> We recently had a thread on old saws and someone mentioned that all 
> saws were filed rip a while back.  Perhaps for these purposes, a full 
> rip blade would be adequate.

I have seen FK do his DT routine (the longer 5 minute version where he 
uses a backsaw) and he only uses a rip backsaw.  I asked him why he only 
used a rip backsaw and he said "it works, doesn't it?"  I didn't have an 
answer to that one and in fact I now pretty much only use a rip backsaw 
for most things.  It is the only really sharp backsaw I have (and the only 
saw I ever sharpened myself--gotta get back to saw sharpening, I guess) 
but like Frank said, it does the trick for most things. 

It is worth noting (while probably obvious to all of you) that the first 
10 seconds of the video is FK using a marking gauge on both boards.  If 
you ignore that part, it looks like he is doing these dovetails 
completelty freehand, but that is a little misleading. Having a line to 
cut to is a quick step that makes a huge difference.

Brian Welch
Worcester, MA

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