Looking for a tenon saw, leaning towards a Wenzloff. Advice needed

[David Keller NC]

I'm looking for a good tenon saw. I've got the Veritas dovetail and crosscut combo, but I'm now in need of something to cut bigger tenons for my next project. I'm leaning towards the 19" Wenzloff, but I've heard great things about the LN 16" thin plate as well. Anybody have any experience or words of wisdom here? Any other outstanding saws I should be looking at? Any reason to buy/avoid a larger saw vs. a 14"? I've heard plenty of reasons why a larger saw is a good thing, but is there something glaringly obvious that I'm overlooking?

Thanks in advance,

Will

Will - Just my opinion here. You cannot make a mistake buying any of the saws from the small makers mentioned on this thread - every single one of them make incredible quality saws that are light years away from what us poor hand-tool schmucks could get as little as 15 years ago, where the market was populated by extremely bad British versions with incomprehensibly thick saw plates, unacceptably shaped totes, and inappropriate cross-cut teeth.

What I would note is that you should simply buy whichever one of these saws appeals to your aesthetics and pocketbook, because whichever one you buy, you will adapt to the saw's specifics. At this level, it's dang near impossible to fit the various saw's peculularities to your existing preferences, both because of the logistics of trying out all of the brands on the same day/same wood, but also because the differences are subtle.

One final thought - I own a lot of back saws (probably way too many), from Lie-Nielsens through Wenzloffs to many 19th century British antiques when they were still making superb saws. Every one of them performs slightly differently, but not so differently that each one is not a pleasure to use. My one caveat here is that you may wish to eventually own 2 rip-filed tenon saws - one with at least a 4" depth of cut to allow for bigger projects such as workbenches, outdoor furniture, doors, etc..., and one that's in the 12" range for small projects like spice boxes, miniature furniture, small cupboard doors, etc...

[Chris Griggs]

I haven't tried a lot of backsaws but I'll throw in my experience. I have the LN's 15ppi Rip Carcass Saw (which I use as my dovetail saw), and their 14" 13ppi Crosscut Tenon Saw. I had the the rip carcass first, and will say that the 14" crosscut definitely took some getting used too. Even though it's not that big of a saw, it did feel unwieldy at first. I've since gotten used to it and have every intention of getting the 16" tenon saw at some point. I don't think I'd go with an 18" or 19" saw though. I have no doubt that saws that big would perform beautifully, but I think the learning curve on a saw that big would be pretty steep.

As far as brand, I'm sure any of the premium makers mentioned would be great. The Bad Axe saws are especially intriguing, and seem to really be making waves in the Neander realm. Also, (correct me if I'm wrong) I think saws with slotted brass backs (e.g. LN), tend to be a bit heavier for their size than saw with folded backs (e.g. Bad Axe). Not necessarily a good or bad thing, but something to think about.

Finally, one plus for the LNs is that if you haven't yet learned to sharpen you can send them into LN for resharpening for only $15.