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Thread: Recommendation for new dovetail saw?

  1. #16
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    The best dovetail saw is the WILSON. But,they are very hard to come by!

    Actually,any dovetail saw with a blade made from .015" AMERICAN 1095 spring steel(which is very hard to come by,I have a smallish supply-don't trust the Indian steel. It varies in hardness and possibly in carbon content,would be just fine. It's a matter of handle choice. And,I prefer MUCH,the brass backs that are FOLDED. Not just a little slit,glued in.

    Ignore the BAD sentence composition here!
    Last edited by george wilson; 05-17-2016 at 9:31 PM.

  2. #17
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    Gyokucho 372, $48 delivered, Amazon Prime.

  3. #18
    The LN is my 'go to general' Dove Tail saw and have a .015 plate Dovetail saw for finer work.

  4. #19
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    Jun 2012
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    Lubbock, Tx
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    Love my Bad Axe. Not only does it meet the criteria for a saw that George mentions but Mark's sharpening is worth more than the price of admission to me.

  5. I'd like to be with George, but 0.015 American 1095 is so hard to come by that I haven't been able to find any. Most 1095 these days is hard to source by country of origin, making it hard to do your own thing with much confidence. And it's not that easy to find 0.015 in small amounts, too.

    I've made a couple of things with the 0.020" 1095 from tgiag http://tgiag.com/index.html and found their plates quite good steel. I note that their saw plate page indicates that they offer 0.015 1095; I haven't yet taken a shot at that, but I'm coming due for a new dovetail saw, so I'll give that a look in the near future. And their folded backs are really nice, in brass or in steel. I've used the brass and find it very effective.

    It's a small business, but very responsive. If you can make your own handle (it's not that hard), you should give it a long look.
    Fair winds and following seas,
    Jim Waldron

  6. #21
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    Feb 2004
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    Perth, Australia
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    To muddy the waters, I recommend owning two dovetail saws, not one. The first will have a plate with around 15 ppi and be suited to sawing thicker boards (1/2" and up). The second with have around 20 ppi with relaxed rake, and be suited to sawing thinner boards (1/2" and less).

    The first category could include the LN (15 ppi), while the second would be the LV (20 ppi).

    Another alternative for the first category would be the Gramercy, although it has 19 ppi (it makes up with aggressive filing).

    Regards from Perth

    Derek

  7. #22
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    Quote Originally Posted by Pat Barry View Post
    Yes, I'm really looking to get something mew just for dovetail cutting.
    Something that is the cat's pajamas?

    jtk
    "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
    - Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

  8. #23
    Quote Originally Posted by george wilson View Post
    The best dovetail saw is the WILSON. But,they are very hard to come by!

    Actually,any dovetail saw with a blade made from .015" AMERICAN 1095 spring steel(which is very hard to come by,I have a smallish supply-don't trust the Indian steel. It varies in hardness and possibly in carbon content,would be just fine. It's a matter of handle choice. And,I prefer MUCH,the brass backs that are FOLDED. Not just a little slit,glued in.

    Ignore the BAD sentence composition here!
    Would Swedish steel be good enough too?
    I don't know if 1095 from India really has worse mechanical properties, but the stuff sure loves to rust! Even here in a drawer of my desk it rusts quickly.

  9. #24
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    Derek finally mentioned the Gramercy. This is a little different tool that may need to be handled and used to be appreciated. It is available fully made with a Walnut handle or as a kit. The hand filed/hammer set teeth are exceptional. Guess I have to think about the heavy dovetail saw or the carcase saw I have been thinking about that Derek mentions now.

  10. #25
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    Here is a review of the Gramercy dovetail saw (where it is compared with the LN) ...

    http://www.inthewoodshop.com/ToolRev...vetailSaw.html



    Regards from Perth

    Derek

  11. #26
    Thanks for the review, Derek. At the risk of taking this off topic I have a question about saw plates. Do you find a light saw and a skinny plate easier to control vertically than a bigger plate? I take your point about a lighter saw being easier to start the cut with, but I have found my Veritas "carcass" saw easier to control vertically than the Veritas "dovetail" saw.

  12. #27
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    Feb 2004
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    Hi Prashun

    I have and like both the LN (heavier) and Gramercy (lighter) dovetail saws. They are very different in the hand. The LN feels very solid - the handle is large and asks to be gripped firmly. The Gramercy has a skinny handle, which forces one to grip it delicately. All saws - whether dovetail, tenon or fret - work best and saw straightest (for me - your mileage may vary as this takes practice) when they are allowed to cut under their own weight. I think that the larger and/or heavier the saw, the more one has to concentrate on taking the weight off the plate. It does not seem logical that a light saw, such as the Gramercy, can cut as fast as a heavier saw, such as the LN (which also has more aggressive teeth), and that this is achieved by less force when pushing the saw, but is does.

    Regards from Perth

    Derek

  13. #28
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    Derek makes a point that I have been thinking about for a while. I seem to cut better\straighter with lighter saws, minimal effort/pressure. As soon as I start trying to force/guide the cut I seem to go off course rapidly.

    This may sound off topic at first. I use to do serious target archery. To be very accurate one has to learn to relax at full draw and simply wait. The more one tries to guide the aiming devise into place the more it bounces around. The trick is to relax and just let everything settle into place, even though the muscles involved are exerting themselves. The odd thing is the more one relaxes the less the aiming devise bounces around. The other thing is the arrow tends to end up going to the center point regardless of where one might think the aiming devise was pointed when the arrow was released. The trick, over all, is not to try to fire the bow but to wait for increased pressure from back muscles to release the arrow.

    I think there is something similar going on when I try to force or guide a saw. I do better if I concentrate on relaxing and trusting the saw to keep the cut straight. All of this assumes, of course, that the saw is tuned to saw straight.

  14. #29
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    Aug 2010
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    Thanks for the feedback everyone. I'm tending to favor the standard LN dovetail saw most right now. I like the classic look, the review by Derek led me to think the larger handle was a good fit for my hand. The price seems about mid-range. The specs for the tool also seem about mid-range.

    Is the pull cut vs push cut purely a matter of user preference? I am not seeing any other particular benefit to the pull cut method for my own use but my only experience to date has been with a wobbly and inexpensive double sided Ryoba style with a replaceable blade. Do the users of the Japanese saws use them based on comfort or better sense of control or other preferences

  15. #30
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    Jan 2009
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    I think the Grammercy handle is too skinny,too. Looks like it could be broken easily. They have approximately the right idea of how to accentuate details with a file.

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