The Knew Concepts' saws are interesting and maybe a slight improvement over traditional fret and coping saws. Being able to turn the blade in the fret saw without using a pair of "dikes" to twist it is a great improvement but in use I find there is little difference between the two. Both use the same blades, both are slow cutting with a short throw. Breaking blades in either isn't a problem with good technique. Of the two, Knew Concepts fret or traditional fret saws, I will pick up the traditional about as often as the Knew Concepts, usually the one first on the turning saw rack is the one that gets the love.
I do not have a Knew Concepts coping saw so I can't address if it is an improvement over a Olsen coping saw but with a few mods to the Olsen I can get all the tension needed and the blade will not turn unless I make it. With a coping saw the blades are too thick to fit in my dovetail saw kerf, it limits the saws use for removing waste from dovetails and as with the fret saw the throw is too short for efficient sawing. Whatever, the cost difference between the saws (Olsen $13 USD, Knew Concepts $149 USD) would make it difficult to justify the Knew Concepts for so little potential gain.
The jewel of my turning saws is the TFWW 12" Bow Saw. Its blade is almost as thin as a fret saw blade, it has a 12" throw vs. a 5" throw with either a coping or fret saw. The bow saw makes very quick work of sawing dovetail waste, much faster than either a fret or coping saw. Because of its narrow blade it is almost as easy to turn as a fret saw and much easier than a coping saw. At $169 USD vs. $95 USD for the Knew Concepts coping saw or $149 USD for the Aluminum fret saw the 12" bow saw is a better saw for little more money and is a bargain compared to the Titanium ones.
As always with anything wood....YMMV.
Much thanks to Ralph over at The Accidental Woodworker for a very nice surprise package in today's delivery. I'm still speechless, once I recover I will post photos. Thanks Ralph, you shouldn't have but I thank you. BTW, the box is beautiful.
ken
Interesting post Ken, I did not realized that the turning saw from TFWW had such a thin blade and would do the trick in dovetail waste removal. I bought the kit a while back, I should dust it and make me one sweet saw... :-)
ReplyDeleteGuessing that would be the infamous Tequila bottle you are talking about from Ralph :-) Cheers!
Bob, back from outside with Rudy
Ralph did a good job of not showing his hand on the recipient. There are some good fellow woodworkers out there tempting me to do some blogging.
ReplyDeleteAlways interesting to hear about the Southwest, Ken. Thanks for sharing.
Bob,
ReplyDeleteYep, MsBubba and I may share some tonight :-).
If you saw the waste on dovetails there is not a better option. Fret saws are too slow, by the time I finish sawing a larger set of tail sockets with a fret saw my arm is a noodle. Coping Saw blades are too thick and slow to turn, also slow for the tooth count because of the short throw. The TFWW bow saw with 12"s of thin and narrow blade hits the sweet spot, fits most kerfs, it's easy to turn and with a 12" throw it makes quick work of any socket.
Woof to Rudy,
ken
Steve,
ReplyDeleteHe sure did, I watched the box build without a clue.
You should, do some blogging that is. As you can tell while mine is mostly about woodworking it is also a journal. For years I've kept a journal but have lost many durning moves and life changes....The internet is close to forever. And as you mentioned, I've met through the blog many wonderful folks I can call friends.
ken
It really made me laugh to read that you were the recipient of the box Ralph was making. I feel like there must be a backstory that I missed.
ReplyDeleteI bought the TFWW bow saw kit but it is another project that I need to get to.I have the Knew Concepts cope and fret saws and as long as you don't have over power them they work fine.The over powering on the fret saw is for me almost not avoidable.
ReplyDeleteAndy,
ReplyDeleteMostly Ralph is "old school", if someone does something for you, you return it with interest. The world needs more of 'em. There are too many of the "I've got mine, sucks to be you" guys around today.
He mentioned wanting to learn to use chop sticks because he ate so much Chinese take-out. I sent Ralph and his wife a couple sets of chop sticks I made. BTW, there were chop stick blanks along with the beautiful presentation box as well.
We need more Ralph's,
ken
Matt,
ReplyDeleteI don't have the Knew Concepts coping saw. While the fret saw is nice and with a couple of handy features when you get down to the nut cutting and saw meets wood it doesn't bring much to the table other than it looks cool.
Build the bow saw, it is an huge improvement over traditional or Knew Concepts saws.
ken