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Thread: Joinery saw technique

  1. #1
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    Joinery saw technique

    So, I was reading an old 'Woodworking' magazine, remember the one before they merged with Popular Woodworking (bad day)--they had no ads.

    Christopher Schwartz was writing an article (I have several of his books, and enjoy reading his stuff), about proper handsawing. 2008.

    In joinery, one of the premises is that you should always be able to see the line that your sawing next to. for a right handed person, this would mean that your saw would always be to the right of your line.

    So how does that work for sawing dovetails, and other instances where the saw (half the time) would naturally be on the left side of the line? Do you make another line, and saw just to the right of it? I carefully read his text, and that is what he implies, cause he says you have to really master one saw that has a kerf that you're used to.....

    If I emailed him, I'm sure he would explain. (He answered a few emails several years ago), but I am asking you all about this.
    David
    Confidence: That feeling you get before fully understanding a situation (Anonymous)

  2. #2
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    You could turn around and stand on the other side of the board

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    The answer is Dont belive anything you read on the Internet.And only half of what you see with your own eyes.

  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by Pat Barry View Post
    You could turn around and stand on the other side of the board
    How simple is that??? Thanks Pat!
    David
    Confidence: That feeling you get before fully understanding a situation (Anonymous)

  5. #5
    Or just lean a bit over the saw and look from the othr side.

  6. #6
    Lean over

    or

    Use a mirror if it hurts your neck or something.

  7. #7

    $1.00 investment

    Quote Originally Posted by Kees Heiden View Post
    Or just lean a bit over the saw and look from the othr side.
    I bought a $1 mirror with a sort of thick plastic handle and stuck it into a dog hole on the other side. Pare it down if it's too thick, tape it if it's too skinny.

  8. #8
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    It isn't as simple as just which hand you use to saw. There is also the issue of eye dominance to consider. I saw left handed but am right eye dominant. It can cause problems if you don't account for it properly. In my opinion, flipping the board around is not the best way as you want to saw from the show side into the side not normally seen.
    Your endgrain is like your bellybutton. Yes, I know you have it. No, I don't want to see it.

  9. #9
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    Line the saw up and make certain that your cutting stroke does not turn the blade in an arc left or right. Positioning yourself to pull or push this stroke accurately is key to sawing well, IMO.
    Bumbling forward into the unknown.

  10. #10
    Zach raise an important point. Eye dominance makes a huge difference. Like Zach, I'm gauche but right eye dominant.

    To test for eye dominance hold a pencil vertically in front of you and in front of an object. Look at it with both eyes. Now close your left eye. If the object doesn't move to one side you are right eye dominant. Now try closing the right eye. The object should move to the right if you are right eye dominant. Obvious the reverse is also true if you are left eye dominant.

    The ideal situation is that you would have the same dominant eye as your dominant hand. Those of us who don't have to take a bit more care when making cuts requiring critical accuracy.
    Last edited by Dave Anderson NH; 07-07-2015 at 10:14 AM. Reason: correction
    Dave Anderson

    Chester, NH

  11. #11
    Oh that's very clever. Thanks for the tip.

  12. #12
    I'm a right hander and left eye dominant. It does cause me to saw very carefully. What I find after lots of dovetail practice is that I need to angle the saw slightly off what I consider to be perfect so that it cuts true.

    The way you can tell which eye is dominant is to make a triangle with the fingers of your two hands outstretched and frame an object in the distance. Focus on the object and then bring the "triangle" to you eye. It will automatically go to your dominate eye.

    Michael

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    Quote Originally Posted by Dave Anderson NH View Post
    Zach raise an important point. Eye dominance makes a huge difference. Like Zach, I'm gauche but right eye dominant.

    To test for eye dominance hold a pencil vertically in front of you and in front of an object. Look at it with both eyes. Now close your left eye. If the object doesn't move to one side you are right eye dominant. Now try closing the right eye. The object should move to the right if you are right eye dominant. Obvious the reverse is also true if you are left eye dominant.

    The ideal situation is that you would have the same dominant eye as your dominant hand. Those of us who don't have to take a bit more care when making cuts requiring critical accuracy.
    This was unclear to me (not the instruction, but the results of the execution, i.e. I noticed movement on both instances).

    However I tried another trick.

    extend your arms and place your hands to form a small triangle with your thumbs and index fingers (now close that triangle to about 1" to 2" in size).
    Center an object a few feet away, like a photograph, a doorknob, etc.

    close one eye at a time.

    If you when closing your right eye the object is not seen - Right eye dominant
    If you when closing your left eye the object is not seen - Left eye dominant

    same thing, but it was obvious with this one, at least for me.

    peace

    /p

  14. #14
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    Quote Originally Posted by Kees Heiden View Post
    Or just lean a bit over the saw and look from the othr side.
    How would you keep your arm in the same plane as the cut?


    Quote Originally Posted by Jeff Polaski View Post
    I bought a $1 mirror with a sort of thick plastic handle and stuck it into a dog hole on the other side. Pare it down if it's too thick, tape it if it's too skinny.
    Great idea-I will try it....isn't that like the Leonardo DaVinci thing, like writing backwards in a mirror? I have tried doing stuff like that, and have a devil of a time with it.


    Quote Originally Posted by Brian Holcombe View Post
    Line the saw up and make certain that your cutting stroke does not turn the blade in an arc left or right. Positioning yourself to pull or push this stroke accurately is key to sawing well, IMO.
    Having trouble visualizing this, Brian. You mean coming out the other side where you're supposed to, right?

    Quote Originally Posted by Dave Anderson NH View Post
    Zach raise an important point. Eye dominance makes a huge difference. Like Zach, I'm gauche but right eye dominant.

    To test for eye dominance hold a pencil vertically in front of you and in front of an object. Look at it with both eyes. Now close your left eye. If the object doesn't move to one side you are right eye dominant. Now try closing the right eye. The object should move to the right if you are right eye dominant. Obvious the reverse is also true if you are left eye dominant.

    The ideal situation is that you would have the same dominant eye as your dominant hand. Those of us who don't have to take a bit more care when making cuts requiring critical accuracy.
    I just tried all these maneuvers. I am a righty, figured I was right eye dominant. Looks like am a no-dominant, ambi-ocular, whatever. I guess thats good,right?
    David
    Confidence: That feeling you get before fully understanding a situation (Anonymous)

  15. #15
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    David,

    In my experience a major factor to sawing straight and on the line is to lineup your wrist and elbow with the blade. It's more important, in my experience, then seeing the line during the entire cut, because after all even if you can see the line you cannot see what the saw is doing on the exit of the cut and if you are torquing the blade in any direction it will not be straight on the exit. You can flip the board but that is not always feasible.
    Bumbling forward into the unknown.

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