C utting dovetail pins andtails is primarily a rippingoperation. So it has always

bewildered me that almost everyJapanese saw sold for dovetailinghad teeth designed for crosscut-ting or cutting plywood.

A few specialty importers dosell Japanese backsaws with a rip-tooth configuration, but these aremade mostly by hand and costbetween $140 and $1,500.

Why, I wonder, isn’t there amachine-made dozuki that sellsfor about $35 – the cost of a de-cent crosscutting dozuki? Well,I don’t have the answer yet, butthe two new rip-tooth dozukison the market are considerablyless expensive (between $70 and$80). To check the quality, I com-pared them to a premium rip-tooth dozuki that I’m quite fa-miliar with – the Kaneharu rip-ping dozuki, sold by HiraideAmerica for $182 (see the Sourcesbox for more information).

True JapaneseDovetail Saws

by Christopher Schwarz

Comments or questions? Contact Chrisat 513-531-2690 ext. 1407 orchris.schwarz@fwpubs.com.Ph

oto

by A

l Par

rish

2 new rip-tooth

dozuki saws

are efficient

dovetailers.

POPULAR WOODWORKING February 200462

Sure they look like standard dozukis,but these saws have rip teeth.Wecompare the Kaneharu (in use) withnew saws from Harima-Daizo (left)and Lee Valley (right).

The Harima-Daizo Deluxe saw has 10 tpi. This makes the saw cut faster but a bit harder to start.

SOURCESHiraide America877-692-3624 or japanesetools.com

• Kaneharu Ripping Dozuki,$182

The Japan Woodworker800-537-7820 or japanwoodworker.com

• Izeamon 81⁄2"-blade Dozuki Rip Saw #05.114.21, $140 (also available in two longer sizes)

Lee Valley Tools800-871-8158 or leevalley.com

• Rip-tooth Dozuki#60T04.04, $69

Tools for Working Wood800-426-4613 or toolsforworkingwood.com

• Harima-Daizo Deluxe Rip Dozuki#MS-JS340, $79.95

Prices as of publication date.

To understand how the less-expensive saws are different, letme introduce you to the Kaneharu.

Kaneharu: Small and PerfectFor anyone familiar with tradi-tional dozukis, the Kaneharu ap-pears small. At about 187⁄8" longwith 63⁄4" of the blade devoted toteeth, the Kaneharu is about 4"-5" shorter than many dozukis.

The teeth are different, too.Crosscut dozukis traditionallyhave teeth that are all the samesize. The teeth on the Kaneharustart small near the handle (15teeth per inch) and get larger to-ward the toe of the blade (10 tpi).This is similar to the configura-tion of rip teeth on a ryoba saw.

The graduated teeth makeyour cuts easy to start: You makeyour initial kerf with the small-er teeth, and once you get goingyou use the full blade and the sawdives through the wood. (All threeof the backed saws discussed herehave a maximum cutting depthof 2", which is ideal for cuttingdovetails and most tenons.)

For someone accustomed tocutting dovetails with a crosscutsaw, the difference is significant.A dovetail that takes 14 strokesto cut with a crosscut dozuki takesonly 10 with the Kaneharu. Plus,it’s my opinion that the rip sawstrack better than the crosscut sawsduring a ripping operation. Thequality of the cut surface is as goodas any dozuki I’ve tried – no mat-ter what the tooth configuration.

Lee Valley: Easy to UseThe rip dozuki offered by LeeValley Tools shares some of itsDNA with crosscut dozukis.

The handle and blade arelonger, like the traditional cross-cut saw (233⁄4" total length; 95⁄8"of teeth). The teeth are finer thanthose on the Kaneharu – 18 tpi,and they have a small secondarybevel filed on them. This sec-ondary bevel – called the “fleam”in saw parlance – is what allowscrosscut saws to sever the woodfibers like a knife.

The fleam on the Lee Valleysaw is small enough not to inter-fere with a rip cut (which is me-chanically similar to levering outthe sawdust with a chisel). Butit’s large enough to allow the sawto be used for some crosscutting.

Also, the rip teeth are moredurable than crosscut teeth. In amonth of testing, I didn’t haveany problems with snapping teeth– even in notorious ring-porouswoods such as white oak.

Because the teeth are small,the saw is easy to start. And whileit cuts a little slower than theKaneharu, it’s decidedly fasterthan a crosscut dozuki and leavesa very clean cut surface.

Harima-Daizo: For the ExpertThe Harima-Daizo from Tools forWorking Wood is a ripping mon-ster. It seemed to consistently out-pace the other two saws whenit came down to pure speed. Ichalk that up to the fact that it

has deeper gullets and fewer teeth(10 tpi) than the Lee Valley sawand a longer blade than theKaneharu (also 95⁄8" long).

The downside of the Harima-Daizo is that it was harder to startthe cut than the other two saws.While I personally never had anyproblems, beginners and thoseunfamiliar with Japanese rip sawsreported difficulties when start-ing the cut, particularly in softerwoods such as cherry.

Like the other two saws, theHarima-Daizo tracked perfectlystraight in the cut, left an excel-lent finish and had durable teeth.

Which Saw is for You?If your budget allows it, theKaneharu is hard to beat. (TheJapan Woodworker catalog offersa similar saw with graduated teeth,the Izeamon dozuki rip saw, for$140. While I haven’t tested thissaw, I have heard a number ofgood things about it.)

For the beginning dovetailsaw user, the Lee Valley (at $69)is probably best, and it also willpick up some crosscutting chores.For the advanced user who wantsto save some money, the Harima-Daizo ($79.95) is my pick.

But more important is howwell these three saws compare tothe crosscutting and combina-tion-teeth Japanese saws. The ripteeth are far more robust than thecrosscut teeth – say goodbye tothat “tink-tink” sound you hearwhen your saw teeth snap.

Another important differenceis that all three of these saws canbe resharpened – they are not re-placeable-blade saws. This canbe a good thing or a bad thing de-pending on your point of view.

If those differences aren’tenough to convince you, re-member that these three rip sawsalso track better in a rip cut. Plusthey leave an excellent finish.They are, in short, the right toolfor dovetailing. PW

popwood.com 63

The Kaneharu saw has graduated teeth. Near the handle (left) there are 15 teeth perinch, while at the toe (right) there are 10 tpi. This combination of tpi makes the sawsimultaneously easy to start and fast-cutting.

The Lee Valley saw has 18 tpi and asmall fleam that it uses for crosscutting.It cuts slower but starts easy.

Fleam