188-080 - Japanese-Style Dovetail Saws

8/10/2019 188-080 - Japanese-Style Dovetail Saws

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Japanese-Style

Dovetail Saws

T O O L T E S T

These fast-cutting sawsare affordable and

razor-sharp out of the box

B Y C H A R L E S D U R F E E

COPYRIGHT 2006 by The Taunton Press, Inc. Copying and distribution of this article is not permitted.


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M y first woodworking years werespent building traditional wood-en boats with a small group ofsimilarly wide-eyed enthusiasts. We wouldgather around the woodstove to warm ourfingers, and invariably would talk abouttools. Our handsaws were the typical car-penters variety: crosscut and rip, with anoccasional backsaw. Sharpened as best wecould, they cut pine and cedar adequately,struggled in oak and mahogany, and ingeneral made sawing by hand an unwel-come chore.

Then one day a shop-mate came in hold-ing a carefully wrapped, slender package.He pulled out a strange-looking saw witha thin blade and a long, straight handle.He explained that the blade was so thinbecause this type of saw cuts on the pullstroke, an action that keeps the thin bladefrom buckling. The narrow blade naturallycreates a thin kerf or cut, which means itrequires less effort to remove less wood,and it cuts faster. We tried the saw. It was like touching

the pedal of a Jaguar after driving a Fordall your life. The saw raced through thecut, straight down the line. It was my firstexposure to Japanese handsaws, and Ivebeen a fan ever since. Although Ive now used Japanese saws

for 30 years, Ive never really studied themother than to read catalog descriptions orthe occasional article. When I needed anew one, I looked through tool catalogsand tried to figure out the differences

among the many offered. Other than price,they seemed very similar in appearanceand description, so the chance to test andevaluate a range of these saws was a fineopportunity to learn more.

Quick tour of a Japanese saw Like their Western counterparts, Japanesesaws come in a range of styles dependingon the type of cut to be made and whetherspeed or smoothness is more important.The type of saw I tested is known as adozuki, which means tenon shoulder in

Japanese. The standard dozuki is a cross-cut saw, but rip dozukis are finding their

way into the market and examples are in-cluded in this review. A dozuki has a very thin bladegener-

ally 11 to 12 thousandths of an inch, or halfthe thickness of a Western sawbladesup-ported by a back of folded-over steel or

Ripping speed. To test how fasteach saw could rip, Durfee cut dovetails in 3 4 -in.-thick cherry, and in and hard maple (left). The numberof strokes it took to make each cutwas recorded and then averaged to

give each saws score (above).

Pullsawshave differtooth style

A closer look. The teeth on Japanese saws are small, yet theyhave a number of differences indesign and performance.

MODIFIED RIP Modified rip teeth look similar tocrosscut teeth in profile, with the secondary bevel.However, they are sharpened as rip teeth, thatis to say, straight across the blade. They rip verydecently and can crosscut in a pinch, althoughwith a rather rough action.

C H O O S E W I S E LY There are four types of tooth pattern on the saws that I looked at, twocrosscut and two rip variations. While dovetail cuts are ripping cuts, youmight want a saw that also crosscuts cleanly.

RIP Ripsaws have teeth shaped very similar toWestern-style saws, although with thin bladesand the pull-stroke action, of course. These sawsmake the fastest dovetail cuts, but I wouldnt ask

them to do any crosscut ting.

IKEDA CROSSCUT In the Ikeda tooth pattern, aset of normal crosscut teeth is followed by two raker

teeth, which have less set and are slightly lowerin height. The goal is to clean out the chips moreefficiently, but the ones I tested had a rougher action

than the conventional crosscu t pat tern.

CROSSCUT This pattern is typical on dozukis.The teeth are long and narrow, sharpened atan angle to the blade. These make very goodcrosscuts and rip cuts, though they rip moreslowly than saws with a true rip pattern.

