Category Archives: Saws

Failed Experiments in Dovetailing

Posted on January 7, 2012 by

Perhaps I should just learn to listen to my body. My best ideas come to me in the shower. My worst ones come while I’m in bed. This one popped into my head as I was drifting off to sleep … Continue reading →

Posted in Saws | 25 Comments

Classes I’m Teaching in 2012

Posted on September 5, 2011 by

Earlier this year, I announced that I wouldn’t be teaching any woodworking classes in 2012 in order to give my family a break from my sometimes-hectic travel schedule. After stepping down as editor of Popular Woodworking Magazine in June, my … Continue reading →

Posted in Handplanes, Saws, The Anarchist's Tool Chest, Uncategorized, Woodworking Classes, Workbenches | 11 Comments

This Saw Goes to 10

Posted on August 21, 2011 by

While at the Connecticut Valley School of Woodworking and Lie-Nielsen Toolworks during the last 15 days I took a lot of notes that I will be vomiting into my blog this week. Some of the entries require me to purchase … Continue reading →

Posted in Saws | 5 Comments

I Found a Use for my Lower Horn

Posted on August 1, 2011 by

WARNING: The following blog post has been rated PG by the Society for Reverence and Decency in Woodworking Writing for its use of the expression “man nipples” and an inappropriate use of a tongue depressor. People like to think that … Continue reading →

Posted in Saws | 16 Comments

We Don't Need No Stinkin' Backsaws

Posted on December 23, 2009 by

There is great debate among the Saw Nerds (I’m a card-carrying member) about when the backsaw came into this world, kicking and screaming and whipping its lamb’s tongue to and fro. Historic documents have been read. Great thoughts have been … Continue reading →

Posted in Saws | 9 Comments

Sawing and 'the Fumes of the Stomach'

Posted on August 31, 2009 by

One of the best things about working on this new book, “The Joiner and Cabinet Maker,” has been the opportunity to poke through some 19th-century books on the trades. I always disliked history class in high school and college, but … Continue reading →

Posted in Saws | 14 Comments

Little Teeth Filed for… Who Cares?

Posted on May 12, 2009 by

Recently, a woodworking colleague suggested to me that saw teeth designed for crosscutting are an invention of modern marketing. Early saws, he suggested, we’re probably filed for basically a rip cut. But because the teeth were hand filed, they probably … Continue reading →

Posted in Saws | 6 Comments

I’ve Seen the History of Saws

Posted on November 28, 2008 by

This week I had an unusual visitor in the office. Auctioneer Toot Ewalt loaned me the rare 18th-century dovetail saw that he brought to the Woodworking in America conference earlier this month. I had the saw sitting on my desk … Continue reading →

Posted in Saws | 4 Comments

Tenon Saws: Learning About Leaning

Posted on April 28, 2008 by

Though I liked high school as much as a three-year-long colonoscopy, there are sometimes when it takes a high school teacher to teach you something. In this case, it was a high school physics teacher who taught me an important … Continue reading →

Posted in Saws | 7 Comments

First Class Practice

Posted on April 11, 2008 by

Editor’s note: The following blog entry was penned by John Hoffman, my business partner here at Lost Art Press. He wrote this after assisting me during my sawing class up in Sterling Heights, Mich. — Christopher Schwarz I am in … Continue reading →

Posted in Saws | 4 Comments