Bad Axe Tool Works 10" Dovetail Saw, aka Doc Holliday: $195

Customize Your Saw:

Handle Species

American Black Cherry - standard American Black Walnut - add $10 Texas Honey Mesquite - add $12.50

Handle Size

Regular - Standard Small

Back Preference

Gunsmith-Blued Steel - standard Stainless Steel - add $10 Black Pearl Nickel-Plated Steel - add $12.50 Brass - add $20.00 Copper - add $37.50

Pitch Preference

15 ppi (recommended) 14 ppi 16 ppi

Plate Gauge

.018 Plate (recommended) - add $10 >.015 Plate

Fastener Preference

Brass Slotted - standard Brass Split Nuts - add $15 Stainless Steel Slotted - add $17.50 >Stainless Steel Split Nuts - add $20 Gunsmith Hot-Blued Steel Slotted - add $20 Gunsmith Hot-Blued Steel Split Nuts - add $22.50 Gunsmith Niter-blued Steel Slotted Nuts - add $27.50 Gunsmith Niter-Blued Steel Split Nuts - add $30

Make Deposit

Meet Doc Holliday--and don't let his diminutive size throw you, because the Doc is a killer who will level the playing field in your woodshop corral. Before designing my new 10" open-handle dovetail saw, I asked my existing Bad Axe client base who actually pay attention to my company's facebook page to collaborate in a forum for dovetail saw design. Virtually everyone clamored for something longer than your typical 9" plate, citing a desire for more accuracy and control when sawing 3/4 up to 6/4 stock, where shorter saws fall--well, short. That said, there remains a requirement for a dovetail saw slightly longer than average that feels just right in your hand for work in the 1/4 to 4/4 range--and that's where Doc with his 10" plate truly excels.

Why do I want this saw? Simply put, because it feels and cuts just right. Considerable thought went into this design, not the least of which involved great input from my facebook participants. Here are the highlights for your consideraton:

• Handle Sizing: I now offer two sizes for this saw, regular and small. If your hand just doesn't feel right on a dovetail saw because it was designed for adult men only, then I would encourage you to look at the smaller-sized handle option at no additional cost.
• Hang Angle: With this saw, you are in control. I challenge you to find a more comfortably-fitting dovetail saw handle available anywhere with the kind of hang angle that gets you behind the push stroke instead of riding awkwardly on top of it.
• Mass: The weight and mass of the carbon steel back provides just the right heft and balance for starting and maintaining a straight cut-line without forcing the cut.
• Two thin-plate options: The .015 or optional .018 thin plate with its hammer-set toothline slices through wood like a new razor, leaving behind an exceptionally clean, thin kerf.
• And then there's my reputation as a sawfiler, which I mention in all humility: a saw is only as good as it cuts, no matter how comfortably it fits in the hand or how good it looks. I remind myself of this imperative with each saw I build. Remember that with a Bad Axe saw, it's the owner of the company personally sharpening up your toothline based on your input and requirements.

Derek Olson of The Oldwolf Workshop Studio (and fellow beer-swiller and saw conspirator here in La Crosse, Wisconsin), was kind enough to give Doc a workout in the Bad Axe dungeon in early March, and was all set to dismiss a dinky dovetail filed 15 ppi rip as too dainty for his more robust style. Problem is, he loved it. In fact, he's stalking Bad Axe now in his quest for me to jump him ahead of the queue already waiting for this saw. I finally had to break our future beer dates and get a restraining order. After that, he settled down, mellowed out, and wrote this killer review. Now we're drinking beer together again at the world famous Bodega Brew Pub here in La crosse. What can I say? La Crosse is a beer town in a beer state. We do cheese here, too.

There's a new wood in Tombstone for 2011: I led my facebook visitors on with a guessing game recently regarding a new wood species I wanted to introduce with Doc Holliday,and his compadre, Wyatt Earp (the 12" open-handle version of my hybrid dovetail/small tenon saw). And now it's time to reveal the wood: Mesquite. That's right, mesquite--an attractive, yet quite rugged species capable of sinking a taproot 120' down in the arid soils of the American southwest, and harder than a whole barrel full of woodpecker lips. Seriously, mesquite is almost twice as hard as white oak; the Janka Scale rates mesquite as simply the hardest wood native to North American species. Like Texans themselves, mesquite has an enduring beauty and resilient character borne of droughts, wet years, cold snaps and extended heat waves (I guess I can say that as a recovering redneck originally from southeast Oklahoma). And apart from its natural beauty and innate toughness, the tangential fibers of mesquite shrink evenly while curing, so what we have here is an incredibly stable, attractive, and underutilized wood species just begging for service in the hand tool world--and Bad Axe brings it out now for the appeal of your eye, and the warmth in your hand as you ply your craft. You won't be disappointed--Mesquite rocks.

Also new for 2011 is the black pearl nickel-plated finish available for the sawback on this dovetail saw. Nickel-plating is particularly durable, on par with stainless steel in its ability to withstand the corrosive nature of humidity and coastal air on carbon steel. You'll find this finish on high-end firearms, and on other applications where form and substance converge. And on that note, it looks just great--the deep black pearl lustre of this finish on carbon steel polished at 400 grit not only looks fabulous, but serves a completly practical role in scratch and corrosion resistance. With proper care, this saw will look just as good a century from now as it does today.

