Mortising gauge, adria dovetail saw

I cut bigger dovetails with a bowsaw. Smaller ones with a dozuki –
I never got to like the feel of using a western backsaw. I have
no opinions of boutique dovetail saws as I’ve never found a
need for one.

The bowsaw is a really amazing tool. So few people take the
trouble to get/make and learn to use it.

I do have a couple Adria saws but don’t have any experience with any of the other quality saws. They are really nice, cut well and far easier to use than any of the badly tuned or cheap western style saws used in the past. Unfortunately I haven’t spent the time to learn proper saw tuning so I can’t really give a better review than that.

I do know they make excellent cuts when used in a miter box for small trim pieces.

For dovetails I much prefer a Japanese Dozuki over the Adrias. The Dozuki is much easier to use precisely.

I use a Veritas wheel marking gauge. I think I’d probably get something different if I were to purchase one again but it wasn’t that expensive and has given good service. You’d just have to sharpen the wheel to get it working right. Make sure you get something that has the cutter on the end and not in the middle of a stick of wood. It’s much easier to setup that way.

-- See my work at http://remmertstudios.com and http://altaredesign.com

I have a Shark Saw® pull saw. They make a bunch of different ones. I’ve got a small one. Love it. It’s thin and cuts a very smooth line.

-- Some problems are best solved with an optimistic approach. Optimism shines a light on alternatives that are otherwise not visible.

Have you checked out the Veritas saws? Very good and very cost effective.

I tried a Japanese saw and found the teeth too fragile. Have 3 western dovetail saws ( Adria, LN & Spruce Mill ) and they are all excellent saws. Have not been spending much time on dovetails lately, so I may be putting one up for sale (?). Probably the Adria, since I have a matching tennon saw for the LN and a matching crosscut for the Spruce Mill. Like many, Need more time and motivation for woodworking.

Iggles, never used the Adria saw, but read reviews on it and it is just as good as any other bigger brand name saws out there (LN, Veritas, etc) I imagine you will like that saw.

For marking gauges, check out Ebay. There are a bunch of really nice ones on there. Some are new, most are used. With the old used ones, unless you get a beat up piece of junk, you can’t go wrong. You could also build your own. Check out my projects and some others on here to see what you can make by yourself.

Crown makes new ones that can be purchased from Lee Valley. I have an old used Crown gauge and it works very nicely. Their new ones look to be of the same quality.

-- Mike