Saw Gloat

[Eric Brown]

Most my saws were custom made by Ed Paik of Medallion Toolworks. I decided to buy from Ed because of a comment from Chris Schwarz that most of the premium saws being made today are made from the same materials with similar quality and that how the handle feels may be the deciding factor. I have very small hands and most saws feel way too large to me. Following Joel Moskowitz’s comment about the best tool being the closest one, I have been building a tool cabinet that keeps lots of tools not just close, but also accessible. Note that I also chose to have all my rip saws made with walnut handles and the crosscuts with maple. Here is a picture of my cabinet:

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18" Panel saw 12 ppi crosscut with maple handle (Taper ground)
18" Panel saw 10 ppi rip with walnut handle (Taper ground)
26" Full Sized saw 9 ppi crosscut with maple handle (Taper ground) (Kenyon)
26" Full Sized saw 7 ppi rip with walnut handle (Taper ground) (Kenyon)
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14" 13 ppi crosscut with maple handle (Disston #9 reproduction)
14" 10 ppi rip with walnut handle (Disston #9 reproduction)
19" 13 ppi crosscut with maple handle (Kenyon reproduction)
19" 10 ppi rip with walnut handle (Kenyon reproduction)
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Gramercy 9" dovetail 19 ppi rip (Handle shortened)
Glen-Drake Wild-West double handled joinery saw (variable pitch)
12" Carcase saw 14 ppi crosscut with maple handle
12" Carcase saw 13 ppi rip with walnut handle
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I'm very happy with the performance, looks and feel of all my saws.
Thank you Ed Paik for doing a wonderful job.

Eric

[george wilson]

WHY would one ever want a double handled saw? It seems to me that it would be difficult to saw accurately with one. Not being sarcastic,I just never saw one like that.

[Eric Brown]

George, the two handed saw works great. It works as a system. First you score the wood with a kerf starter. This leaves a groove the same width as your saw. Next the saw blade fits into the kerf at the tip of the saw. The very first portion and the last portion of the sawblade has no teeth. It then goes to a fine, then coarser, then fine again pitch. As you saw, the two hand grip helps keep the sawblade straight up and down. It's actually very comfortable, quick, and the best part, accurate.

Sorry, got to run, I'll tell more later if interested.

Eric

[David Gendron]

Beautifull nest of saw in a great cabinet! I have/had a saw from Ed, it is /was a half back saw, I returned it to him to change the plate that had a bow in it but not on it's lenght but on it's width but haven't heard of him in a wile???
That said he was a realy good guy to deal with!

[James Taglienti]

geez that cabinet and it's contents look delicious...
i really like those 19" crosscuts you've got...
if you ever decide to stop using them two handed and wanna sell one let me know

[Jim Koepke]

The Glenn Drake Wild West-West double handled saw does look strange. It allows the sawyer to site the cut line with the saw blade without having to deal with or adjusting for parallax.

Watching Glenn Drake at a tool event also gave me a lot of insight into joinery and some of my mistakes.

BTW Eric, nice tool cabinet.

jim

[Dan Andrews]

I am glad to see there are still craftsmen arround to cutom build fine tool. Eric's cabinet looks like a nice piece of craftsmanship also.

[Eric Brown]

The following is from the Popular Woodworking Blog:


http://blogs.popularwoodworking.com/editorsblog/images/dayLink.gif (http://blogs.popularwoodworking.com/editorsblog/default,date,2007-11-05.aspx) Monday, November 05, 2007
Glen-Drake Wild West Joinery Saw-New Idea in Sawing (http://blogs.popularwoodworking.com/editorsblog/GlenDrake+Wild+West+Joinery+SawNew+Idea+In+Sawing. aspx)
I’m confident with most hand tools, except for the saw. I can go months without using a plane or chisel, pick one up and get the results I want. Not so with the saw. I don’t get enough practice to begin with so I make warm up cuts before making a critical cut, and then sweat my way through it. More often than not, I deliberately cut wide and then adjust with a chisel, shoulder plane or rasp. I envy woodworkers who can put joints together right off the saw.

