I am teaching myself to cut dovetails by hand and it is a slow progress. I am at the point where the glue will hide some imperfections.
My problem is that I am slow, even in a good day I am slow.
I decided to buy the fret saw to speed up the process. I got it this wednesday and I went to try.
I didn't see a major improvement from my regular coping saw. The fret blade flexes a lot more than ⅜" making my cut difficult.
Well, I did the logical thing. I increased the tension and went to cut, it cut better the first pin, the second pin was flexing a lot and the tension mechanism got loose. No, not the blade, the blade was tight.
I went back to the instructions, videos, etc same problem. The lever still engaged in the top position, but there is no tension.
I had to go to the whole process to install the blade, even it is the same blade. I make it ping really good with my finger so I know it is good tension. 2 cuts later is loose again.
It is going back to Highland. I know it is a defect and it doesn't mean all of the saws are the same, but first impression counts a lot.
Do you guys have a similar experience?