A Kenyon Style Dovetail Saw I Made

[Chris Griggs]

I finally finished my 2nd saw build, a 10" dovetail saw. Well almost finished, I still need to do some final fitting flushing of the saw nuts. I think it came out pretty nice. I love the early kenyon handle pattern - feels really good in the hand. Handle is made of walnut. Plate and folded back are from Wenzloff and nuts are Gramercy's - I really hope Wenzloff starts selling folded backs again. Plate is .018" thick, 10" long and canted with a about 1 1/2" at the toe and 1 3/4 at the heal . 15ppi filed with 5 degrees of rake and just a bit of fleam (about 5 degrees or less). I'm loving the thin .018" plate - cuts quite fast and smooth. It's not, nor is it intended to be, a replica of the original Kenyon dovetail saw which is only 8" or so inches long - really its modeled after Wenzloffs slightly larger adaptation of it the he calls the "Early Kenyon Carcass Saw".

I've included a couple pics of it with my sash too, which I have filled the pores on since first posting it. Boths saws are finished with BLO, then pore filled by sanding in shellac, then top of with a bit more shellac and buffed out with steel wool and BLO (I'm out of wax). I was pretty happy with the sash saw, but I think this one came out a god bit cleaner. Kind of makes me want to redo the handle on my sash, and I very well might at some point, but right now its time to get back to furniture making, and a saw handle is A LOT of work.

Thanks Mike Allen, George, Ron B, Dave, Klaus & Pedder for the advice and inspiration. I'd like to build a couple more, but I just spent all my money on wood. If/when I get around to I think the next saw builds will be a miter saw and a large tenon saw.

Questions and suggestions for improvement are WELCOME!

Thanks for looking.

-Chris
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[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

Looks very nice, Chris! Nice choice of wood as well. Only thing that strikes me is in the 6th picture (at least, it says "6 of 8" when I'm looking at the larger photos), I like to see the end of the horns end a little more rounded. But I'm also used to looking at newer handles than the kenyon pattern.

I really like the transition between the flat and the round; you've gotten a really nice flow on the line that results. I know from experience that kind of detail can be the tough. The little bump out on the back of the handle looks really comfortable to me, too. Always something I like in a saw handle.

[Dave Beauchesne]

Chris:

Something to be proud of, to be sure !!

I really like the lines, and the color on the walnut is very rich - well done overall. One of these days ( for me to try a similar project - - - )

Well done -

Dave B

[Chris Griggs]

Thanks Joshua, Yes keeping the lines crisp does take a fair amount of extra time and effort - I put a good bit of effort into trying to get lines as crisp as on George's saws. The extra effort isn't so much during the shaping, but definitely during the final sanding as well as the wet sanding I did during the pore filling. When you end up with a handle that has nice lines the extra effort was definitely worth it. Your point about rounding the horn is well taken. I wasn't sure how much to round the end over, but looking at it now I may go back and round it more. That a quick and easy enough fix. Thanks for the feedback on that.

Thanks Dave B. I would love to see you make a saw - you should make a handle out of pacific yew, if a clear enough piece can be had. I love walnut - I just got my hands on a bunch of birdseye maple too so if/when I make another saw (or remake my sash handle) I may give that a try.

[Jim Koepke]

Nice looking saws.

Every time a saw build thread comes up, it makes me want to build about a half dozen saws.

jtk

[Chris Griggs]

Thanks Jim. I know, I feel the same way. I have at least 5 others planned in my head. Unfortunately, the cost of saw parts adds up and the actual builds are pretty time consuming. Lots of fun though - I'm definitely going to build more at some point.

[Adam Petersen]

I think that saw is gorgeous. Walnut makes such a nice looking handle. You certainly know what you are doing.

[Paul Incognito]

That is a beautiful saw, Chris. How's it cut?

Paul

[george wilson]

Very nice saw,Chris. You have done a very neat job on the handle sculpting.

[Klaus Kretschmar]

Congrats, Chris! You picked out one of the most beautiful dovetail saws that ever has been made ... and you did it in a magnificent way. One of the best rebuilts of the early Kenyon saw that I've seen so far.