Kevin Drake, of Glen-Drake Tool Works (http://glen-drake.com/) tells me I’m not alone, and that the problem isn’t with me, it is with the design of most woodworking saws. Kevin is no stranger to reinventing the wheel. His Tite-Mark (http://glen-drake.com/v-web/ecommerce/os/catalog/index.php?cPath=24) marking gauge and line of hammers (http://play-glen-drake.com/v-web/ecommerce/os/catalog/index.php?cPath=21&osCsid=75d04a8f61df106b13392c8e6340fc8a) are evidence that many of the tools we take for granted can be improved.
http://blogs.popularwoodworking.com/editorsblog/content/binary/westsaw5.jpg

When I visited (http://blogs.popularwoodworking.com/editorsblog/Woodworking+Tourist+GlenDrake+Toolworks.aspx) Glen-Drake last February, I saw a prototype of this saw and was sworn to secrecy. I wasn’t quite sure what to think of it at the time. This is such a radical change from what I’m used to that it’s going to take a while to decide if this is the saw for me. I can say without reservation that it is extremely well made, a tremendous amount of thought has gone into it, and it works as advertised.

The teeth on any saw do the work, but on conventional saws they also cause some problems. The first issue is in getting the cut started. The set of the teeth tend to pull the saw blade off the line, and the resistance of the teeth makes it difficult to gain momentum without straying from the target. At the end of the stroke, the teeth tend to grab. This slows things down and is another opportunity to get off course. http://blogs.popularwoodworking.com/editorsblog/content/binary/westsaw1.jpg

Glen-Drake’s solution is to eliminate the teeth at the very front and very back of the saw. This radical approach solves both the problems mentioned above. Instead of starting a cut tentatively at the back of the blade, you start at the front. A line from the marking knife helps, but using the Glen-Drake Kerf-Starter (http://play-glen-drake.com/v-web/ecommerce/os/catalog/index.php?cPath=27&osCsid=75d04a8f61df106b13392c8e6340fc8a) is even better. The Kerf-Starter is the same thickness as the saw blade, and as its name implies it establishes a slot for the blade to ride in as the cut begins. http://blogs.popularwoodworking.com/editorsblog/content/binary/westsaw2.jpg
The teeth are also filed progressively, finer at the front and back, and more aggressive in the middle of the blade. If you think about the physics of a saw stoke, you start, speed up and then slow down to make the return stroke. The peculiar grind of this blade makes each of these actions easier and more natural. The brass back is also heavy enough to provide all the downward force you need. The old saying is to “let the saw do the work” and this saw has been designed to do just that. Making a cut with the Wild West Joinery saw is almost effortless, just push, hang on and steer. http://blogs.popularwoodworking.com/editorsblog/content/binary/westsaw3.jpg

What you hang on to is the most radical feature. Instead of one handle, there are two, and the saw is used with a two-handed grip, standing directly behind it. This makes it easier to push the saw and to control it. It is much like steering a motorcycle by leaning, a little pressure from one thumb makes a big difference. After lining up the front of the saw, it is pushed forward one complete stroke. At the end of the stroke, the back edge of the saw is compared to the layout line, any needed corrections to course made, and then the saw is drawn back and pushed forward for another stroke. http://blogs.popularwoodworking.com/editorsblog/content/binary/westsaw4.jpg
After a few strokes, I started to get the hang of it and began to saw continuously, stopping now and then to check my progress. The technique works well and the only real problem I had with it was unlearning old habits. I imagine that someone just starting out might be able to significantly shorten the sawing learning curve. It is very easy to get this saw started on the right track, and once started it is easy to continue. Momentum, gravity, body position and movement are all on your side.

Glen-Drake has a free video available (call 800-961-1569) that details using the saw as well as the company’s other tools. It’s worth taking a look and giving some thought. This is a premium quality saw, and an interesting new method.

--Bob Lang (robert.lang@fwpubs.com)