I bought an Adria dovetail saw for Christmas (heh you gotta be good to yourself right?) and have had a chance to use it enough to post a few comments.
First off, this is a beautiful piece of craftsmanship. It’s small size is betrayed by it’s heft, really quality materials and tight fit and finish make this a treat to use.
It’s smaller than other back saws, the blade length is a full 1″ shorter than most dovetail saws. After using it I can say that the shorter length translates into a little more control. As I mentioned above, it’s smaller size doesn’t make it a lightweight… I think the brass back may be slightly heftier to compensate for less blade. Either way, it’s solid.
One complaint I have heard about Adria is that their handles are small when compared to other saws. I have large hands and I am finding this open handle to be really comfortable and while it’s a tight fit I don’t feel cramped. Like with the smaller blade size, the snug handle translates to really good control and feel.
Cut quality is fantastic, which at the end of the day is what a good saw is all about. Based on my experience with this saw I think it’s a certainty I’ll be adding a pair of their carcass saws at some point.
Replies
>pair of their carcass saws at some point
Glad you had a good experience !
My experience with Adria was some what different in relation to the pair of their carcass saws.
The big back saws was what I was after. Man I was hot for them and needed them to complete a project with huge dovetails. See pic bellow.
I was working through Tools For Working Wood. Adria could not supply one big saw let alone two. I waited months with always the "for sure next week" promise. Buy the time I got around to dealing with Adria directly I had already received one Lie-Neilsen big old back saw and was in the process of turning it into a usable saw. LN does not even make the second saw.
I had never really spent much time fettling a saw so this was an adventure in its self. Had to make a saw vise to hold it etc.
Turns out he finally had a saw to send me but by then I ordered my second LN.
In the end I was only half impressed with Adria because he refuses to resharpen his saws that he makes. The whole point is his care in sharpening and fettling.
He expects us to send his saws to a service here in the USA. I bet they don't put the same care into it as Adria.
Anyway after I straightened and sharpened the LNs I can do it well enough to cut what I need. Wish I could have had a good experience with Adria. Would have saved me a ton of time.
I learned a lot. The hard way !
Sorry to sound down on LN. I like their tools allot. I like my LN carcass saws allot.
Both were not straight enough to cut straight from the box. They were sharp enough I suppose but I needed to steepen the sharpening angle on one so it could cut right in very hard wood. From the box it would bite and jump.
The second LN I had to totally refile because I needed a cross cut and all they supply is a rip tooth. ( or visy versy too lazy here to look it up ). So that was major work but after straightening, REALLY had to crank on them to get any change at all ! ! !, and fettling other wise I have a fine brace of LN
It seems that I remember about that time that the one guy who is Adria had decided to take up his old job in the "real world" again, cease making big saws due to lack of time to make saws and to concentrate on the small saw.
Every thing changes. Not sure of current status of Adria. My advice is don't hold your breath for a big carcass saw let alone a brace of them.
roc
those are some beautiful dovetails.
Woodman41,Thank you for your kind words.Hemingway said something to the effect of ' we do our art as well as we can and sometimes, if we are lucky, we do it better than we can '.I got luckyHey if you get the big saws let me know. Maybe I will get some Adrias for me and sell the LNs. I did not get the little Adria because I had some small saws that work. Sounds like I don't know what I am missing.good luckroc
FWIW, I just ordered the big Adria tenon saw (rip filed) recently, and it was delivered within 2 weeks. No complaints and it cuts great. The service they recommend - Cooke's in PA, does great work - I've had several saws sharpened there, and will gladly send my 3 Adrias there when it's time.jp
JP,That is great news ! Way to go Adria !
Thank you for remembering to let me know.roc
"The second LN I had to totally refile because I needed a cross cut and all they supply is a rip tooth. ( or visy versy too lazy here to look it up ). So that was major work but after straightening, REALLY had to crank on them to get any change at all ! ! !, and fettling other wise I have a fine brace of LN"
Roc - That seems really odd, because both the 12" and 14" saws are available as either rip or crosscut file (I have both the 12" rip and the 12" cross cut). All of my L-N saws have been nothing other than pin straight, and they've been very, very good about correcting any issues with any of my tools. You are correct in that L-N rip saws are filed with a zero fleam, and really hard wood needs about a 10 degree fleam or so not grab. I suspect they do this, though, because adding a good bit of fleam makes the saw cut a lot slower, and the majority of their customers would really whine about that.
Thanks for keeping me honest. That must have confused some people to whom i apologize.I am sorry.After looking at the above a bit more closely this is how it all came to pass:I was cutting dovetails in three inch stock or there abouts while making my cabinet makers bench.I have the little straight handle dovetail saw in the ten point and was learning to appreciate the corse teeth for speed and accuracy while cutting the medium cabinet size dovetails.Well the cross cut 14" tenon saw in 13 ppi just seemed tooooo fine for the big old joints. I think I would even have liked 6 ppi if I could have got it.Sooooo I bought the 10 ppi rip and refiled it to cross cut.It is the Lie-Nielsen Carcass saw that is not available in a cross cut of any kind.roc
Edited 2/8/2009 6:31 pm by roc
The LN carcass saw is available in rip (one at 15 ppi, one at 10 ppi) and cross cut (14 ppi). There is also a fine 16 ppi cross cut that is 9" in length.
Take care, Mike
Thanks With LN cross cuts I recommend looking at the teeth with some magnification before buying. I bought one once that was labeled a "cross cut" but when I got it home I could not get it to track a knife line and when I looked at it with a jeweler's loop it was rip and they had touched every twentieth tooth or so to file it cross cut. I returned the saw. That was back, six years or so, when the plane blades were not flat and ground very rough. The plane blades have gotten much better so hopefully the saws are true crosscut now as well.roc
PS: I found it interesting that Tage Frid poo pood cross cuts and claimed a rip could do everything you need. I never could agree though I kept using the rips for a while.
Edited 2/8/2009 11:43 pm by roc
"PS: I found it interesting that Tage Frid poo pood cross cuts and claimed a rip could do everything you need. I never could agree though I kept using the rips for a while."
This is actually true - you can use a rip file for cross-cutting, though it's slow and will leave a rough finish. The flip side isn't possible - attempting to use a true cross-cut in a rip cut, especially a deep rip cut that must be accurate (like a tenon cheek) is just about impossible to track correctly - it will follow the grain.
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