dovetail saw

[Greg Stanford]

Would I regret buying the Pax tennon & dovetail saws? I can go ahead & get them now & get started learning - both using & sharpening. I do hope/plan to buy Wenzloff saws in the future, when my skills (hopefully) improve.

g

[Jeff Craven]

You don't need good skills to have good tools and likewise, you don't need good tools to have good skills.

Go get them and start cutting.

[Michael Faurot]

Would I regret buying the Pax tennon & dovetail saws? I can go ahead & get them now & get started learning - both using & sharpening.


If you're just learning to sharpen saws, you may want to do your testing and experimentation on something else first. For example Woodcraft has a cheap tenon saw (http://www.woodcraft.com/family.aspx?familyid=20395) on sale right now for about $5. With that you can try changing the set, jointing, even refiling from a rip profile to cross-cut, etc. And if you screw it up, you're only out $5.

[Don Dorn]

I've just recently attempted to master the sharpening of dovetail saws. I bought a Crown Gents saw for $18.00. I reduced the set and then using the Frank Klausz method, turned the teeth to a rip saw. As a result, I have a saw that worked perfectly. I dug out some 3/4 oak just to give it a try and it still went through with far less effort than I would have thought. Additionally the kerf was almost as thin as my Dozuki and there was very little debris on the far side of the cut. It was a night and day difference from when I tried it as it came.

Just to make sure it wasn't a fluke, I went to HD and bought a cheap miter saw for $6.00 and then came home and did the same thing - got the same result.

In short, I recommend getting something cheaper first and trying it out - then if you still want the Pax , go for it because you'll know how to keep it sharp.

[Greg Stanford]

Thanks. I really just wanted to know if anyone had used the Pax saws & were they a good value?

g

[James Mittlefehldt]

In answer to your question I have a Pax dovetail saw and love it. I used to have a Japanese dovetail saw, (not a really good ie expensive one) but I just could not get the feel for it, call me dense if you wish. After I purchased my third blade in a year I decided the Pax might just be a better value.

I bougt it from my local Lee Valley Store, and went to work with it. I could not believe the control I had cutting with it, it worked fine and I have not as yet had to sharpen it but I think it is coming due.

So my experience is, it is a good saw, period.

[John Powers]

Not only would you not regret it but you could us those saws till you die. they don't make them as starter saws. Get some old thing at a garage sale and sharpen away.

[lowell holmes]

Buy a good saw now and you will know what a good saw does for you. I had cheap ones (not necessarily inepensive) and did not know if my problems were me or the saw. After buying a L/N dovetail saw, I was able to eliminate the concern about the saw and my skills impoved. Since I learned what a good saw was supposed to do, I am able to sharpen other saws and they are close to the L/N in performance, but not quite.
I would but the Wenzloff now.

[Wiley Horne]

Hi Greg,

Want to make sure I'm on the same page you are. I just went to the Lee Valley site, and they had the Pax dovetail saw for $87 and the Wenzloff dovetail saw for $125. Is that what we're comparing?

Get the Wenzloff and never look back.

Wiley

[Pedder Petersen]

If you're just learning to sharpen saws, you may want to do your testing and experimentation on something else first. For example Woodcraft has a cheap tenon saw (http://www.woodcraft.com/family.aspx?familyid=20395) on sale right now for about $5. With that you can try changing the set, jointing, even refiling from a rip profile to cross-cut, etc. And if you screw it up, you're only out $5.

Hi Michael,

I'm pretty sure that nobody can sharpen this saw from Woodcraft, because it's laser hardpointed teeth. Better to get an old saw (with even teeth!) or a gents saw with unhardened teeth to learn sharping.

That said, I would not recommend the Pax because they tend to have too much set.

Cheers Pedder