Dovetail saws

Lie Nelson $75 ti $125

-- WOOD/DON (...one has the right to ones opinion but not the right to ones own facts...)

I’m sure Lee Valley’s is a nice saw, but I haven’t used it before. I have the Lie Nielsen dovetail saw and I really like it. You can read my review in the LJ Reviews. I recently found this web site www.dilegnosupply.com, and they sell Lie Nielsen tools for under list price. It’s the only place I have found that sells Lie Nielsen for under list price. The dovetail saw at their site is $119. I bought a nice mallet from them recently and really like it.

-- http://theinquisitivewoodworker.com/

I use a Crown gent’s saw which only cost me about $15-20. It does a fine job, especially for the money. I would like a full-handled saw for a better grip, so that Lie-Nielsen sure looks like a beaut. However, I’ll be getting a ryoba (Japanese) saw soon, and look forward to trying that on dovetails.

Have fun on your class and be sure to report back on how it went!

-- Eric at http://adventuresinwoodworking.com

Betsy,

I actually like a lot this saw:
http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&p=50663&cat=1,42884

It is super fast cutting, very light and has a very narrow kerf (0.015). It only costs 23$. It definitely puts to shame my Pax dovetail saw (big, clunky and 86$).

Alin

-- -- Alin Dobra, Gainesville, Florida

Betsy,

If possible, you should see if you can make some test cuts on a western saw and then on a Japanese saw and see which style you prefer. That would help narrow your selection down by about half…

-- Ethan, http://thekiltedwoodworker.com

I bought a Japanese dovetail saw at Rockler for $38.00. It cuts on the pull stroke, and has a thin blade.

Betsy,

That saw is made my Wenzloff & Sons, who have a great reputation for quality saws. I’m not sure if Lee Valley has them in stock though, so you may want to call and find out first. Wenzloff’s website says they have something like a 21 week wait for new saws.

Everyone I’ve talked to who has them, love them. Another option is Tools for Working Wood’s Gramercy dovetail saw

While it’s back ordered too, it should be back in stock in the next week or so, per my phone call recently about them.

Hope this helps :)

-- "Give me your poor tools, your tired steel, your huddled masses of rust." Yep, I ripped off the Statue of Liberty. That's how I roll!

Betsy,
I was in your same situation not too long ago and ended up having a saw custom made by Tim Hoffman. He frequents woodnet.com and goes by username TimHoff. The price was quite a bit cheaper than either the Wenzloff, LN, Adria, or Gramercy. It is a really sweet little saw. Here is a thread he started showing how he makes the saw blade: http://www.forums.woodnet.net/ubbthreads/showthreaded.php?Cat=&Number=3505158&page=1&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=&vc=1

There are a couple of individual sawmakers that do really good work if you are interested in going that route. The Wenzloff saws are probably the best thing going right now though. All of the above are great and you really can’t go wrong with any of them.
Best,
Stacey

-- S. Box --- "But a Constitution of Government once changed from Freedom, can never be restored. Liberty, once lost, is lost forever." - John Adams

i agree with tomcat on his posting. i have a lie nielsen and i really like it, but the wenzloff and gramarcy are highly spoken of always. one good thing is there is no waiting for the lie nielsen. i live in ct and get super fast regular delivery from them. i think most woodcraft stores carry them as well.

greg

-- Greg, CT

Thanks for the advise fellas. I split the difference and went with http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&p=48033&cat=1,42884 from Lee Valley. I’ll let you know how it turns out.

-- Like a bad penny, I keep coming back!

Hello

I found an old copy of Fine Woodworking that reviewed the saws. They reccomended the Crown gents saw as the best deal and best saw. It is very reasonablly priced and comes very sharp.

-- Scott, Kentucky ----- "Let us so live that when we come to die even the undertaker will be sorry" Mark Twain

betsy, I was in ther same situation and made the same choice, it tunr out great, good luck dovetailing.

-- Artesano

Betsy,

I have the saw you decided to purchase and I do not like it a bit. I prefer the 4 times cheaper dozuky I indicated in my previous post by a mile. The PAX saw is heavy, clunky and has a kerf that is way too large. With a little more money you can get a rally good western dovetail saw. The PAX is clearly not worth the money.

Alin

-- -- Alin Dobra, Gainesville, Florida

It’s worth figuring out your preferred style for cutting dovetails – western or eastern.

I’ve tried Japanese saws and I can’t work with them. It’s entirelly a personal prefernece and before investing $$ in a saw I’d figure out which you like better. I personally love the Lie Nielsen saw and just could’t imagine any thing else, but that’s my style…you need to decide on your own.

Good luck!

Got my saw from Lee Valley yesterday. (http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&p=48033&cat=1,42884). Returning it today. It’s very apparent that it is much to heavy for me and the handle is much to big for my hand. I was surprised, even though they tell you the weight, how much it really did weigh. So Alin – you were right!

I’m going to try some of the other recommendations you all have given until I find the right saw for both the job and my small hands.

Thanks again for all the input.

-- Like a bad penny, I keep coming back!