What the dovetail, carcass and tenon saws are, and how to saw a tenon cheek, are in the backsaw guide. Starting a cut, tracking the line and correcting drift are in how to cut wood straight, and the dovetail itself in cutting dovetails by hand. The knife lines every cut here starts from are explained in measuring and marking.
Choose the saw for the cut
The cuts on this page are crosscuts, so a crosscut-filed saw does them most cleanly — Lie-Nielsen makes its carcass saw, 14 ppi crosscut, for exactly this: tenon shoulders and the edges of dadoes. A rip-filed dovetail saw will crosscut small parts, more slowly and with a rougher exit. Check the depth too: the spine stops the cut at 2¼ in under Lie-Nielsen's carcass saw and 1⅝ in under its dovetail saw, so a deeper crosscut needs a deeper saw, such as Veritas's tenon saws at nearly 4 in.
Hold the work on a bench hook
A bench hook holds small parts for crosscutting without a clamp. Its hook catches the front edge of the bench and its fence stops the work, so each push stroke drives the work into the fence and the hook into the bench: the harder you saw, the tighter it holds. Because the fence and hook stop 2 in short of one end, the saw runs off the base instead of into the fence. The drawing is for a right-handed sawyer; make it the mirror way round to saw on the other side.
Making the bench hook
Cut the parts
One base 3/4 × 7 × 10 in and two strips 3/4 × 1-1/2 × 8 in, from any flat, stable stock; plywood suits the base.
Fix the fence
Glue and screw one strip on top along the far edge, 2 in in from the saw end, square to the edge. Drive the screws from underneath and keep them out of the 2 in strip, where the saw runs.
Fix the hook
Fix the other strip underneath along the near edge, level with the fence's end, so the base sits flat when the hook is against the bench.
Check it
Check the fence is square to the base's end; saw a scrap against it and check the cut with a square.
Note— Pull saws on a bench hook
A pull stroke draws the work toward you and away from the fence, so the bench hook no longer does the holding. Press the work firmly against the fence with the other hand well clear of the saw line, or clamp it. Japanese saws are explained in the Japanese saw guide.
Saw a shoulder all round
Sawing a shoulder all round
Knife the line all round
Square the shoulder line round all four sides from the reference face with a knife, and gauge the tenon on the end and down the faces and edges.
Make a wall to start against
On the waste side of each knife line, pare a small V with a chisel. The saw's teeth drop into it, and the finished shoulder is the knife line itself.
Saw the first face
On the bench hook, saw down into the V on one face only as far as its gauge line. Watch the line on the near edge as well as the face so the cut stays square.
Turn and repeat
Turn the rail onto the next face and saw that shoulder to its line, then the remaining faces and edges, each cut stopping at its own line.
Remove the cheeks
Saw the cheeks as shown in the backsaw guide's worked example, and the waste falls away to a clean shoulder.
Cut miters in a miter box
A miter box holds the saw at the angle so that the cut is set by the kerfs, not by eye. The kerfs are only as true as their layout, so mark them with a square and a miter square, saw them carefully with the saw the box will guide, and check each with a test cut — two 45° offcuts held together should close to a square corner. Work up to 3 in wide fits this box; hold it down against the near side while sawing.
Repeat lengths to a stop
Cutting several parts to one length
Square one end
Square one end of each piece first, on the bench hook or in the miter box.
Set a stop
Clamp a block to the bench hook's base or the miter box so the squared end butts it at the length you want, measured from the saw line, not the kerf's far side.
Cut a test piece
Cut one piece and measure it; move the stop until the length is right. The kerf's width is on the waste side.
Cut the rest
Butt each squared end against the stop and saw. Keep sawdust off the stop, where it would shorten the next part.
Safe sawing at the bench
OSHA's rules for hand saws apply here: point the blade away from anyone nearby, keep the saw sharp — a dull tool is more hazardous than a sharp one — and take a cracked blade out of use. At a bench hook the free hand holds the work behind the fence, never in front of the saw line.
Safety— The free hand stays out of the saw's path
If the saw jumps out of the kerf on the first strokes, it goes where the free hand is guiding it; keep that hand on the far side of the fence or use a clamp. See woodworking safety rules.
Before sawing joinery crosscuts
- A crosscut-filed saw deep enough under its spine for the cut
- Knife lines all round and a small V on the waste side
- The bench hook against the bench edge and the work against its fence
- Miter kerfs proved with a test cut
- A stop set from a measured test piece for repeat lengths
Sources
Saw figures are each maker's own for its own saws, in its own terms (ppi for Lie-Nielsen, tpi for Veritas). The bench hook and miter box are BenchRoot designs, drawn and checked, not built for this page; the sawing method is established bench practice in BenchRoot's own words. No stroke count, saw angle or stance measurement is given as a rule.
- 1.
Carcass Saw specifications. Lie-Nielsen Toolworks.
Used for: Lie-Nielsen's carcass saw: 14 in blade, 2¼ in deep, 14 ppi crosscut; made for work across the grain, such as tenon shoulders and the edges of dadoes.
- 2.
Dovetail Saw (1-SAW-DS) specifications. Lie-Nielsen Toolworks.
Used for: Lie-Nielsen's dovetail saw: 10 in blade, 1⅝ in deep, 15 ppi rip; dovetailing as a ripping operation.
- 3.
Veritas Rip & Crosscut Tenon Saws. Veritas Tools Inc. / Lee Valley.
Used for: Veritas tenon saws: 16 in blade, nearly 4 in of cut depth, 9 tpi rip or 12 tpi crosscut.
- 4.
Hand and Power Tools (OSHA 3080). Occupational Safety and Health Administration, 2002 (revised).
Used for: Saw blades directed away from aisles and other people; dull tools more hazardous than sharp ones; cracked saw blades removed from service.
About this tutorial
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