Dovetail Saw recommendations

[Roy Lindberry]

What do you guys recommend for a good dovetail saw?

The only thing I currently have is a 6" Crown Gent's saw (17 TPI) that my dad gave me. If that's a decent saw, then perhaps it's just my technique, but I'm not very happy with the ease or cleanness of cut.

Ideally, I'd love to purchase Cosman's dovetail saw, but at this point that is way out of my price range. I'd like to know if there is something else I can be looking for at yard sales and shops around town. What do ya'll use, and what can I expect to pay for it?

[John Coloccia]

The set of 3 Veritas saws is pretty much a slam dunk in terms of quality and price. I initially choose the LV because I found the LN saw handle to be a little constrictive. I was very pleasantly surprised at the quality of the Veritas saws. Even if you purchase the saws individually, they're a great value and top notch quality. Cosman makes the Cadillac of saws. I don't personally like a progressive pitch, and I simply prefer a more traditional saw. If you like Rob's saw, you certainly can't go wrong there.

If you want to spend $100 or more, there are lots of great saws out there from smaller makers.

re: the Crown

Unless it's been fixed, which it surely hasn't, every one of those "Gent's" saws I've seen are a basket case out of the box. They need to be sharpened and the teeth need to be set. If you do that, the Crown will cut pretty well. It will never be a nice as a nice saw, though, and a pistol grip offers far more control for most people over the straight handle.

[Jim Koepke]

My first suggestion would be to try and find someone who will let you test drive a few saws. If one of the woodworking tool shows comes to town then go.

My recollection is that you are in Northern Washington. Maybe next time a tool show comes to Seattle or Port Townsend you can check it out.

My second suggestion would be to research saw sharpening at vintagesaws.com or Norsewoodsmith to name a few. You may be able to get a bit better service out of what you have until you find what you want.

My feeling is the progressive pitch is easy when first learning to use a saw, but becomes a drawback later. Other experience has lead me to believe the feel of the saw in your hand is almost as important to the finished job as the quality of the sharpening. In other words, it doesn't matter if the handle is wood or engineered, if one feels better in your hand than the other, the one that feels better is the one to get. I have not found a saw yet that really cuts any better then the old beater I use, but I have found a few that feel a lot better. One of my projects is to make a handle for an old saw plate and cut my own teeth. After that, maybe make a saw from scratch.

jim

[Roy Lindberry]

Thanks guys, I appreciate the input.

[Ken Werner]

Roy, I have tried the LV rip DT saw 14 tpi, the LN, a Wenzloff, and the Cosman.

They all cut very well. The Cosman feels distinctly heavier, and starts easily. The LV seemed to cut a slightly narrower kerf. All are good. If cost is the biggest issue right now, I'd recommend the LV.

I'd suggest against trying to buy a used DT saw. By the time you pay for it, and pay for fixing it up, you're just about at the cost of the LV. If you can be patient, LN saws come up for sale used in the neighborhood of $100 from time to time. If the aesthetics of the saw matter to you, take a good look at the LV before you buy it, as it does have a pretty unique appearance. And remember to start your cuts on the push stroke from the get go, don't pull back first, you lose accuracy.

Just the $.02 of a tool hog.

[Don Dorn]

Ken having tried them all is a big help but I can speak to the LV and the Crown gents saw. I actually like using a gents saw and got the Frank Klauze video on handtools of which tuning a dovetail saw was part of it.

I used his method and found an amazing difference which wasn't difficult at all, or even that time consuming. I still like the Veritas, but the tuned Crown does nearly, or even as well. In 5/8" pine, two light strokes will get you to the marking gauge line.

[Tony Shea]

I was recently in a similar situation as yourself and just couldn't decide on all the great choices that are out there in the $150 price range. I had been using an older Disston that I had sharpened for a while and really never like the cutting action I was getting. The handle on it felt great but was not impressed with the sharpening job I received from a local sharpening company. I really didn't want to spend the time learning to sharpen that saw as I had a project started that required the use of the saw now.

Anyways, I finally decided on the LN 14TPI version as I was able to get a decent deal on it. I live about an hour and a half away from LN and if you buy in house you get a 10% discount, which was my deciding factor. I like to buy locally if at all possible. The moral is that I couldn't be happier with my choice as the LN saw is everything I dreamed it to be and more. It just cuts sweet, stays right on track, and has been a huge factor in me getting very proficient at dovetails. Im sure all other saws in this price range perform just as well but just have experience with the LN.

[Casey Gooding]

So much to choose from these days. We are truly lucky to be able to experience this Renaissance of hand tools.
Personally, I use the Independence dovetail saw (Pre-Lie-Nielsen) and am very happy with it. I also used the Adria saw for several years. While it's a great saw, I prefer longer saws.

[Jim R Edwards]

I am happy with my lie nielsen

[Darnell Hagen]

I love my LN progressive pitch, although if I had to do it all over again I'd look seriously at their Thin Plate model.

[Pam Niedermayer]

I use a Kanaharu rip for dovetails, great saw; but also great for dovetails were the LV Pro Dozuki (very cheap and truly excellent) and I'm told the LV rip dozuki is also outstanding. So, why did I buy the kanaharu? I wanted to try a small Japanese rip and both Chris Schwarz of PopWW and Harrelson of Hiraide recommended it highly.

Pam

[Tony Zaffuto]

I've got a crap load of tools and that includes tons of all kinds of saws. For DT saws, I have a LN, one of Joel's (TFWW), one I made myself, a Crown such as posted by the OP, several vintage DTs, one sharpened by Tom Law, another sharpened by Steve Cook and one sharpened by Pete Taran. I also have a Japanese style DT saw.

What I use: For hardwood stock up through 1/2" thick, I love the TFWW DT saw. The saw has a light feel and is just great in hand! For thicker stock, both hard and softwood, I like the LN or my home made (both of these have blade plates about .025" thick). The Tom Law sharpened saw is just great on any and everything, but I have a bit of an issue with the hang of the handle (open handled, but I don't think the original intent of Mr. Disston was to make this design a DT saw).

[Dave Diaman]

I am far from a tool collector but I have a weakness when it comes to dovetail saws. Let’s just say I own WAY too many. If you are looking for a good saw at a good price I would recommend buying the Gramercy dovetail saw blade kit and make your own handle. This will give you the ability to customize the handle to your hand and the saw cuts really well. Now if you want a saw that starts and cuts unlike anything you have ever seen these two guys Klaus and Pedder make an absolutely unbelievable saw. The saw is customized for your hand and fits like a glove. I cut a lot of dovetails and the first time I used this saw my jaw hit the floor. I think it is actually less then the Cosman saw and easily worth twice what they sell them for. The first picture is one of their customized saws with and ebony handle and the second is mine with a fiddle back kiaat handle.

[Al Navas]

I have settled on the Kenyon replica saw, by Wenzloff & Sons:



Easy to start, very thin kerf, it does great. Some feel it does not cut aggressively enough, due to the 20 tpi. But that is OK with me, as I am not in a hurry when cutting dovetails by hand.


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[Tri Hoang]

I've had LN, Adria, and Veritas. I suggest Veritas saw on the least expensive side. Adria saw has been pretty nice to me.

Beyond certain price point, what you are buying is the look. The key to to a good saw is in the setting & sharpening - a must-have skill if you intend on keeping any hand saw in good working order. Progressive pitch is just a gimmick. Once you learned how to start a saw cut accurately, you can start a cut with a 5 tpi rip saw as well as a 20 tpi dovetail saw.

No amount of gimmick can replace muscle memory. Practice makes perfect.