A New Hand Saw from the Dovetail Master Himself

Rob Cosman is a well known Canadian ‘hand tool coach’ offering DVD’s and books on wood working for the past 10 years or more. When it comes to sawing dovetails he’s absolutely incredible. I’ve watched pretty much all of his videos and can honestly say they’ve helped me a great deal along my own hand sawing journey. I would strongly recommend them to any worker at any stage. I’m very happy to hear Rob is offering a dovetail saw on his website. It seems to have some interesting features and I’ll be curious to hear what people have to say about it. For starters, it has a heavy brass back that Rob says is almost twice the weight of a standard dovetail saw and is much better suited to “vibration free sawing“. Second it comes with a 22ppi for the first 2″ of blade and then a more standard 15 ppi. This fine tooth will make starting cuts much easier for beginners. Another plus, the saw plate at 10″ is an inch longer than most dovetails saws on the market. Well, without trying one before purchasing one, (which you already know from my last blog I don’t really enjoy doing all that much), I can only go by what I see and what I read. Again, I’ll be hoping to hear from anyone that gets a chance to use it.
Lastly, on this point of ‘Trying a tool before Buying a tool…‘ The description of the saws and the pictures on the website are all I have to go off of so with that I say this: These new resin saw handles are scaring the hell out of me! I know Rob said he went with the balance and durability in this “resin” composite handle, but from the picture on the website it looks like he had a few old bathroom counter tops he decided to recycle. I’m sure they feel great in hand and as Rob mentions are water-proof (for all of those times I’m cutting dovetails back home in the fresh Atlantic surf)
Maybe I’m a wood snob or am completely naive to this new technology of resin in handsaws, but for me a saw needs to have a wooden handle. Now just so everyone doesn’t think I’m ‘Rob bashing’ or anything I’ll also mention the new Veritas DT saw…they’re a little bit on the creepy side too. I’m well aware that a hand tool doesn’t have to look great to be great but it sure is nice when they do! Theres a truck load of hand tool manufacturers making sculpture like tools that perform as well as they look.
Robs new saws also come with a custom wooden box which I like. The idea is nice but I think it would be even nicer if the customer had the option of solely purchasing the saw without it; I’d be curious to see the price difference. Maybe I should take my own advice and see about trying one out. I’m sure he’ll be at the wood show next year with some of them. I’ll look forward to it.
With that, knowing Rob Cosman, and being a fan of his work for years, these things will probably eat dovetails for breakfast-but brother please…from one East Coaster to another…those handles?

Do you Buy before you Try ?

Over the past few weeks I’ve been surprised at how many new hand tool manufacturers are popping up on the Internet and all of the well known manufacturers are offering new and exciting product. This is nice but I’m sometimes weary…it either takes someone with a bucket of dough or a trusting consumer to buy tools on the Internet without first trying them out, unless it’s from an extremely well known tool maker or you’ve at least done some homework and read some reviews from reliable voices.
I know I don’t have a bucket full of dough but I can say there are a few hand tool manufacturers I feel quite confident in. I see a new product in a nice little picture, I read a few details that the manufacturer obviously wrote themselves and with that I reach for some plastic and wait for the mail truck.
Looking at some recent articles showing the rise in the hand tool market I know I’m not alone on this. So all that said what does it take to do that?
I’m just curious if there’s a lot of people out there who would never think on buying a hand tool that they’ve never once put their hands on…I suppose in a perfect world I’d be able to get to all of the wood shows and special hand tool events, try out all of the new tools before I commit, but my reality is something quite different than that. I try to develop a relationship with manufacturers and when they offer new product I go further than just reading a short paragraph on a web-site. I’ll contact them and make conversation, discuss the company history and see how the new product came to be. I’ve found almost every hand tool manufacturer I’ve contacted with questions or concerns to be absolutely forthcoming with information and assistance. If they’re not I’ll go somewhere else right? That is my job isn’t it ? My duty as a member of society to go elsewhere when I get bad service…let people know of my bad experiences as well as the good ones of course!
The good ones thankfully out way the bad and as a woodworker in 2009 I feel fortunate to be living and working through this exciting time. Whether you realise it or not we’re watching a section of history unfold in the hand tool market alone. This renaissance will be looked back upon the way we look back on our vintage Stanley’s and the like. My Lie Nielsen such and such will probably be worth more when my grand kids hock it on ‘What-Ever-Bay’ in a hundred years….
I digress…
Wooden bodied moulding planes, panel and back saws, specialty tools and educational platforms-it’s going to be an interesting few months with so many new and exciting things happening in my wood shop. I’ll fill you in on the details as they unfold. Stay tuned…
Oh yeah, the picture at the top has nothing to do with the article; I just thought it was a nice shot of our first born- Sally, the Unplugged Watchdog is our nine year old Beagle. She spends just about every waking hour with me in my wood shop. Maybe I should use this photo for my tool chest for sale advertisements? What a disgusting thought.

