Coping saw or fretsaw

[No skills]

Hi folks, as the title says I need to choose a saw for cutting waste out of dovetails (mostly in pine atm) - do I need a coping saw or a fretsaw?

Also what sort of tpi blades should I be buying??

Thanks for any sensible replys.


Regards.

 

[jamesicus]

Hi folks, as the title says I need to choose a saw for cutting waste out of dovetails (mostly in pine atm) - do I need a coping saw or a fretsaw?

Also what sort of tpi blades should I be buying??

Thanks for any sensible replys.


Regards.

I use a fret/jeweler's saw to remove most of the waste, retracing the first
bead saw cut then twisting the blade in order to cut along the base line:

I use Olson PGT Double Reverse Tooth (Univ. No. 5RG - 12TPI/8 Rev.) blades

I clean up precisely to the base line using a fine rasp:

The resultant joint:

James

 

[AndyT]

You need a coping saw - that will be plenty big enough, with a frame depth of about 150mm. A fretsaw is similar but has a much greater depth of frame - 300mm or more - designed to let you cut in the middle of a large sheet of wood.

I think you will find that all your dovetail joints will be at the ends of the wood, so the greater depth would not be needed.

 

[jamesicus]

Hi folks, as the title says I need to choose a saw for cutting waste out of dovetails (mostly in pine atm) - do I need a coping saw or a fretsaw?

Also what sort of tpi blades should I be buying??

Thanks for any sensible replys.


Regards.

I use a fret/jeweler's saw to remove most of the waste, retracing the first
bead saw cut then twisting the blade in order to cut along the base line ..........

I think my methodology is better (at least more completely) explained here: Making Dovetail joints using a homemade Jig/Fixture

James

 

[No skills]

James and Andy, thank you.

Like the ally angle guides for squareness, might borrow that one.

Cheers.


8)

 

[marcus]

Coping saw is the traditional choice, for what that's worth. That's what I use, never thought of using anything else, but thinking about it now I would say that sturdiness of the blade (less likely to snap) and faster cutting would be the advantage for me. I cut a few mm above the shoulder then pare back with a chisel, sometimes to a timber batten clamped to the board, sometimes freehand.

 

[David C]

This entirely depends on the scale of your dovetails.

Small boxes and drawers adjustable frame jewellers saw.

Large carcass work coping saw.

David Charlesworth

 

[bugbear]

This entirely depends on the scale of your dovetails.

Small boxes and drawers adjustable frame jewellers saw.

Large carcass work coping saw.

David Charlesworth

And a bow saw if your dovetails are truly huge!

BugBear

 

[matthewwh]

For the benefit of those who haven't handled these types of saw before:




A fretsaw has a very long frame which you tuck under your arm - effectively making yourself into a human scrollsaw, as demonstrated in this video. It uses 5" plain ended scrollsaw blades which are very fine, can be threaded through a tiny hole to cut holes in the middle of a board and are available in a massive range of tooth styles and pitches (we stock about 70 different types of plain ended blades).




A jewellers saw takes the same blades, comes in different frame depths and is used more like a normal saw. As David says, this is the tool normally used for fine dovetails - making drawers etc. you can drop the blade down the kerf left by a dovetail saw and just set off across the bottom of the DT.




A coping saw takes pinned blades which are thicker, coarser and more durable. Coping saw blades only come in a handful of pitches and can also be used on other materials, the blade can be rotated in the frame for better access. As mentioned above, if you are cutting dovetails in inch thick stuff this would be a better choice, although you do have to saw a curved cut and then come back the other way - typically leaving a bit to clean up with a chisel.

 

[marcus]

I use a coping saw on even quite fine dovetails — If they are small I take two cuts, one diagonally across which opens it up without risking damage to the edges, then cut across the shoulder. I find it pretty quick because of not needing to worry about the blade snapping, and the aggressive cut. I tend to gang the pieces up to saw in batches (at least the tails), which makes for quite a thickness to saw even with thin stock. I can imagine this being pretty slow going with a thin bladed fret or jewellers saw, though I haven't tried it so may be wrong!

 

[No skills]

Once again thanks all for the input. Coping saw will be the way for now, will add a fret or jewelers saw later on (like the look of the little one). None of my work is fine, mostly rubbish