| In this article the last of the series of three, I am talking | | | | workshop, a rip point seems to work much more |
| about the last section of tools that a young apprentice | | | | efficiently. |
| cabinetmaker would need to start off their collection of | | | | Now you can be patriotic and you can go on |
| handtools. In previous weeks I've talked about planes | | | | supporting these old saw makers but there comes a |
| and chisels, marking and measuring tools and all that | | | | day when somebody puts a saw in your hands that |
| remains now are two areas of hand tools that have | | | | works so much better, costs less than half as much, |
| changed most for the modern European cabinet | | | | you have to think why am I beating my head against |
| maker - those of saws and routers. | | | | this brick wall.. Perhaps I should not continue to advise |
| There was a time when a cabinet makers toolkit | | | | you go on paying nearly £50 for British saw |
| would have half a dozen hand saws. He'd have two | | | | when there's the Japanese equivalent for £17.79 |
| or three back saws, dovetail saw, a tenon saw, | | | | that does the job rather better straight out of the box. |
| maybe a coping saw. He would also have several long | | | | But then I remember what they did to our motorcycle |
| saws, a rip saw, a cross cut saw, probably a couple | | | | industry. |
| of panel saws sharpened in different ways. Each of | | | | Now the difficulty with these Japanese saws is they |
| these saws had a different purpose and would be | | | | require a different technique. They cut on the pull |
| used for a different part of the job. Tool catalogues | | | | stroke whereas European saws cut on the push. But |
| were full to busting of saw companies products | | | | don't they work beautifully. Two saws that seem to |
| boasting features like breasted tooth lines and taper | | | | have found a home in our workshop are the |
| grinding . | | | | Doutsuki-Me which seems to be the equivalent of the |
| All this now is no more. In the modern cabinet makers | | | | European dovetail saw and the professional Ryoba |
| workshop the bench saw has largely been replaced | | | | saw. The Doutsuki-Me saw is a very fine light back |
| either by the small machine - like the table saw or the | | | | saw with a long handle which makes the control |
| band saw, or by the portable hand tool such as the jig | | | | relatively straight forward. But the problem everyone |
| saw or contractors circular saw. I don't propose to | | | | had a few years ago with these saws was |
| look at power tools or machines in this article but will | | | | sharpening the wretched things. That has been |
| still concentrate on what is left, for what is left is | | | | overcome recently with the introduction of the |
| actually quite important. It will be a sad day when a | | | | replaceable blade. Nowadays the Doutsuki-Me saw is |
| cabinet maker can't actually pick up a saw and cut a | | | | sold complete for just under £18 and a spare |
| piece of wood dead straight, trim the end of a tenon | | | | standard blade for just over £10. I think Nick |
| or cut a mitre just shy of the line. | | | | tends to replace his saw blade maybe two or three |
| But sometimes it feels like that day isn't too far away | | | | times a year which makes this quite an expensive |
| for so much of the sawing dimensioning of | | | | saw, but for the cabinetmaker this is a very important |
| components is done nowadays on the small machine. | | | | tool and one would spend whatever is necessary |
| It's so much easier to potter off away from the bench, | | | | within reason to achieve these results . |
| in our case go downstairs to a machine room and | | | | The Ryoba saw also has a replaceable blade, but |
| buzz that little bit of wood off on the table saw. Cutting | | | | don't confuse replaceable in this context with the |
| it off by hand involves effort, energy and skill. It also | | | | cheap throw away blades found European saws. This |
| involves a good saw. Now it saddens me that when I | | | | is a saw made for the professional market. The saw |
| look in the tool catalogue these days, the saw section | | | | has two cutting edges. The top edge has rip teeth with |
| which used to occupy a whole chapter is now | | | | a finer set of teeth adjacent to the handle for starting |
| condensed down to two or three pages but it's still | | | | the cut while the other edge has cross cut teeth which |
| possible to buy an excellent saw , the trouble is it | | | | gives a very smooth clean cut. The centre of the |
| comes from Japan. | | | | blade is scraped out in the same way that old |
| Here at our Shebbear workshops I must admit that | | | | fashioned panel saws had tapered round blades this is |
| we have allowed the "tools of the devil" to take over. | | | | done to help prevent the saws sticking in a deep cut. I |
| I've had Japanese chisels and waterstones in my | | | | must admit that these "tools of the devil" have taken a |
| workshop for 20 or more years but Japanese saws | | | | long time to arrive in my very conservative and |
| came when Nick Chandler and I got together 4 years | | | | chauvinistic workshop. Even given my support for the |
| ago. I had never really taken to Japanese saws but | | | | British motorcycle industry I can't go on supporting |
| many of my students have used them with great | | | | Messrs Roberts & Lee when the design and |
| success. Basically because when I started work I was | | | | construction of their best saws seems to have |
| lucky enough to find myself a really good dovetail saw. | | | | deteriorated over time rather than improved. |
| This was a saw made by Roberts & Lee and | | | | Now we come to routers. The second area I want to |