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have blades that can be resharpened, bthat costs about $30 and the saw must returned to Japan, so youd be withoufor three to four months.

The saws were tested for ease of usespeed, and smoothnessFor this test, I chose 15 saws. I seleccrosscut dozukis with 18 to 30 tpi, intened for very fine cuts. I also chose some rdozukis, which, like Western saws, hafewer teeth per inch. Two of the ripsawhad tooth patterns similar to those of Wesern saws, while a couple of others hadmodified rip sharpened at 90 to the bladbut with secondary bevels (see Cho

wisely, p. 81).Unlike many Western-style saws, ev

dozuki arrived very sharp and ready to cuI used each saw to cut a series of dovetaiin 3 4-in.-thick cherry, soft maple, and habirds-eye maple to a depth of 3 4 measure the speed of each saw, I countethe number of strokes needed to get the final depth. I also noted how well thsaw set in when starting the cut, especial

when making the angled, tail cuts. Tsmoothness of the stroke, the abilitycorrect the cut, and the smoothness of tside walls were also observed. As a group, the saws set in well, and the

sharpness was very helpful when getti

The number of strokesto make each cut wasrecorded, and the kerfwidth cut by each sawwas measured withfeeler gauges (above).The thickness of the

sawkerfs ranged from20 to 10 thousandthsof an inch (right).

Most of the saws testecome with hardenedteeth that cannot be

sharpened. When theyeventually become bluor if the blade is dam- aged, the blade isremoved from the backand handle and replace

T H I N N E RB L A D E S C U TFASTER WITH

L E S S E F F O RT

REPLACEABBLADESELIMINATES H A R P E N I N

brass. The straight oval handle is wrapped with rattan.

The number of teeth per inch (tpi) onthe finer dozukis is usually in the 24 to28 tpi range, compared to 15 to 20 tpion the average Western dovetail saw. Thedozuki crosscut teeth are long and thin,

with a distinctive secondary bevel at the tip.The blade length is usually 9 in. to 10 in.,but a couple of the saws I looked at have7-in. blades.

The final difference relates to sharpeningand resharpening. Basically, a Western-style

saw dulls a bit more quickly, but can be re-sharpened with specialized tools and someexperience. On the other hand, most Japa-nese saws arrive with razor-sharp, hard-ened teeth that stay sharp longer, and theblade simply is replaced when it dulls, usu-ally at a cost of $20 to $30. My saws usuallylast as long as 10 years under frequent usein a professional shop. Higher-end saws

82 F I N E W O O D W O R K I N G Photos: Michael P



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C O R R E C T I N G

A C U T

STARTING A C U T

Guide the cut with your

thumb. Angle the saw very slightly and start cuttingat the back corner. Useonly very light cuts and letthe teeth do the work.

Tuck the handle in. Some users prefer tohold the handle close

to the blade and keepthe end of the handleclose to their side tohelp guide the saw.

Finger pointing. Analternative is to ex- tend the index fingeralong the length of thehandle to help directthe saw.

End of the handle. Durfee prefers to holdthe saw near the endof the handle for a lighttouch.

T H R E E WAY S T O H O L D T H E S AW

IT TAKES TIME TO BECOME COMFORTABLE with the pull-stroke

action, but any new tool takes some getting used to. Because of

the thinness of the saw, use a light touch in general, but especially

on the forward stroke, to avoid buckling the blade.

When gripping the saw, I prefer to hold the handle near the end

with all four fingers wrapped around it. Alternatively, you can gripthe front of the handle, with or without the index finger pointing

along the top.

Start a cut on the rear corner of the workpiece using the heel

of the blade. Angle the blade very slightly and pull back gently,

applying very light pressure; the sharp teeth are designed to

Helpful hints for using a pullsaw

If you find that the cut

has drifted off course,dont try to correct it bytilting the saw; the thinblade will bend (top). In-

stead, back the blade outand start again at a steepangle until you are backon the right line.

do all the work. Once the cut is on track in the back, come

across the top to establish the kerf before working down the

front line. In this way you wont have to deal with following two

lines at once.

