LN Tenon saw

[Joel Goodman]

Anyone tried the LN 16" tenon saw? The sawplate is thinner than the 12" or 14" -- is this too fragile for a relative newby to handsaws? Thanks!

[Casey Gooding]

I haven't tried the new tenon saw. I do own both the 12" and 14" versions. I can't Imagine the 16" would be thin enough to damage in normal use. Unless you do something stupid. Which I know no one around here would ever do.

[Joel Goodman]

The 12 and 14 are .032 thick; the 16 is .020, or 50% thinner. How do you like your 12 and 14 inch saws? Would the 16 be an advantage?

[Sean Hughto]

I'd like to have one, I can tell you that. I find I increasingly favor thinner blades. I have the Gramercy DT and carcase saws, which are thin. The thinner blades make for less work and sort of in the bargain, make teh saw seem more nimble and your form easier to maintain.

Your questions are kind of hard to answer generally, as the answer is always: "it depends upon your methods of work and the types of pieces you tend to make, not to mention your preferences (which may not come clear until you've done some work ...). Sometimes you just gotta try some things out. Chris Shwarz has a post on this saw over on the Woodworking Magazine blog (POP WW). As I recall he loves it.

As for damaging the saw, anything is possible. I've seen folks with no experience use forms that would have bent/kinked saws - usually lacking smooth strokes and otherwise forcing the saw rather than letting it do the work. If you have any decent form at all, a backed saw is less likely to be damaged than say a full sized or panel saw without a back by poor form (which leads to catches and binds).

[Casey Gooding]

My tenon saws are great. I can certainly see the advantage of the thinner saw plate. I'd love to try one out to compare them. I would think that with the saw plate being that much thinner, it would decrease the weight significantly.
Like Sean said, the best thing is to try them out. What one person loves, the next person may hate.