws. He’s asking us to give him our honest opinions of what we’d like to see in his new dovetail saw design due out in late August.
This closed grip handle fits my hand perfectly...
Maybe its a higher tooth count or a closed handle; maybe its just an aesthetic appeal we can’t live without. I’ve added some of my own thoughts on the topic and welcome you to share yours too. Whether you’re new to cutting dovetails or a professional craftsman everyone has an opinion. This afternoon I threw in my own two cents and made reference to an old Disston saw I use for sawing dovetails.
It has a 10″ plate and is filed at 14 tpi. (It’s actually the first saw I filed and set-up myself so I’m almost like a proud father…) I don’t know what the model is but I know that it feels almost perfect in my hand. I recently searched through the Disstonian Institute and was able to find this information. I think this saw was marketed as a small tenon saw but here I am almost 100 years later using it for sawing dovetails. Yes, I sometimes draw the saw back too far and inadvertently pull it out of the saw kerf while sawing and I usually end up banging the end of the plate into my work piece and whisper a few profanities but hey- that’s why I’d like a longer saw plate in a dovetail saw and this is why I expressed my thoughts today on the Bad Axe Discussion on Face book. It has a closed handle and a canted blade and it just feels right and that’s what counts when you use a hand tool as much as I use this one.
With that I’m off to the basement to begin working on a bunch of drawers I’m making for the armoire project. Yes they’ll all be dovetailed and yes I’ll be using my old Disston backsaw…it’s my saw of choice for cutting dovetails- at least until the end of the summer!
For more information on Disston hand saws and history visit the Disstonian Institute.
And to join in the discussion and find out more on Bad Axe Tool Works click here.
Cheers!
Henry Disston & Sons- 10" canted blade filed at 14 tpi.
9 Comments
Any post about backsaws is a good post. I simply love them and wish I could afford to buy a bunch of them. Right now I lust for one of Mark’s 16″ or 18″ tenon saws.
My dovetail saw is a Wenzloff (9″ blade; 14tpi). I agree with you that a bit longer saw would be nice, while maintaining the fine tooth count. I’ve gotten into a Wenzloff “rut” for two reasons. First is that Mike is a really nice guy who has been willing to share more info than required to sell me saws. The second reason is that I can get them from Lee Valley and I’ve had a couple bad experiences trying to get saws shipped from the US. At this point I also own Wenzloff’s carcase and large tenon saws and love them all.
That said, I’m desperate for more handsaws and while I’d like more backsaws, I really need some panel saws as I can’t seem to find any here in Quebec City.
Cheers — Larry
Great post Tom, and it is thrue that Mark take good care of his clients or clients to be!
I realy like his discution forum!
Cheers
David
So after asking the question, “What the heck is a canted blade anyway?”, how about telling us the answer?
Bernie,
thanks for the comment and good point/question on canted saw blades.
so canted blades are a tapered blade on a saw- Why is this done? Aesthetic reasons aside, some feel like the canted blade is an easier saw to start…tooth geometry is the same but the action of how the tooth first engages the wood is different and this can be a desirable trait in some small back saws. This small Disston is used for dovetails and I love how it feels when I’m beginning my cut- Because of the canted blade, the saw is held at a steeper angle to the end grain wood surface and maybe its a visual sense (I’m not exactly sure) or a ‘feel thing’ but I seem to be able to start the saw much easier and more comfortably.
As for finishing the cut, again say in a dovetail sawing down to the shoulder line- because of the canted blade again it works in our favor…the heel of the saw reaches the desired depth first so less chance of sawing down beyond your mark on the far, unseen side of the stock.
I hope this makes sense- when I have more time I’ll write up a proper post and give you a better sense of why I personally like a canted blade better for small sized back saws.
Cheers!
Thanks Tom
Is that handle “that fits my hand perfectly” a 3 finger handle? I have a few old back saws and one small canted that has a beautiful 3 fingered handle that fits my hand perfectly, though “I think,” the blade is shot.It has a serious bow. I kept it just because of that handle fit. ,,,H
Howard-
thanks for the comments…yeah, it is a three finger ‘pistol’ grip-
i have another old handle I’ve kept…need a new blade but a good handle is nice to hold onto- (pun intended!)
cheers-
Thanks Tom
The reason I asked is I don’t find the larger handles comforable or as easy to control ,,, Like Gum boots that are too big ,,, they keep your feet out of the mud ,,,but your still slippin around….
The thing about canted blades with me is that I always find myself trying to hold the back of the saw ‘in line’ with the edge of the board I’m sawing (i.e. horizontal) instead of the teethline. When that happens the teethline of the saw is (of coarse) not horizontal anymore and hence gives me a very easy chance to saw past my baseline. So for me a ‘regular’ backsaw is the choice of use where the back and the teethline are nicely parallel (probably a coordination thing that has to grow on me
).