Sizing Handles: I've recently introduced smaller handles for those of you with smaller hands. How do you know which size to go with? Well, here's my hand: it measures about 3 3/4" across. That's what I'm calling regular, and it will work with a range of 3 1/2" and start getting pretty tight at 4" for those of you with German potato-masher-ham-hocks and sausage fingers for appendages. I've sized the smaller handles to accomodate a range of 2 7/8" up to 3 3/8". Now none of this is rocket science, and it's a lot like fitting shoes, but the bottom line here is that if you have a small hand, order the small handle. If it's too tight, I'll replace the saw with the regular handle.

What's up with the nicknames? I'm a visual kind of guy (learning disabled maybe?), and labels bring things to life for me. So when I began matching mesquite up with gunmetal and high-end gunsmith finishes, the movie Tombstone sprang to mind. Remember when Val Kilmer playing Doc Holliday faces down bad guy Johnny Ringo wtih a little tin cup? I loved that scene. So I know it's a bit of a stretch, but I think my little Bad Axe Doc Holliday will face down any dovetail or small tenon requirement you want to throw at him. The key thing here is to choose the right plate gauge and pitch for the requirements you most often encounter with your projects. But I'll also concede to Megan Fitzpatrick (Managing Editor of Popular Woodworking Magazine) who dubs this saw Annie Oakley on behalf of those of the fairer sex who will often require the smaller handle size. So whether it's Doc or Annie--this little Bad Axe of a saw will work for most anyone. By the way--that's Megan's 2 7/8"-span hand there on the right.

This will be my first dovetail saw, and you present a lot of choices--which configuration do you recommend? Bottom line up front: I personally lean toward the .018 gauge plate filed 15 ppi rip, followed by choice of wood species, fasteners and sawback finish per your personal taste.

• Gauge Choice: Order the .015 plate if you never see yourself cutting into stock more than 3/4" thick--as long as you're working predominantly in the 1/4 to 3/4 range, then the .015 plate can't be beat. The .018 gauge plate is still quite thin, but slightly more robust (and less prone to kinking) than the .015 plate. The .018 gauge therefore has more range, able to cut effectively up to 6/4 stock while still dealing with the fine stuff just fine. At the end of the day you have to ask yourself--do I want to be skinnier than the rest of the girls because I'm in a skinny girl competition, or do I want to pack a little reserve in my belly for when the going gets rough?
• Pitch Choice: 15 ppi IMHO hits that sweet spot where action meets heft, balance and smoothness of cut. But there are noticeable shifts in efficiencies between plate gauge and pitch when it comes to cutting action and cut friction (which can heat and expand the toothline). That said, I'd recommend 16 ppi for the .015 plate, and 15 ppi for the .018 gauge plate.
• Keep your physics in mind: For instance, a .015 plate filed 16 ppi will excel in 1/4 up to 3/4 stock with little to no toothline warp due to cut friction, and the .018 plate will hit an even broader range from 1/2 up to 5/4 stock with no plate warp at all. If you like to make fast, efficient cuts with as few strokes as possible, go with the .018 plate filed 14 ppi.
• To sum it up: I personally prefer the .018 plate filed 15 ppi rip, because it's a wonderfully flexible choice that will outperform a .02 plate for fine work in the sub-6/4 range; but like anything else, these choices all boil down to what you the individual desires, rather than what the manufacturer deems best for the market. For a more detailed analysis of how tooth geometry, pitch and plate gauge affects a saw's performance, refer to Albert Einstein's article on sawfiling theory I've posted in the articles section of this website. What--you didn't know Albert was a saw geek?

Here's a run-down on the specs:

• Standard Cherry or optional walnut or mesquite open handles.
• Traditional folded gunsmith-blued carbon steel, or optional black pearl nickel-plated carbon steel or stainless steel back.
• Fasteners in standard brass or optional gunsmith-blued or stainless alloys.
• RC 50-52 .015 or optional .018-gauge premium Swedish spring steel sawplate.
• Filed to your choice of 14, 15 or 16 ppi rip, with moderate-to-aggressive rake, and slight fleam & gullet to reduce tearout.
• Depth of plate under the back runs 2 1/8" at the heel, and cants to 2" at the toe.

All Bad Axe Tool Works Saws Feature the Following:

• Custom filing available at same price per request
• Highly-figured 19th-century patterned cherry handles
• Flush-face slotted or split-nuts sawbolts/nuts in three alloys and four finishes with a 13/16" deep-dish decorative medallion
• Firearms-quality hot-blued finish on traditionally-folded steel back
• Optional bright-polished stainless steel back
• Premium-grade Swedish Spring Steel, RC50-52
• I personally guarantee that these saws are SHARP out of the box, with appropriate joint, set and rake. Every tooth does its duty. I fully guarantee this saw for one year after purchase.

Learn more about my material choices and rationale.

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