I am going to pull the trigger on a fret saw for cutting dovetails, 5 inch or 8 inch? And which blade? I mostly work in poplar, maple, and walnut and anywhere from 3/8 to 3/4 thickness.
[OP]
Contributor
I am going to pull the trigger on a fret saw for cutting dovetails, 5 inch or 8 inch? And which blade? I mostly work in poplar, maple, and walnut and anywhere from 3/8 to 3/4 thickness.
Member
Brandon, I almost bought one but couldn't quite get over the price tag. Ended up buying the German-made coping saw that Lee Valley sells and have been quite happy, glad I didn't spend the extra money.
Friend of the Creek
Brandon, I have an older version of this one:
5" Mk.IV HEAVY DUTY HAND SAW WITH LEVER TENSION AND SWIVEL BLADE CLAMPS
And use the Pegas #7 skip tooth blades. Works well for me.
Member
I have two Olson saws, one set up with blade canted to the right, the other to the left. Works for me (and cheap)!
If the thunder don't get you, the lightning will.
Member
Brandon,
I wasn't going to post a suggestion but as everyone else is here goes. The 12" TFWW bowsaw is close to the same price and will do the same job much faster with fewer broken blades. I have both and seldom (never) pick up the Knew saw. The Knew fret saw is a very good fret saw but it is still a fret saw, there are better ways to do the job.
ken
Member
I have the same one as Phil and use the same blades. It's great for dovetail waste, I can saw straight across from kerf to kerf, then just a couple of chops to square up the baseline.
Contributor
Brandon, if you plan to get one specifically for removing the waste from dovetails, then get the 3" version. Not only is this lighter and stiffer, but likely to be cheaper. Since the blade angles at 45 degrees, there is no advantage in a 5" or 8" depth.Originally Posted by Brandon SPEAKS
My original review: http://www.inthewoodshop.com/ToolRev...tsFretsaw.html
And a later one: http://www.inthewoodshop.com/ToolRev...geFretsaw.html
Regards from Perth
Derek
Contributor
I have two 5" Knew Concepts saws and they work fine for dovetails. As Derek said, the 3" would probably be fine for dovetails.
It's a good saw.
Mike
Go into the world and do well. But more importantly, go into the world and do good.
Member
I owned a Knew Concept saw a few years ago. Saw worked well but I hated the handle so I made a new one for it. After a few years of ownership, I fell out of love with it and sold it. Olsen coping saw works fine for me now.
Contributor
My 5" Knew Concept saw changed my opinion about removing waste from dovetails and has helped to improve the quality of my joinery.
If you are only going to use it for dovetails the 5" is fine, as other have mentioned a 3" would also be fine if you aren't doing dovetails on 2X construction lumber like me.
If you do plan on doing deeper fret saw work, then the deeper saw might be in order.
The smaller the throat, the stiffer the saw. The stiffer the saw the better the control and hence the cut.
jtk
"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
- Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)
Contributor
I have the 8" KC with Pegas #7 blades, as others mentioned above. You won't regret the rock solid way it handles - very precise and controllable. It was a game changing tool for me and was (again, for me) well worth the money. It works wonderfully in 1/2" stock for drawers. I agree that the 8" is overkill if all you need is to cut dovetails.
I personally find the fretsaw slow in stock thicker than 1/2". So, I got a 12" TFWW bowsaw for Christmas. It's a great tool. There's a learning curve and Im still learning to use it well, but it is much faster in thicker stock.
I've often wondered how the KC Coping Saw would work for dovetails in thicker stock. But its price was close enough to the bowsaw, that I got the bowsaw instead. No regrets!
Last edited by Frederick Skelly; 02-11-2019 at 7:02 AM.
"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."
“If you want to know what a man's like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals.”
Contributor
The original handle ... I used to nag Lee Marshall about that handle. He would say to me he purchased them cheaply and that it kept the price down. That is why he linked Elkhead handles for replacements. Note the coping saw sold by Blue Spruce is double the price of the KC. It has to be as quality costs.
I wanted a longer handle, not simply a better looking handle. This is what I came up with ...
All my fretsaws are 5" (except for the 8" prototype that began the Knew Concepts story). As I mentioned earlier, 3" would be good, but 5" is what Lee would send me (I received about 5 or 6 of these over the years as they developed, plus the coping saw).
The fretsaw must be held as lightly as possible. Never force the cut. Let the saw do the work. A way of determining how you are doing is to watch the blade – it should hardly deflect. You should be rewarded with a fairly straight saw cut.
Get as close to the baseline as you dare! My cuts are about 1mm ...
This enables the minimum of waste removal. You can place the chisel immediately against the chisel wall and pare/chop down halfway ...
Regards from Perth
Derek
Last edited by Derek Cohen; 02-11-2019 at 7:57 AM.
Member
I hated the handle also and filed it into an octagon. Much better now.
Life's too short to use old sandpaper.
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