I’m using the Katz-Moses dovetail guide and a Japanese dozuki. Boards are clamped in a moxon vise, mounted on my bench.
This style saw is clearly not meant to be used in this orientation. The body mechanics are awful and my wrist hurts after 3 or 4 boards.
Has anyone had success using the dovetail guide with a western-style saw? What thickness stock will it accommodate?
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I tried one of those but wound up making my own where the registration surface wraps around the corner of the cut. No magnets, but once you get used to pinching the blade it's all good:
https://www.tailspintools.com/how-to-make-dovetail-saw-guide-blocks/
I use a similar wooden guide block with with a Lie Nielsen saw and it works fine
I just ran into that exact problem with the K-M guide and a japanese back saw. The angles just don't work out and I tried a bunch of different ways to hold the material. I ended up with the K-M guide and the Lee Valley dovetail saw. The dovetail saw was tons faster than the pull saw. With 3/4 stock I can get about 90% of the way down the pins. It takes maybe half a stroke to finish the cut. Works really well.
I actually just gave a trial run with the K-M guide in making a tool chest with dovetailed corner joints, using my L-N tapered dovetail saw. The only issue I encountered was that the tapered end ran into the top surface of the guide as it would a depth stop before I had finished the cuts. (I was using off-the-shelf milled 1x10 pine, so my depth of cut was to be 3/4".) Had I been using their non-tapered saw, it would have been no problem, I believe--though barely. The guide functioned exactly as advertised, so to speak.
Why not spend the time learning the basic skills to cut dovetails instead of wasting it on the latest and greatest jigs? It really is not that hard.
A good quality saw and basic layout tools are all you need.
Regarding saws, I would recommend a western style for a beginner, with that said the Japanese are excellent as well if you understand their use.
Because I don't cut dovetails often enough to develop the muscle memory and maintain it. With a saw guide I can get good dovetails with little to no paring.
I sometimes use the David Barron version with a western saw (LN standard) and find that once you cut as deep as the saw will allow you can just finish the cut freehand and the line won't deviate unless you are completely useless (which I'm sure you're not!)
I also use the David Barron dovetail guide but I use it with a Japanese Dozuki saw. I think it works great, but it will not "automatically" give you perfect dovetails. You have to have good sawing technique to make it work.
I always do several practice sets of dovetails before I go to work.
I use the KM jig with a nice Veritas dovetail saw.
It saves a lot of messing about with layout as simply spacing the pins is all that is required. The jig does pretty much all the work of alignment.
Results are good, even with limited experience of the joint (I have for a long time made lots of things that don't need dovetails)
I got one just to try. Its ok, but I find it a bit confusing, I'm constantly spinning it around to find the right facet.
I wish the registration post was wider.
I colored in, with a red sharpie, the engraved markings indicating which side was which. It made it easier for my old eyes to pick the right orientation.
Aha!!
I agree with the needing a thicker post.
I also struggle with the faces, but once you have got it lined up it's really easy to use, and with the Pekovich blue-tape method I get most of my dovetails fitting well off the saw.
One day I might not need it, but today is not that day!
Thanks, everyone! Looks like there might be a western-style dovetail saw in my future.
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