Because the teeth have so li ttle set (a sideways bend to the

tooth, to avoid the blade binding in the cut), it is difficult to cor-rect a cut thats not straight from the start. Its best to back out

and restart the cut instead of trying to twist the blade in the kerf.

If youve been used to a Western-style saw, you will notice the fine

dust, the thin kerf, the speed, and (with a few exceptions) the very

smooth action of the dozuki.

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SAW NAME RETAILER (TOOL NUMBER)SP

CROSSCUT (ALL-PURPOSE) SAWS

8 1 2 -in. dovetail saw Japan Woodworker (18.210.0) $42

Craftsman dozukiGarrett Wade (49I17.01)Lee Valley (60 T 03.15)

Deluxe dozuki Tools for Working Wood (MS-JS320) $

Deluxe dozukiwith replaceable blade

Tools for Working Wood (MS-JS445)Japan Woodworker (19.210.0)

Dozuki Z saw Rockler (65607)Woodcraft Supply (12F27)

Hardwood dozuki Garrett Wade (49I15.01) $5

Ikedame dozuki Highland Woodworking (056406) $5

Juntaro Mitsukawa Tool s for Wor king Wood (M S- JS420) $2

Odate crosscut dovetail Highland Woodworking (056423) $5

Standard dozuki Lee Valley (60 T 03.01) $4

Takumi dozuki Woodcraft Supply (142421) $5

RIPSAWS

Deluxe rip dozuki Tools for Working Wood (MS-JS340) $

Dozuki ripsaw Izaemon Japan Woodworker (05.114.24) $147

Gyokucho 9 1 2 in. Japan Woodworker (19.311.0) $39

Odate rip dovetail Tools for Working Wood (MS-JS340.01) $4

a cut started. All cut straight down a line with minimal guidance, which indicates agood job of sharpening and setting. A key component of performance is

speed: You may be willing to take the timefor hand dovetailing, but you dont wantto spend all weekend at it. It was in thiscategory that the ripsaws separated them-selves from the pack. I was startled, to say

the least, by how fast the two true ripsawsflew through the cuts. Thirteen strokesto get through 3 4-in. by 3 4-in. cherry is pret-ty remarkable, especially when comparedto the 30 to 40 strokes it took some of thecrosscut saws. All the saws tested had a lovely, smooth

action, with only subtle differences be-tween them. The expensive, handmade

Juntaro Mitsukawa is an exceptionsmooth cutter, although probably todegree that would interest only the trconnoisseur. For most users, a saw thcosts one-fifth as much will do nicely. the other hand, I found the Ikeda tootpattern saws to have a generally roughaction than the standard crosscut saws

I also examined the quality of the c

All the saws left smooth side walls t would be fine as is for joinery. The stanout was the fine-toothed 8 1 2-in. dosaw, which left a remarkable, glass-smoosurface. As a group, these saws reward accura

starts and dont appreciate being usto try and correct a misaligned cut (sHelpful hints for using a pullsaw, p. 8

A U TH O R

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C H O I C E

A U TH O R

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C H O I C E

A U TH O R

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C H O I C E

A U TH O R

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C H O I C E

If you only want to c ut dovetails, then buya ripsaw such as the Gyokucho 9 1 2 in. orthe Deluxe rip dozuki. For both ripping andcrosscutting, the Dozuki Z crosscut sawis the best buy.

CHOOSING AD O V E TA I L S AW

A U TH O R

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C H O I C E

A U TH O R

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C H O I C E

A U TH O R

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C H O I C E

A U TH O R

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C H O I C E

DOZUKI Z SAW

DELUXE RIPDOZUKI

GYOKUCHO9 1 2 IN.