Cheers!

A Division of TechnoPrimitives, LLC

If you’ve visited this site before then you’re already well aware of Mark Harrell, better known as- Technoprimitives.com
I first heard of Mark last year and soon after sent him a nest of old saws needing to be sharpened and restored…my story like so many others was that of awe. The saws were returned in a professional manner, better than I could have imagined. Mark and I then corresponded through the winter and more importantly became friends. Mark is about as interesting a person you’ll ever get to know, which you likely will when you do business with him-that’s the type of person he is, someone who loves what he’s doing and is doing it very, very well.
A published author, retired Army officer, recently redeployed from Afghanistan, as well as a hand tool enthusiast, with special emphasis on getting your old saws fully restored. Oh yeah, did I mention he’s also available for Renewable Energy Systems and Green Home Consultation! Seriously.

Fast forward a few months and we’ll be talking about Mark Harrell in another new light, Bad Axe Tool Works, the guy who manufactures incredible back saws down in La Crosse, Wisconsin. I’ve been biting my tongue on this information for the past few months and am happy to finally say that Bad Axe Tool Works is finally a reality.
Finely crafted back saws offered in a larger-scale saw plate than what is currently in most markets. Here are some specs for you to think about:

· Premium-grade Swedish spring steel, .025” thick, with 4” under the back for the
16” saw and 4.5” under the back for the 18” saw.

· Standard filing: 10 ppi rip for the 18” saw or 11 ppi x-cut; and 11 ppi rip for the 16” saw or 12 ppi x-cut; custom filing available at no additional charge per customer request (I requested a finer tooth count, so Mark has increased the tooth count by one for each of my custom saws)

· Cherry handles with a natural finish

· Brass fasteners with a 13/16” diameter sawnut of the deep-dish variety

· Blued steel back

Does this sound as good to you as it does to me? I’m looking forward to getting them in my hands in June and will fill you in on all of the details here…if you’d like to get more information or perhaps place an early order, (before the waiting lists start to pile up) contact Mark directly.

Cheers!

You Won’t be Disappointed…

What more can be said. I recently shipped off four old ‘beaters’ to Mark Harrell of TechnoPrimitives.com. There Mark will clean, sharpen and over-haul any old hand saw you may have. The four I sent were your typical garage sale variety, old worn-out, dull and bent.With,in some cases, 50 years of rust and dirt caked on. Mark was very quick and professional to get back to me with a diagnostic of the issues needing to be addressed and a quote to cover the repairs. Another fast turn around and here they are back in my hands. I can’t believe they’re the same saws I shipped him ‘nor can I believe it took me so long to send them in the first place!
A full size rip saw, a smaller scale cross cut and a second 20″ Rip. The fourth unit I sent was beyond repair but the three that came back perform better than the new panel saws I’ve purchased over the last two years…I won’t mention any names but did Blog about replacing the handles on them! So with that I strongly recommend that you send that old nest of saws you’ve been looking at up there on top of the tool cabinet under the fine layer of dust, you won’t be disappointed.
And seeing as I never did hear back from the Wenzloff guys after a couple of e-mail inquiries and watching their waiting list run from 16 weeks to 24 to 40 to…
Well you get the picture; fellas you can take me off of your list…my hand saw problems are over!
Cheers.

New Hand Saws

I ordered a couple of new hand saws a few weeks ago from Tools for Working Wood, a great company with a nice web site. I’ve ordered a few items in the past and have never had an issue, professional across the board. Since relocating here in Toronto, I’ve been using only hand tools for my work. Great. No worries, until I needed to cut a curve in the base of a small set of night stands I was working on. Oh-how I longed for my band saw, back in my old shop on the coast. It would certainly make quick work of this small project…So what did I do? I ordered the Gramercy Tools 12″ Bow Saw; a sweet little saw, made in the USA. “Ah, just the thought of it brings a tear to my glass eye…”
So while I’m at it I decided I also needed another Rip saw. Seeing as my two old antiques are just that, old antiques, I felt it to be a just purchase. ( I’m actually on the waiting list at Wenzloff & Sons for a custom Cross-Cut and Rip saw; I think they’ll be ready sometime in the year 2053 but that’s a whole other story. )
So in my despair to get a new rip saw I ordered the 28″ Pax saw from TFWW. So two saws arrived and I tear into them. If you read my earlier blog on making new tool handles you’ll know that I don’t particularly care for the Pax saw handles. I find them large for my hand and to be frank, rather unattractive. So I take out the Rip saw and put it aside to get into the Bow saw. A nice little box within it a well made hand tool, nicely wrapped up in green tissue it was like someone had given me a Christmas present. All it needed was a cute little bow on top. So here I am admiring my new saws and decide the first thing in order, to make a new handle for the Pax…and what better tool to use to cut out the shape? Yup, the bow saw.

