Dovetail saw

From a personal note to myself:

---------------------------------------------------------------- Dovetails (9-2012, on recycled chest-of-drawers wood, ~7/16" thick)

Absolutely needed for hand-cut DT's: saw with *extremely* thin blade.

Roughly per Woodsmith vol 34 #202: Used B&D 1/2" DT router bit with 2 positions of fence to cut tails on one board, then clamp this onto top of pin board, very carefully layout tails, umclamp and extend tails vertically onto side after drawing line (both sides) for depth of cut.

Very carefully strip out center of pin lines on table saw, then finish cutting tails with coping saw/Marples chisel. Sand/rasp/file to fit.

Doesn't work properly with Disston DT saw. Kerf jumps all over the place, violates layout lines.

----------------------------------------------------------------

Note that the tails did not fit accurately b/c none of my saws would allow accurately cutting on the layout lines.

I figger I could likely *start* an accurate cut with the chisel.

What saw would let me accurately follow such a chisel cut on the layout lines? One of those Nipponese saws (which?)?

Thx, P

"Law Without Equity Is No Law At All. It Is A Form Of Jungle Rule."

Reply to
Puddin' Man
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Reply to
Leon
[...snip...]

The Veritas saw that Leon recommended is a fine choice.

But you don't really need a chisel cut for dovetail work. What you need is good sawing technique and some practice. Good technique, especially not gripping the handle too tight, will make all the difference.

But to make the cleanest cut for an edge that shows, such as a tenon shoulder, you would scribe the line with a knife against the square, then deepen it with the knife and then you would pare out a wedge shaped slice from the waste side (with the knife or a chisel).

And be aware that a newly sharpened saw may have a bit too much set on the left or right and want to drift in that direction. You can use a pass or two on a sharpening stone to fix that.

Reply to
Jim Weisgram

Resharpen it for rip cuts (no tooth set) and then take some time to learn how to use it precisely, PM.

Yes, my ryoba is a treat when cutting fine kerfs. I'd use it.

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recently got an azibiki but haven't tried it for dovies yet.
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saws rule!

-- I would be the most content if my children grew up to be the kind of people who think decorating consists mostly of building enough bookshelves. -- Anna Quindlen

Reply to
Larry Jaques

Adria dovetail saw. The best.

ADRIA dovetail and tenon saws are guaranteed to cut straight and fast. They= are handcrafted one at a time and each saw is tuned-up and tested. The saw= passes the test once it makes a full depth, absolutely straight cut in har= dwood. The hardness of the steel used for blades is RC54, which is harder t= han in any of the competing saws. This means that your saw will require inf= requent sharpening. This saw will cut very aggressively because of the prec= ise sharpening. The maker does a test cut with every saw before it is shipp= ed and makes sure that it cuts flawlessly. The saw that you receive will cu= t fast, track straight and leave thin kerf. A lot of attention has been pai= d to the design of the handle. This handle fits to your hand like a glove. = The handle is made out of Bubinga and has a pleasant red-brown tone. ADRIA = TOOLS are produced in Vancouver/Canada.=20

Reply to
russellseaton1

easy, fast cut, no jumping -- if you stone out most of the set. I use these for sawing guitar fret slots. Set can be reduced to cut an 0.022" kerf before the blade binds.

Reply to
Father Haskell

Any decent dozuki.

Note: use carefully, the teeth are brittle and have a tendency to break off. If they do, may be no big problem as long as you have enough length with unbroken teeth to use. My favorite, 35+ year old dozuki has a few missing teeth at both front & rear but middle is fine.

Reply to
dadiOH

Dozukis are much more delicate than ryobas. My ryoba - same age as the dozuki - has no broken OR bent teeth. All my dozukis do.

You forgot lack of snow :) No place in the US better for weather except Hawaii and it is too congested, pricey, etc. Had almost 40 years of it.

We really haven't been trying to sell it. The rental income is nice and we don't mind waiting a while for the market to get stronger. Which it is.

Reply to
dadiOH

As I understand it, San Diego has the best weather in the continental US.

San Jose is a close second.

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Reply to
Scott Lurndal

If you need very thin, you might check these out:

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Reply to
Jim Weisgram

Rarely. I use the dozuki(s) with some regularity...whenever I need a precise cut on something smallish. For grosser things, it is easier/faster to use a jig/table/radial saw than the ryoba. It does come in handy on occasion if I'm where power isn't.

Reply to
dadiOH

On Fri, 21 Sep 2012 15:26:29 -0700, Jim Weisgram

ultimate solution. Only, they cost an arm and a leg. Had one for awhile, but sold it when I decided I needed something capable of cutting wider pieces.

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Reply to
Dave

handcrafted one at a time and each saw is tuned-up and tested. The saw passes the test once it makes a full depth, absolutely straight cut in hardwood. The hardness of the steel used for blades is RC54, which is harder than in any of the competing saws. This means that your saw will require infrequent sharpening. This saw will cut very aggressively because of the precise sharpening. The maker does a test cut with every saw before it is shipped and makes sure that it cuts flawlessly. The saw that you receive will cut fast, track straight and leave thin kerf. A lot of attention has been paid to the design of the handle. This handle fits to your hand like a glove. The handle is made out of Bubinga and has a pleasant red-brown tone. ADRIA TOOLS are produced in Vancouver/Canada.

OP: I agree with everything Russell has said above, and love my Adria DT saw. That said, getting good dovetails is much more about technique and practice than it is about equipment. Practice and a $19 hardware store saw will get you much better results than you will get with a fine dovetail saw and poor technique.

Either Japanese style or western saws will yield excellent results in the hands of someone skilled in their use. You can see lots of beautiful examples of both on the web, and can read lots of pointless bickering about which is best. While my personal preference is for a western-style saw like the Adria, if you are not willing to put in the time to practice, I think that you will get better results with an inexpensive Japanese-style saw.

Reply to
alexy

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