Klaus

[David Weaver]

Looks good, nice high hang angle. What did you do to finish the back? I'm assuming there was some stress cracking on the back of the spine (my last two have had a little bit of that), did you leave it in or did you sand it out?

[Chris Griggs]

Thanks Adam. I'm figuring this out as I go, but I'm pretty careful to take my time and also pretty persistent if I'm not happy with my results. As I'm shaping the handle I spend time looking at it and comparing it to saws that I know to be good. I'll look at pics of Wenzloffs, and K&Ps, and Georges saws, and try to figure what where I need to remove material to get mine to look like theirs. I didn't show you the 3 handles I threw out before I got one I was happy with.

Paul. Thank you. It cuts very very nicely. Of course, you need to get around to coming by the shop to try it out for yourself.

George and Klaus. Thank you very very much. While I appreciate everyones feedback, I must admit that your compliments are especially meaningful given that your level of craftsmanship is what I aspire too. George I especially love your Grove's saws, and spent a lot of time looking back at them trying to get the level of detail, flow, and crispness that I see in them. Thank you both for commenting.

[Chris Griggs]

Looks good, nice high hang angle. What did you do to finish the back? I'm assuming there was some stress cracking on the back of the spine (my last two have had a little bit of that), did you leave it in or did you sand it out?

Thanks Dave!

The hang is higher than any saw I have ever used. Its not crazy high, but its definitely higher than my LN. I'm liking it so far. It works well for how I cut my dovetails and for the fairly low height of my bench/vise. If I had a higher moxon vise or something I might want a lower hang but as it stand the higher hang is quite comfortable.

RE: the back. I sanded it (and the plate) up to 600 grit starting at 150 and then for the sake of the pictures I polished it with a sunshine polishing cloth. I got some of the stress fractures out but there are still a number that ran fairly deep and I couldn't readily get sand out. I wasn't even sure it it was possible to get them all out or if further sanding would just reveal more fracture currently not exposed. Anyway, I can see them and feel them (and a few mill marks/digs I missed) but really they are barely visible unless you are looking for them. I suspect as the back develops some tarnish and patina they will become even less visible.

[Mike Allen1010]

Congratulations Chris -- both here saws are beautiful, very well executed and I particularly like the tote designs you've chosen! Thanks a lot for sharing the pictures and your build process.

I also appreciate your dedication to persevering through the inevitable challenges to end up with these two beauties that not only look great, but also work well. Getting a thin plate backsaw come out straight is definitely something to be proud of!

I hope you left plenty of room in your saw till/tool cabinet for the other saws we both know you are going to build! Right now you're telling yourself that it's a big investment of time and $ to build these saws, but I guarantee during your next furniture project, you're going to find yourself thinking "You know, it would be really great to have a __________ saw for this job. Let me just wipe some paint thinner on this birds eye maple to see what the figure would look like as a saw tote."

As Klaus has said before, saw making is addictive and you my friend are hooked! :) Don't try and fight it, just relax and enjoy the slide down the slippery slope!

My only advice is that when the kids come along, make sure they know which of Dad's saws they can use for "chopping down the bushes to build a fort in the field". My boys and I laugh about this now, but I sure didn't think it was funny at the time!

All the best, Mike

[Chris Griggs]

Hey thanks Mike. You've been a big help and a great inspiration.

Well given that I have yet to build a proper till or cabinet I'd yes I have plenty of room. I'm sure your right, I'll definitely build more, its a lot of fun and if one has more time than money its a lot of bang for buck. I've got a few furniture projects to complete a couple next, but then yes, I have no doubt I'll build more saws sooner or later.

I still want to build....

1) an 18"- 20" miter saw
2) a 16" to 18" tenon saw
3) a 12" rip carcass/large dovetail/small tenon saw
4) a 12" fine-ish toothed crosscut carcass saw
5) if there's time maybe a small very fine 18 or so ppi dovetail saw.

No hurry though. I've got the saws I need to do the work I want, and likely have years of woodworking ahead of me.

Whoa, slow down there big guy...who said anything about kids. I've heard they cut heavily into ones woodworking time and tool/beer budget - can I skip having kids an just inherit some grandkids when I'm older - I've heard they are more fun, anyway ;-)