tenon, back, dovetail, mitre hand saw

All in the eyes of the beholder. There are tools that you can buy and use to purposely damage your fresh built piece of furniture. I think the technique is called distressing. Some people will pay more for experienced tools. ;~)

point me to some good dovetail saws on HF looked and didn'tt see any

I agree that many of the prices are ridiculous.

If it were me, I'd be looking at dozuki saws. They are super for dovetails even though that isn't their specific purpose. (There is another, smaller one - forget the name - specifically for that purpose).

They may not serve for tenons due to the depth of cut being limited by the spine. One could cut go as deep as possible and finish with a kataba or flush cut, no spine on either.

If you are interested in them, be aware that some are for rip, others for crosscut; number of TPI varies too. AFAIK, they are mostly for softwoods but I use them on hardwood too. The teeth are very hard and therefore brittle, can be broken off if one isn't careful.

Prices vary widely. I used to buy them for $15-$20, see them on eBay now for $35-$50 which is about the same adjusting for inflation. One could also pay a ton more but I wouldn't, YMMV.

I second that suggestion. Thinner kerf = less effort = faster cutting. And once you get used to the pull instead of push you'll love it.

BTW, get one with replaceable blades - sharpening a Japanese saw is a job for an expert. But they last a long time.

Here's the one I've used for years:

complain, complain, complain.

There are reasons that some "vintage" saws command higher prices, starting with the quality of the steel in the blade, the stiffness of the back (back/tenon/dovetail), the thickness and taper of the blade, the set, the tooth grind (rip, crosscut) and not to be discounted, appearance.

That said, for amateur dovetails, get a stanley dovetail saw from home depot or lowes for a few bucks; take a ball-peen hammer and an anvil (or the anvil on a bench vise) and carefully reduce the set, evenly on both sides. Don't remove the set entirely, but minimize it. Then test the saw in some end-grain; if it doesn't follow your line, the set is probably asymmetric and you'll need to adjust as necessary.

no confirmed observations you can check your self

have watched some videos on setting the saw it gets hard to do with higher number of points per inch need to break out the magnifier

but it turns in my favor because now I won't bother with a used saw i am looking new only

Yes I see some of these and might try one

just looking at oding dovetails for now

new ones aree cheaper I'm finding

was concerned about the sharpening after looking at the blade closeup like to be able to sharpen them myself still leaves options though

counterfeiting is another word that would describe it

Some saw sellers seem to be capable of time travel as they have an endless supply of "vintage" saws

I understand. In this day and age where you can now build heirloom furniture.... Like building an antique. The fact that time is no longer a factor in the equation to determine if something has proven itself or not.

I have confirmed that you like to complain.

If you do as I suggested, you won't need a saw set. Just a hammer and a flat surface is sufficient to _reduce_ the set.

The set on mass-produced dovetail saws is excessive and generally uneven. It's pretty simple to reduce the set with a hammer.

I disagree.

The common definition of counterfeiting is:

"Counterfeiting is the practice of manufacturing goods, often of inferior q uality, and selling them under a brand name without the brand owner's autho rization."

"Distressing" is nothing more than a type of finishing:

"Distressing (or weathered look) in the decorative arts is the activity of making a piece of furniture or object appear aged and older, giving it a "w eathered look..."

If I build a new chair, distress it and then try to pass it off as a c-1920 Stickley, then I am guilty of counterfeiting. However, if I simply make th at new chair look old - and don't try to sell it as an brand named antique

- I'm guilty of nothing.

What is somewhat misleading in that definition of distressing is the fact t hat distressing is often used to make an old object look it's correct age a fter being refinished. Yes, while you are making the newly refinished objec t *appear* "older", which is true to the wording in the definition, in real ity you are not trying to make a "new" object appear "old", since it actual ly is. I've done both: made new objects look old and made old objects look new and then made them look old again.

Maybe that's because there are a lot more old tools than new simply because for so many, many years hand tools were the only tools available. Think ab out how long dovetails have been being made and for how short a time (relat ively speaking) that they have been able to be made without the use of a ha nd saw. Hundreds of years of hand saws being the only option makes for an a wful large inventory.

There are "feather" files for that purpose. Easily available, here are some...

Personally, I would never bother sharpening one. First of all, there are

no saw set mentioned only saw setting

ok when you come back from the weeds

if someone's distressing a tool to make it look vintage that's counterfeiting

ok you're the one always pom-pom for HF!! I knew there was someone here it's fine I get they flyers all the time but still haven't been compleled enough

those saws no I don't think so

Nope.

Electric Comet wrote in news:mg15n8$s79$10 @dont-email.me:

Since you mention this, and you also mentioned setting teeth, be aware that any saw you buy at Harbor Freight, Home Depot, etc, likely has hardened teeth that you cannot sharpen; nor can you set them (they'll break off), altho you can reduce the set as has been suggested.

(I agree with you on the price of "antique" tools, but that's because most sellers are not knowledgeable, and just copy the price they see on someone else's website for something that looks similar. That problem exists for pretty much anything antique, not just tools).

John

How do I tell if they are hardened or is the correct word here tempered

I'd likely break them off trying to alter the set

I did look at prices for completed auctions and the prices are too high for me.

There are a lot of unsavvy sellers that do those things and worse maybe unsavvy is generous

Another interesting thing I've seen on ebay is that prices for veritas things sell very close to new prices and I think I saw one sell for more

Auction frenzy syndrome