| fitted with an open handle. For nearly twenty years I | | | | look at is the single tool that has changed cabinet |
| was advising students to buy similar Roberts & | | | | making in the last 25 years - that of the router. I must |
| Lee, Dorchester, dovetail saws. Now lots of my | | | | admit that I hate routers. Not for what it's done to |
| students bought their 8 inch and 10 inch saws with | | | | cabinet making but for the bloody noise and mess they |
| beautiful walnut handles and lovely brass backs. | | | | make. They are filthy tools that create a fine dust that |
| They paid something approaching £50 for each | | | | covers the whole workshop in brown snow and admit |
| saw Just recently I decided to treat myself to a new | | | | a scream that would drive a Methodist to drink. As far |
| 10 inch dovetail saw. A natural choice wasn't a | | | | as I'm concerned the only good router's a dead router. |
| Japanese rubbishy thing but the £49 Roberts | | | | However they are incredibly useful. A router is |
| & Lee, Dorchester, 590 walnut handled whizzo | | | | essentially a small portable machine centre, infinitely |
| dovetail saw. I thought it was British and I've had a saw | | | | versatile, used in a myriad of ways depending on your |
| like that for over 25 years. Fair to say I unhappy with | | | | tooling and ingenuity. We have five routers in the shop |
| my new saw I experienced myself the disappointment | | | | at the moment and probably two are in if not constant |
| I had visited upon so many of my students. The | | | | then in intermittent use most of the time |
| thickness of the saw plate was roughly similar to my | | | | The most useful is a small router and I think the small |
| old dovetail saw. The quality and weight of the brass | | | | router would be the only I would recommend a |
| back was if anything a little heavier, which is probably | | | | beginner to buy first. The large router is a bit of a brute |
| appropriate for a slightly longer saw. The way that the | | | | but eventually you will need a large router as well as a |
| handle was fitted to the back and blade assembly | | | | small one. Of the small routers today available on the |
| was loose and sloppy. Even with the blade tightened | | | | market the choice in the professional workshop seems |
| as much as I could there was a gap of a quarter of a | | | | to be between the Dewalt DW6201K and the Trend |
| millimetre on either side where my old saw was tight | | | | T5. Both these routers have variable speed and a |
| and snug. Why in this age when such wonderful feats | | | | proven track record. I think the Dewalt weighs in at |
| of engineering can be accomplished as a manner of | | | | £212 while the Trend costs £159 including |
| course by robots can we not make a back saw with | | | | a metal box. I think if I were buying a new router today |
| a decently fitting wooden handle. When it came to | | | | I would probably go for the Trend T5 but then this is |
| using the saw I was prepared for a tussle. | | | | because it's so similar to my old Elu router that I would |
| Dovetail saws come with a crosscut sharpening and | | | | feel at home and comfortable with it. |
| wide set that means they don't really function very | | | | A new router in the larger category which found a |
| well especially ripping dry hardwood. What with all the | | | | place in our affections most recently is the Freud |
| saws I've helped students set up over the years I | | | | FT2000VCE. This is a half inch router with loads of |
| learnt how to get these little saws running reasonably | | | | grunt but it comes equipped with a very accurate and |
| well. It involves firstly taking a cloth soaked in thinners | | | | nice to use fine depth adjuster which makes it very |
| to the blade and removing most of the gunk that | | | | useful for fitting underneath a router table. This is one |
| manufacturers leave on the blade to protect it from | | | | of the major uses in this workshop of this kind of big |
| rust whilst it is in the shop. Once you've done this it's | | | | router. This place isn't really the place to discuss the |
| necessary to slightly stone off some of the set applied | | | | merit of each particular model of router. One point I |
| to the saw. A dovetail saw is a precision instrument | | | | would like to stress is the way a small hand held router |
| the way these saws are set in the factory is to my | | | | usually with a quarter inch collet has really become a |
| mind much too coarse. | | | | key hand tool in the cabinet makers tool box. Rather |
| A good dovetail saw should cut a nice fine kerf and | | | | than filling his tool box with half sets of molding planes, |
| you can only achieve this by stoning off some of the | | | | the young cabinet maker will be gathering together |
| set by running a fine stone down either side of the | | | | assorted set of router bits of different sizes and |
| blade or as I used to do tapping the set back with a | | | | shapes and qualities. |
| small hammer on an anvil. This can get the saw | | | | Our toolkit series is complete but this is just the start of |
| running reasonably well but what it really needs is a full | | | | the process of assembling your set of tools . It seems |
| re-sharpen and that's best accomplished by taking a | | | | to me that the professional is always seeking to have |
| small saw file and filing a 90 degree to the saw blade | | | | the best tools available not the most tools. We always |
| just one stroke per tooth. I think that dovetail saws | | | | seem to seek to replace that irritating plane with a |
| when sharpened new are sharpened in cross cut | | | | better one or with something that will do the job better. |
| fashion when really most of the action, certainly in our | | | | Like a better dovetail saw. |