Friends,

I've been deliberating over handsaw purchases for a couple of months now. My next project is going to involve a *lot* of tenons and I've decided to dive even deeper toward the neanderthal world.

I have made one decision so far, I want a western saw. It wasn't easy for me to decide so please don't say anything that would cause me to revisit the decision. I can always buy more saws in the future.

Based mostly on the feedback from Dave Anderson, I'm leaning towards the Adria saws. Here are some of my open questions:

1) I think I want/need saws filed for rip and crosscut. Would you get a pair of either large or small saws? Would you mix and match? I'm assuming that in addition to be cheaper that smaller saws offer more control at the cost of capacity. 2 1/2" if depth seems like more than I'll need but I want to tap into the wisdom of the forum here.

2) I'm considering asking him to make my saws in curly maple. Is the wood in the handle critical for performance or is it *just* for beauty? Which wood would you choose?

3) Would you go with Adria too?

4) Adria seems to have the angle of his handles match on both his dovetail and carcass saws. However, Phil Lowe seems to think that dovetail saws and carcass saws should have different handles. Can you look at this video and tell me what you think?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts. This board may not have a ton of traffic but I'm posting here because you guys are top notch.