Picking vintage saws

[Glen Canaday]

There are a few makers I could choose a saw from. I'm fairly positive I'd be ecstatic about any single one of them!

I would love to run into a decent handled dovetail saw. It doesn't have to be some rare Disston, or a Bishop, or really anything else with a name that comes to mind without looking it up. Just something of quality, with a good handle that isn't one of those #68 gent's saw deals. I hate them things...and I already have one. I'd rather cut tails with a thumbhole D8 for how much control I have over them.

[Nicholas Lawrence]

I looked for a dovetail saw for a long time, and then just bought one from Lee Valley. They charged me more than $2, but now at least I have one.

[Mike Holbrook]

Got to love a good Atkins. They are a little more expensive on the auction sites these days. I kinda had a thing for them a few years back when they could be bought a little more reasonably:

Caution saw porn>>

Atkins Colllection.jpg <<click to enlarge

Top is 26", 9 ppi, next down is 22", 8 ppi, 22", 11 ppi, little guy on the bottom is 18", 12 ppi. The 22", 8 ppi has a little bend in it. I have ben thinking about sending it off to see if someone better at saw restoration could straighten it. It cuts nice as do the others. I like the feel of the Atkins saws, not exactly sure why.

[lowell holmes]

Yep, you got that right.


If you want a good dovetail saw, save up and buy a kit from someone like Ron Bontz.

jtk

I bought a kit from Ron. He is a class act. His merchandise is absolutely top quality. He is helpful when you have questions.

[steven c newman]

My main two DT saws ( or were, sold one over the pasy weekend)
IMAG0061.jpg
Newer No.4 in front of the No.5 I just sold. The No.4 is 9ppi, filed rip. My go to dovetail saw..

Had a Crown Gents saw for a while.....hands hated the handle....or rather Uncle Arthur (itis) hated it. Got rid of both gents saws I had.

[Jim Koepke]

Just something of quality, with a good handle that isn't one of those #68 gent's saw deals. I hate them things...and I already have one.

Have you ever thought of cutting the handle tang off of the gent's saw?

Take the handle off first and save it for a file or something.

Then you could make a handle for your hand and have a dovetail saw.

One of my gent's saws has a thin blade and I have thought of this at times.

jtk

[Mike Siemsen]

When I look at saws I look at the handle first. The handle is the hardest part to make and the easiest to cheapen up. Once the handle becomes an unusable blob they cheapen up the steel.
Then it is check for bent plates, rust pits and broken teeth.
Glen, are you coming to the MWTCA meet in Medina on the 13th? I could probably part with a dovetail saw if there isn't one there.

[lowell holmes]

The question of budget priced dovetail saws comes up occasionally.
I attended a weekend seminar in Houston conducted by Jeff Headley and Steve Hamilton a few years ago.
They were making some cuts with a gent's saw. They had left their saw at home, so the seminar being at Woodcraft,
they bought one. Steve Hamilton mentioned that the saw they bought there was one of his favorite saws.
I immediately bought one during a break.

If your interested, it is an 8" Garlick Lynx gents saw. After filing the crosscut teeth to rip pattern, my saw is an excellent
saw and is a good one for cutting dovetails. I knew to file the teeth, so I did. The saw is several years old, still sharp, and I use it frequently.
I have three Lie Nielsen saws, so it's a matter of preference for the cut I'm making at the moment.

If you use the saw in it's crosscut configuration you will probably be disappointed.

Frank Klausz covers this in his CD. The name of the CD is HAND TOOLS, TUNING AND USING CHISELS, PLANES AND SAWS.

[steven c newman]

When I pick up a saw..
Handle in one piece?
Does the blade flop around? Like the isn't an temper left?
Blade even straight?
Has all of it's teeth, and isn't a Snaggletoothed ugly set?
hardware all there? Do they match?
Rusty? How bad? Just a "bloom"? Meh.....crusty? No.
Price? It had better be almost new, if they want THAT high of a price.....( $56 for one saw, with missing teeth, no etch? Pass)

If the saw passes all the above....good plate, good handle, good hardware, and a decent price.....maybe.