Hope I can learn to use LN saw

Re: Hope I can learn to use LN saw

Jack Guzman from Maine

>Yes, throw away the jigs. I kept hemmin and hawin about buying a dovetail jig. The Leigh was way too expensive for me to even consider it and I was disappointed in how limited the +/-$100 ones were.I decided to learn cutting my own and was very surprised at how easy it actually is.

Practice sawing to a straight line ,alot. That is the one skill you need the most for good dovetails. Tage Frid's and Frank Klausz's videos helped me alot.

Have fun and welcome to the quiet side.---Jack

Thanks Jack

Larry Clinton - Frankfort, Indiana

>Thanks - Frank Klausz sure made it look easy. I did do a lot of hand sawing in my time so it is not entirely new to me. When I was young we didn't have any power tools. Now I have a shop full but find I still use planes - chisels - hand saws quite a bit. I can do some things faster and just a little better with the old hand tools. (Not going to give up my Unisaw, jointer or planer yet though)

Re: Hope I can learn to use LN saw

Brent

>If your weekly tool budget is slightly less than a LN dovetail saw, I am envious.

Re: Hope I can learn to use LN saw

Don Thompson, Cutler Ridge, Florida

>If you do not have anyone around to guide you, I highly recommend two videos: Dovetailing a

Drawer, by Frank Klausz, and Hand Cut Dovetails, by Rob Cosman.

As stated by someone else above, one has to be able to saw straight and to a line, so some practice with your new saw may be in order.

I am not an expert, but plenty of folks here knock out dovetails by the dozen, regularly, so by all means come back and ask if you run into any problems.

Re: Hope I can learn to use LN saw

John Hoffman

>I also am in the same situation with Adria saws. Anyway I have a dvd from Marc Adams that is pretty good. Was about $30, however there is not a whole lot to the technique compared to the amount of practice needed to cut straight and plumb kerfs. I am interested in finding your source of wood and I live in Fishers, IN. If you can would send me source info?

Thanks

John H

Re: Hope I can learn to use LN saw

R.J.Whelan

>Larry ... one beginning mistake I've seen a lot is trying to learn in soft wood (not familiar with sycamore) - I think the ideal material for your first DTs is mahogany, it's hard enough to cut cleanly and just soft enough to have a bit of give when putting the joint together.

1. If you go with chisels to remove waste between saw cuts be patient - tap, tap, tap not bang, bang, bang. Chopping too aggressively will bruise the material around the cut.

2. Once you've cut one side of the joint and are ready to scribe the second part use a marking knife - I find a small, single bevel knife works best for me.

Good luck with the learning curve - the only woodworkers I've ever seen fail to learn to cut an acceptable DT are ones that gave up early in the process. You probably won't learn it in one day - don't keep trying to the point you become frustrated; return to it on another day when you're rested and your mind (and hands) are more receptive to learning new skills.

rj

You will, but it takes...

Scott Burr in Ben Lomond CA

>Practice. I agree with a lot said here. Don�t use soft woods to practice on I started with oak because it's all I had at the time. I can't recommend you use it. Mahogany or poplar would be a good choice. I'm a bit old school I cut mine the Jim Kingshott method and I recommend his video on the subject. The biggest problem I have is sawing a good stright or vertical line. The LN saw has a bit of reputation of being hard to start. Don't use a lot of pressure or force with this saw. Go very light and let the saw do the work.

Have fun with it and good luck

As per Rob Cosman...

Steve Kubien

>In Rob Cosman's video on dovetails (I highly recommend it BTW), he says to take 70% of the weight of the saw to start your cut (or maybe it's take 30%. I can't remember it exactly. Sorry Rob). If I let the full weight of my DT saw sit on the wood, I can never start the cut.

I gotta agree with species selection for learning. Pine is awful tough to do a good job on. Mahogany and poplar are really nice choices. If you insist on using pine, get your chisels sharper than they've ever been before.

Steve Kubien

Ajax, Ontario

Thanks for the advice!

Larry Clinton - Frankfort, Indiana

>I will print out several of the messages - I had heard the LN was a little hard to start. I was looking at both the Adria and LN but didn't like the fact I would have to send the Adria to a sharpening shop. LN will resharpen for $15. I have sharpened some regular Diston Crosscuts and rips but don't trust myself with this precise a saw, eyes aren't what they use to be. I will probably practice on the Sycamore - it is a fairly hard wood with (at least most of my stock) pretty straight grain. Cuts well and doesn't splinter (Beside the fact I have a real large stack of it). I also have a lot of hardwood shorts - walnut, maple oak, cherry etc. I don't want to work with the oak yet - just finished making a door casing and threshold out of some of my stock and it was harder than Hxxx to chisel - even with a very sharp chisel. I will probably cut out most of the waste with a coping saw but know I will have to pare out the rest.

Re: Thanks for the advice!

Steve Denvir

>Larry, if you're up for some "book-larnin'" I can heartily recommend Ian Kirby's "The Complete Dovetail." great detail and very helpful.

Good luck

Steve

Saw choice

Jonathan Peck - N.Y.

>Don't overlook the lowly $10 Pax gent's saw. When choosing a saw, there are many factors involved which have little to do with the price tag. I believe this has been covered in length so I won't waste the badwidth. Try a quick archive search