F I N E W O O D W O R K I N G84



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TOOTHTYPE

TEETHPERINCH

BLADETHICKNESS

(INCHES)

KERFWIDTH

(INCHES)

REPLACEOR

SHARPEN

RIP SPEED TEST RESULTS(AVERAGE STROKES PER CUT) CROSSCUT

RATINGCOMMENTS

Cherry Soft maple Hard maple

Crosscut 30 0.008 0.010 Replace 21 35 64 A Short blade

Ikedacrosscut 24 0.012 0.016 Replace 26 42 48 C Brass back

Crosscut 26 0.011 0.014 Sharpen 26 46 60 A+ Very little set, so not

a beginners saw.

Crosscut 26 0.011 0.017 Replace 26 55 70 B Decent basic dozuki

Crosscut 25 0.012 0.015 Replace 18 31 55 A The best of thebasic dozukis

Crosscut 25 0.011 0.015 Replace 32 44 75 B Unusually wide 3-inblade; nicely finishe

Ikedacrosscut 18 0.012 0.020 Replace 29 40 68 B

Same maker as Dozuki saw but with fewer tp

Crosscut 26 0.012 0.015 Sharpen 18 34 70 A Longest blade and handof saws tested

Crosscut 23 0.011 0.016 Replace 40 46 60 BRough stroke; slow du to short blade; c loth

blade cover

Crosscut 18 0.011 0.017 Replace 30 43 74 B Fewer tpi than mostcrosscut saws

Crosscut 26 0.009 0.013 Replace 20 33 60 A Enameled backand long blade

Cherry Soft maple Hard maple Comments

Rip 13 0.011 0.013 Sharpen 13 16 13 n/a Same maker as Deluxdozuki crosscut saw

Rip 9-14 0.012 0.013 Sharpen 13 16 13 n/a More tpi toward theheel for starting cuts

Modifiedrip 20 0.011 0.016 Replace 19 23 22 n/a

Did extremely well at affordable price

Modifiedrip 20 0.011 0.016 Replace 16 23 22 n/a

Short 7-in. blade;cloth cover

When using saws with a minimal set ofabout 2 to 3 thousandths of an inch (gen-erally the higher-end saws), the only wayto correct a cut is to bring the blade backto the top of the kerf and rework it. Thosesaws with a set of at least 5 thousandthsof an inch afford some ability to cor-rect a cut in progress, but less than most

Western-style saws.

Choose your sawbased on the cuts youll make

Your choice of dozuki should depend on what you want to use it for, your skill lev-el, and your willingness to invest. Sawingdovetails consists of a rip cut. Even cuttingthe tails (while on a slight bias) primarilyis ripping with the grain. A saw dedicated

to dovetails calls for a rip-tooth pattern,but while ripsaws cut dovetails well, theyare quite rough when used for crosscuts.

A crosscut saw, on the other hand, cross-cuts beautifully and also rips smoothly, al-though more slowly. Thus a good-qualitysaw with a crosscut or a modified rip-toothpattern may be your best choice if you arebuying just one pullsaw.

Within the dovetail-only group, the ripdozukis clearly have the performanceedge. Tools for Working Woods Deluxerip dozuki saw and Japan Woodwork-ers dozuki ripsaw Izaemon both per-formed superbly. However, because it issubstantially less expensive, the Tools for

Working Wood saw is my choice as thebest overall.

For best value, I chose the Japan Woo worker Gyokucho 9 1 2-in. dovetail sadoes quite well making the dovetail cu

with its modified rip-tooth grind, it hareplaceable blade, and its very modespriced.

If you are looking for an all-purpodozuki, I recommend as best overall tZ saw, offered by both Rockler

Woodcraft Supply. Being a crosscut sait does that very nicely, but it also crip adequately. Despite the superior peformance, the price is about the same many others tested, so the Z dozukmy choice for best value as well.

Charles Durfee is a furniture maker in WoolwicMaine.

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188-080 - Japanese-Style Dovetail Saws