Small crosscut saw for instrument making

[DCottrell]

I repair instruments daily for a living and have been looking for a useful small crosscut saw. I need to cut small pieces (1" or less) of very hard wood, like ebony. Think violin pegs, nuts, saddles, etc.

I have gotten along with the Olfa razor craft saw (with the big yellow plastic handle), but that dulls too quickly. A dozuki makes a nice cut but it cuts a little slowly and it wanders (probably operator error) and the blade will bind in a hardwood kerf. They also dull quickly.

I have a nice 14ppi Lie Nielsen crosscut saw, but the cut is too coarse and the set is a little wide for the detail work I need to do. Too much cleanup.

I was looking at the Veritas crosscut saw that is 15ppi and a .020" plate. Anybody have experience with the LN and the Veritas and can compare?

Any suggestions?Either for an existing saw or to refile and reset an existing saw? (Although, the time it would take me to do this would take me away from my bench, where I charge $60 per hour, so a $90 saw is worth more than 2 hours reshaping the teeth on a saw I already have).

[AlanBienlein]

We just use Japanese saws for cutting sides to length or other various items on a guitar. It really just comes down to learning the proper technique of cutting on the pull stroke.

[Timberwolf]

I repair instruments daily for a living and have been looking for a useful small crosscut saw.  I need to cut small pieces (1" or less) of very hard wood, like ebony.  Think violin pegs, nuts, saddles, etc.

I have gotten along with the Olfa razor craft saw (with the big yellow plastic handle), but that dulls too quickly.  A dozuki makes a nice cut but it cuts a little slowly and it wanders (probably operator error) and the blade will bind in a hardwood kerf. They also dull quickly.

I have a nice 14ppi Lie Nielsen crosscut saw, but the cut is too coarse and the set is a little wide for the detail work I need to do. Too much cleanup.  

I was looking at the Veritas crosscut saw that is 15ppi and a .020" plate. Anybody have experience with the LN and the Veritas and can compare?

Any suggestions?Either for an existing saw or to refile and reset an existing saw? (Although, the time it would take me to do this would take me away from my bench, where I charge $60 per hour, so a $90 saw is worth more than 2 hours reshaping the teeth on a saw I already have).

I think I would try to adapt a high speed steel blade for the purpose you describe....Starrett may have something you could use...

http://www.starrett.com/saws/saws-hand-t...ccessories

[Hank Knight]

Why don't you contact some of the fine saw makers that post on this forum and tell them what you're looking for. I'll bet they could help you come up with a solution to your problem. Blackburn Tools (Isaac Smith), Two Lawyers (Klaus and Pedder) and Ron Bonitz are three that come to mind. There are others. Isaac Smith has suspended accepting orders for backsaws. I don't know if he would be receptive to helping you with your specific issue, but it would be worth contacting him to see. He makes fantastic saws. I can vouch for him from my personal experience as a satisfied customer, but any of these guys would make you an excellent saw.

[Admiral]

Fine tooth Japanese saws are my friend for this sort of thing, there is a learning curve to the technique.  That being said, and while I usually default to handsaws, this is a situation where perhaps a hand vice/holding jig and a scroll saw might make sense, some of those scroll saw blades are pretty fine.  I have a cheap yard sale Craftsman scroll saw I use occasionally for small parts.

[salmo]

I repair instruments daily for a living and have been looking for a useful small crosscut saw.  I need to cut small pieces (1" or less) of very hard wood, like ebony.  Think violin pegs, nuts, saddles, etc.

I have gotten along with the Olfa razor craft saw (with the big yellow plastic handle), but that dulls too quickly.  A dozuki makes a nice cut but it cuts a little slowly and it wanders (probably operator error) and the blade will bind in a hardwood kerf. They also dull quickly.

I have a nice 14ppi Lie Nielsen crosscut saw, but the cut is too coarse and the set is a little wide for the detail work I need to do. Too much cleanup.  

I was looking at the Veritas crosscut saw that is 15ppi and a .020" plate. Anybody have experience with the LN and the Veritas and can compare?

Any suggestions?Either for an existing saw or to refile and reset an existing saw? (Although, the time it would take me to do this would take me away from my bench, where I charge $60 per hour, so a $90 saw is worth more than 2 hours reshaping the teeth on a saw I already have).

You can try this one if cost is not a limiting factor...

[EricU]

I have the Veritas saw and I really like it.

[Paul-in-Plymouth]

I don't repair musical instruments, but I do make fine, small-scale cuts in hardwoods, including tropicals, with this Dozuki from LV:
http://www.leevalley.com/US/wood/page.as...2898,70898

I find it cuts quick and straight, with exceptionally fine kerf.  It's a delight to use.  

I don't know how well it would stand up to professional usage, but it more than meets the needs of this amateur.   You might call LV customer service for their advice.

[cputnam]

Veritas makes a 20 pt xcut saw.

[Timberwolf]

Veritas makes a 20 pt xcut saw.

LIL
I don't know of any saw blade that lends itself to being sharpened with an ordinary file, that will hold an edge very long cutting tropical hardwoods...And Asian saws are extremely hard to sharpen because of the shape {and hardness} of the teeth..My experience using "special" files sold for the purpose has been disappointing at best.

If it were me, I would opt for one of the small table saws sold for miniature work, fitted with a high speed steel blade..These blades are available at reasonable prices and some even have carbide tipped teeth....These blades will easily last ten times longer than blades that can be filed and the precision is hard to match, compared to freehand.