# Which saws should I buy?



## woodgeekess (Mar 16, 2012)

I need three saws to start out with:

Dovetail
Crosscut
Rip

Which three should I buy?

Should I just go ahead and get Veritas saws? (I like the western not japanese saws). I don't care about looks and I can't afford what Lie Nielsen or Bad Axe wants for theirs. I also don't want the hassle of a Disston because it's hard to know what I'd be getting from ebay and besides a good Disston is a lot of money on ebay it seems.

Does Veritas re-sharpen their saws if you ship the saws to them?

If I were to get only three Veritas saws, which ones would you recommend?

Thanks.

Btw, I have a Crown Dovetail 8" Gents saw and it seems like it doesn't cut very well -- very hard to start the cut and seems dull right out of the package.


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*Woodcraft has a bunch*

http://www.woodcraft.com/Search2/Search.aspx?query=&proddimproductgroup=Saws&proddimdeptdesc=Hand%20Saws&page=1

Your Gents saw is also listed there. 
Many factors come into play, the sharpness of the saw, the toughness of the wood, end grain vs cross grain, but I know you knew all that. 

Your aversion to Japanese pull saws is a bit puzzling, since they are razor sharp, relatively less expensive and.... when pulled will cut in a straight line with a thinner kerf. They are my first choice when a power tool won't work. I love a little Vaughn Bear for trimming and cleaning up corners.
Amazon.com: Vaughan BS333C Bear Saw with 13-Inch Coarse/Medium Blade: Home Improvement

All my other handsaws are either quite old or cheap or both. :blink: bill


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## firemedic (Dec 26, 2010)

I prefer the western style saws over the Jap saws as well.

Veritas 14tpi is pretty much a no brainer for the Dovetail saw. Excellent saw and a great price.

When you say Rip... What type of ripping? A dovetail saw is a small rip saw and a Carcass Rip is basically an enlarged version of it. 

If you are ripping long stock you'll want a larger rip saw with no spine. Something like an Atkins or Disston 5-7 tpi. If you are doing only tennons and similar I'd suggest the carcass saw.

...build n burn - live n learn...


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## ChiknNutz (Apr 22, 2011)

One disadvantage to using a Japanese-style pull-saw with Dovetails (or any cut that requires precision) is that the sawdust obscures your cut-lines. I got the Veritas 14TPI dovetail saw for Christmas and so far REALLY like it, but have not used it a whole lot yet.


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## ACP (Jan 24, 2009)

Of your three saws, two are rip. Dovetail saws are rip saws. If you look at Veritas' saws, their carcass is a 12tpi rip with almost 2 1/2" of plate. The DT is either 14 or 20 tpi with like 1 1/2" of plate. Are you going to be ripping deep tenons? I would, if it were me, buy the Crosscut carcass saw and 14 tpi DT. That way you have both saw cuts covered with fair range. If you are cutting tenons greater than 1" on a regular basis you may want to get the rip carcass at some point too. If you buy the saws from Veritas now the shipping is free and they have package deals too to save money. Both carcass saws are packaged together, the small 20 tpi and crosscut are packaged together and so are the 20 and 14 tpi DT saws and small crosscut saw in a three saw package. Each of those saves you money when you buy them combined. Maybe if you call them they'll work a package deal with you for the different saws if you don't like the packages. Either way they are individually cheaper than woodcraft by $5 each and with the free shipping right now you can't miss. Good luck, let us know what you decide.


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## Wrangler02 (Apr 15, 2011)

ACP said:


> Of your three saws, two are rip. Dovetail saws are rip saws. If you look at Veritas' saws, their carcass is a 12tpi rip with almost 2 1/2" of plate. The DT is either 14 or 20 tpi with like 1 1/2" of plate. Are you going to be ripping deep tenons? I would, if it were me, buy the Crosscut carcass saw and 14 tpi DT. That way you have both saw cuts covered with fair range. If you are cutting tenons greater than 1" on a regular basis you may want to get the rip carcass at some point too. If you buy the saws from Veritas now the shipping is free and they have package deals too to save money. Both carcass saws are packaged together, the small 20 tpi and crosscut are packaged together and so are the 20 and 14 tpi DT saws and small crosscut saw in a three saw package. Each of those saves you money when you buy them combined. Maybe if you call them they'll work a package deal with you for the different saws if you don't like the packages. Either way they are individually cheaper than woodcraft by $5 each and with the free shipping right now you can't miss. Good luck, let us know what you decide.


90% of the time I work with white oak. That being said; I would buy both a carcass saw and DT saw with rip teeth. In oak, a rip saw makes cross cuts just fine. I recently purchased a saw that has cross cut teeth; but, I don't always grab it to cut cheeks on tenons.


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