Dovetailing with Lee Valley Saw

Re: Dovetailing with Lee Valley Saw

Joseph Piotrowski

interesting tip on the set. I'll have to try it soon. thanks for the idea.

this is my first western dovetail saw and i must saw that i like it a lot!

Re: Dovetailing with Lee Valley Saw

William Duffield

It's really easy to remove too much set, and then the saw will bind in the kerf. For starters, give it one stroke on each side of the saw plate, and then try it out. You MIGHT need one more stroke on each side, but if you take off too much, you'll be back using the saw set.

Re: Dovetailing with Lee Valley Saw

TM Stock

The Lee Valley has a little more angle on the teeth, so easier to start as well. I know an easier start usually means a slower finish, but I did not see much difference between the LV and the older LN saw with the thicker plate.

Re: Dovetailing with Lee Valley Saw

Derek Cohen (in Perth, Australia)

I have several dovetail saws from different makers. It is always a source of amazement for me that the saws from LV and LN cut as well as they do, since they produce so many saws that individual fine tuning must be so much more difficult than saws from the smaller custom houses.

I thought that my LV (14 tpi) was perfect out of the box, the 20 tpi version had a tad too little set, and the LN (15 tpi) had a tad too much set. I added set to the LV and I lightly stoned the LN. They are all wonderful saws - slightly different characteristics, but all work smoothly and are comfortable in the hand.

About a month ago I sat sharpening backsaws over a weekend at the Perth Wood Show as part of a live exhibition. Two of the saws were dovetail saws of my own, one with a new plate, and the other a restoration. Both plates were completely retoothed by hand, the first 16 tpi and the second 15 tpi. Both were given a 5 degree rake. I decided to leave them without any set as dovetails do not go down deeply. It is such a shallow cut.

My experience of the saws was disappointing. Both felt like they had teeth that were too vertical (and yet I know that I have saws, such as the LN, with zero pitch, and these work very well ... more powerful, but still cut well). The saws cut beautifully - just felt hard to push.

As a result, I added a small amount of set to the teeth of both saws. The result was that the saws were transformed. They lightened up in the kerf, and sliced through the wood, tracking perfectly.

This is the reason I am in awe of LV and LN. It can take time to fine tune a backsaw, which has a lot of small teeth to fine tune. No doubt a few will escape the attention of quality control. That so few do is why I stand in wonder. Learn to recognise the symptoms and do the fix yourself - eventually you should be sharpening your own saws anyway.

Regards from Perth

Derek

Re: Dovetailing with Lee Valley Saw

Thomas Skaggs, Foothills of Mount Level

Thanks for the report. I have an LN saw but it mostly collects dust. I went to Japanese saws and love them. Certainly a learning curve at first (from having been a western saw user). Certainly saws are a craftsman's preference. Glad to hear your saw is gaining favor!

T

Re: Dovetailing with Lee Valley Saw

Bruce, a MN Galoot

I have the LV dovetail and crosscut pair, and I found that the rip saw worked quite a bit better after use when some of the set had been reduced.

Re: Dovetailing with Lee Valley Saw

Don Stephan

Happy to hear you have a satisfying dovetail saw. I continue to be very pleased with my Lie Nielsen dovetail saw. It was a pleasure both when I bought it and after it was reshaped by LN after several years of use.

Re: Dovetailing with Lee Valley Saw

Mark

Uncharacteristically unattractive for LV IMHO.

For that kind of coin I dont think you should need to modify it to make it perform.

Re: Dovetailing with Lee Valley Saw

TM Stock

I was thinking the opposite - that the saws are less objectionable in appearance than the usual. i am not a fan of the appearance of the planes, shaves, etc., but sorta like the saws. Hmmm...

Re: Dovetailing with Lee Valley Saw

William Duffield

Like any other manual skills, performance preferences depend a whole lot on one's prior experiences with other tools used for the same or similar purposes.The same kinds of biases are applied to the aesthetics of the tools.

I like my Veritas saw because it works well, and is comfortable, and had a short learning curve. I do have some problems with it, however;

The curved profile of the matte black composite spine makes it look like the spine has a slight bend, that shifts in horizontal and vertical direction and magnitude as the ambient light on it changes. This is distracting, and I have to keep telling myself to stop checking it for straight, and just keep sawing. If the spine had subtle faceting along its back edge, this optical illusion would go away.

Another problem is mosquitos, which are a much greater annoyance in my shop this summer than in past years. If you can't figure out how that affects a back saw's performance, the answer is DEET. When I get it on my hands, it dissolves the finish on the Veritas saw handle, resulting in a gummy grip, not to mention aesthetic issues.

Re: Dovetailing with Lee Valley Saw

Bruce, a MN Galoot

Just so you know, the finish on the LV saw handles is BLO. I chipped the horn on mine last winter and called them to see what it was so I could finish the new repaired piece the same way.

LV Customer Service

Bill Tindall, E.Tn.

"Another problem is mosquitos, which are a much greater annoyance in my shop this summer than in past years. If you can't figure out how that affects a back saw's performance, the answer is DEET. When I get it on my hands, it dissolves the finish on the Veritas saw handle, resulting in a gummy grip, not to mention aesthetic issues. "

Canada has lots of mosquitos. Customer service should be contacted to see if they have a solution.....

Re: Dovetailing with Lee Valley Saw

HC Sakman

Hi Tommy,

Once one uses Japanese saws, it is hard to go back to any other kind, especially for tedious, detail cuts like in joinery of any kind.

Chico