We may receive a commission when you use our affiliate links. However, this does not impact our recommendations.
Good news for those of you who went wild with lust over liked the early Kenyon dovetail saw featured earlier this week. Saw maker Mike Wenzloff says he will manufacture very close copies of this valuable and rare saw for sale during the next few weeks.
The saw surfaced at our Woodworking in America conference in Berea, Ky., when an attendee brought it in and asked Wenzloff if he could sharpen it or replace the blade. People went nuts.
Tool historians in the crowd estimated the saw, which the attendee purchased for $35, was circa 1770. Saws from the 18th century are rare. And dovetail saws from this period are even less common. So Wenzloff took a bunch of measurements off the saw and is about to start making the tool at the same time he makes a batch of sash and tenons saws from the same era.
The dovetail saw will be available directly from Wenzloff & Sons for $140. You can order one by e-mailing Wenzloff directly.
Wenzloff says he’s going to make his saw as close as possible to the original. I measured the thickness of the sawplate of the original at .017″ thick; Wenzloff’s will be .018″ thick. The brass back will be essentially the same thickness. Wenzloff said he’s going to alter the usable depth at the toe a bit because the blade in the original had shifted a bit. The saw will be 20 ppi, which is just about the pitch of the original (which was hard to measure).
The saw is even going to be stamped like the original with “Kenyon,” “Spring” and London” stamped into the spine. On the original saw, the word “Kenyon” is upside down.
“(I) wonder how many I will produce with an upside down portion,” Wenzloff wrote in an e-mail.
I hope he’ll stamp all of them wrong. It seems the right thing to do.
Looking for More Woodworking Information?
– Sign up for our newsletters to get free plans, techniques and reviews HERE.
– Looking for free articles from Woodworking Magazine? Click HERE.
– Like hand tools? Read all our online articles on hand work HERE.
– Want to subscribe to Woodworking Magazine? It’s $19.96/year. Click HERE.
