Gramercy or Veritas dovetail saw

[John Coloccia]

Well now after reading more reviews and considering the other things I should have to help with dovetailing...I am leaning towards the 14 tpi LV saw.

Now I guess the question would be....14tpi or 20tpi?

I know the 14 will cut faster and is better suited for 1/2" - 3/4" material, how will it handle in smaller material?

I think I like the idea of being able to get through the cut faster, why would the 20tpi be a better match for me?

I have the set of 3. Given a choice between the 14 and the 20, I would definitely want the 14. The 20 was just a splurge for me. I do grab the 20 when I'm cutting in thin material, although as my control with the 14 gets ever better, I grab the 20 less and less. A year from now, I'll probably think the 20 was not worth it. I may end up filing it for crosscut and simply dedicating it to my pen making station.

Again, nothing at all against the 20. It does a fantastic job in the thinner woods. I guess I'm just starting to realize that maybe this is all much simpler than we generally make it out to be, and that there's such a thing as "good enough" where better doesn't increase the quality of the piece, and that the 14 is good enough for everything I do.

[Sean Hughto]

I made the Gramercy dovetail kit. It was fun and easy. I love how the saw cuts and handles. While I have several dovetail saws, this is the one I pick up most often.



Hanging in its spot on a tool cabinet door:

[David Gendron]

Realy nice cabinet and tool layout!

[Sean Hughto]

Thanks, it was the only pic I could easily find that actually showed the whole saw (unobscured by my hand and the wood as in the previous pic). Strangley perhaps, I sort of ad libbed the organization int hat cabinet after I built it. Worked out though.

[Sean Hughto]

A while back, when playing with my, then new, Flip video device, I made this silly video where I added sound effects to me dovetailing a piece of maple with this saw. It only lasts 1 minute, 30 seconds, but at the beginning, you get to see the saw actually cutting a couple of tail sides. It goes through the maple smoothly and quickly:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/chevy_c...os/3496155520/

For what little it may be worth to see. Cheers!

p.s., The video also shows a Gramercy carcase (x-cut) saw taking off an end.

[Rob Lee]

(snip)They both get good reviews, but the veritas is super cheap.... (snip)

Please James... it's super "Inexpensive".....

Cheers -

Rob

[Graham Hughes (CA)]

When I was at WIA in October I got to play with both of them opposite the Spear & Jackson I brought to see if I could tune it up. I didn't walk home with either, although I was seriously tempted by the Veritas, because I managed to tune the S&J up to similar standards. The Gramercy was a superb saw, and it's the one Roy Underhill uses IIRC, but it didn't agree with me as much as the Veritas, something that surprised me.

Of the examples I played with, the 14 ppi Veritas was a very fast cutting saw, which is quite attractive. Not entirely sure why the Gramercy seemed slower.

[Josh Rudolph]

Well I ordered the 14tpi a little while ago. The extra weight is what pushed me to the LV.

I am excited to use a premium saw versus the Craftsman Gent saw I have been trying to use.

[Richard Niemiec]

I just bought the LV 20 tpi (like I needed another saw... but hey, you only live once) and it cuts like a dreamboat, I just did four drawers with it, and its close to half the price of similarly performing saws, you can't beat it for the price-to-performance ratio involved. Non traditional, but it cuts like my other premium and vintage saws. How one could go wrong beats me.

[David Gendron]

I wonder why most saw makers are going with lighter saws and thiner blades? I Have to say that since I do all my work with hand tools I kind a like the lighter saws, lighter planes.... to a certain point!