Cutting out the Shape

So to make a new handle I selected my wood, walnut in this case, and traced the handle from my old Disston. I did a quick read through the instruction booklet that came with the bow saw and after tightening the tension on the blade (which was loosened for shipping) I went at it. What happened next in my mind was really incredible; this fine little saw cut so fast, clean and effortless I wondered why it took me so long to ever get one. Beautifully balanced, no chatter or binding, just gentle strokes through the 4/4 walnut. The entire saw handle took no more than 10 minutes at most. So now here I am, a familiar place where I know the process. I took out my brace and 1″ auger bit to complete the curves of the handle. No problems so far. Some filing and shaping, a little sanding and carving, voila! Done except to cut the kerf and drill the screw holes…so again, I turn my attention to the Pax. At this stage I think back when I was making a new handle for my Pax cross cut saw.I simple took the handle, not at all unlike this one, and unscrewed the Pax handle, removed it, lined up the two and with my awl, marked the screw holes…easy right?

Oh Pax…what have you done?

So just to recap and get things clear in my own mind, I’m standing there with my newly made walnut handle, I take hold of my screwdriver and gently start to back out the brass screws. At this point I notice the Medallion on the side of the Pax handle is sitting proud…no big deal I thought, must be something underneath…I’ll clean it up when I remove the handle. So first screw, second screw; down through to five all of the screws come out. I squeeze the blade of the saw into my shoulder vise and make my first attempt to remove the handle. No luck..? I get a little more aggressive and try the whole wiggle-waggle-back-and forth approach…still nothing, not even a squeak. I place a wood block on the heel of the blade and gently at first try tapping to loosen the handle. O.k. at this point I’m starting to realise something is not right. Did they glue it on? No, couldn’t be. That would be just plain ignorant. Some more prying, some hitting and then on to some down home whacking! Come on, this should come off…what if I just wanted to do a quick tune up, cleaning or sharpening? Saw handles are meant to be relatively easy to remove, no?
Then it happens, you know the blinding white light, ears start ringing, sweaty palms…I grab the biggest, meanest, ugliest chisel my tool box had to offer and split this thing open like a fresh brook trout in August. I didn’t like it in the first place, but admittedly didn’t want to destroy it either. So there I am, cracking and splintering the shiny new handle off of my nice new Pax rip saw…
(that’s Pax right? I did mention it was a Pax right?)
So like Indiana Jones discovering artifacts under the sands I see the problem. It seems this saw, during manufacturing must have assembled the wooden handle onto the blade and then drilled through the whole lot with a dull bit. The metal burned and charred through creating a kind of sleeve that mated into the opposite side of the wood.!@$%^&*(!!!”":{
If you look closely at the pics you can see what I mean…bad, shotty workman ship….that’s just the way it is. Now I have to get out some files and flatten out the dimples of burnt metal left behind to irritate me to no end. (At least this was how I felt at the time.)
All calm and clean now, me and the saw that is, ready to trace the screw holes onto my new handle, drill them out and install the screws. No worries, at least the metal is un-damaged and seems to be well sharpened and straight. I breeze through these steps and give the handle a quick coat of oil. I didn’t spend too much time on the sanding this time due to the fact that I have work to do! Boards to rip and kids to feed…so perhaps a little rough I’ll get to it sometime in the future when I don’t have four orders to finish. So here I go, putting things together, first screw, second screw…then I get to the medallion; I had forgotten about the way it had been sitting on the original handle. hmmmm…..crooked as a cats…again, the light starts to come back….I’m having an incredible hulk moment and want to throw the whole thing into a dumpster somewhere. How could this happen? The shiny little medallion, like a signature, carefully placed into the finished saw to say
” made with pride by…” I just don’t get it at all. What happened in the two years between saws? My cross cut I purchased from Lee Valley Tools seemed like a nicely made hand tool, other than the handle simply didn’t suit my hand…two years later, this poorly made piece of…I digress. I put the handle on and went to work.
It cuts pretty good and my new handle is comfortable. I left the crooked medallion sitting proud of the side to remind me to call Mike Wenzloff again…You really do get what you pay for.
PS.
Hey Schwarz, I guess you’re having an ‘I told you so’ moment right now…Cheers!