Going off of Pedders post

[adamcherubini]

One more thing sorry
Hang angles have to match your technique and your workbench height. Not so easy to simp,y accommodate any saw. I keep a feather light grip on my saw handles, but I suspect lots of my joints are locked up.

My brother Steve was the one who started the hand tool Olympics at a furniture show we were at. Steve was a master carpenter and boat builder. His muscle memory was such that he could saw a thin unbroken shaving from a piece of pine. His hand, wrist, shoulder only moved in the plane of that cut. This is very hard to do and a good indicator of your muscle memory.

[adamcherubini]

Ok, on a sliding dovetail saw (Gratsäge in Germany or Stairsaw in UK) the handle should be above the tooftline. But you won't cut sliding dovetails with a dovetail saw. Hte teeth will clogg soon.

this is what a comfortable sliding dovetail saw should look like:



Cheers
Pedder

The fronts of traditional Anglo-American case furniture almost always feature sliding dovetails for the drawer blades. These are too small and fine for a tool like that. I’ve cut veneer with my dt saw.

The tiny drawers and dividers inside secretary desks have tiny dadoes and sliding dts traditionally cut with dt saws. We know this because that saw does not typically appear in Anglo American cabinetmakers tool kits or inventories.

edit: I like the teeth on this tool. That's how my DT saws are sharpened, just not as pronounced, and for the exact same reason. I believe these are filed that way for stopped dados. The saw is used in pull mode, which is pretty much exactly how I cut half blinds.

[CStan]

If you want to use the entire tooth line from toe to heel, just use a gent's saw. The handle is obviously well out of the way. It's not always easy to afford a custom saw, or source an antique with just the right "hang angle," with these often costing more than new custom, and needing a pretty good bit of work to put into play to boot.

For workpieces narrow enough to fit in whatever vise you have, angle the workpiece on half blind pin boards to an angle that's comfortable for you.

[wmickley]

I can't see how that would be a problem of any saw esp. noch a back saw
Just clamp the workpiece higher in the holding devise.

Or do I misunderstand you? Could you draw the problem?

Cheers
Pedder

I can see where someone who is not a woodworker would have trouble understanding how many different uses we have for a dovetail saw. 

One common use is for cutting small stuff on a side hook (sawing board, bench hook). It just cannot be done with one of these weird saws with the handle below the tooth line. 

And Yes we sometimes make dados that are 1/8 wide, 1/16 deep and 1" long. We don't use German tools for this.

[wmickley]

Lastly, Given you prefer to dig out the half blind dovetails with the back of your saw, I would be happy to send you one of my toothed half blind tools to keep, try etc. at no cost to you. I only need to know how thick your dovetail saw plate is and of course your shipping address. 
Best wishes,
Ron

I have no idea what you are talking about here, Ron. I have been making half blind dovetails for 45 years, but I don't know what digging out with the back of the saw refers to. Never heard of a "toothed half blind tool".

[Pedder]

One common use is for cutting small stuff on a side hook (sawing board, bench hook). It just cannot be done with one of these weird saws with the handle below the tooth line. 

Now I see. Good, our saw design doesn't do that - except a fine joinery saw for a big handed person.

And Yes we sometimes make dados that are 1/8 wide, 1/16 deep and 1" long. We don't use German tools for this.

And how does the handle interfere with that?

Cheers
Pedder

[wmickley]

Now I see. Good, our saw design doesn't do that - except a fine joinery saw for a big handed person.


And how does the handle interfere with that?

Cheers
Pedder

We usually make small dados like this on the side hook or sawing board. If you cannot use the back 8 inches  of the saw over the board it is pretty rough going.

[AHill]

What do teeth and sharpening have anything to do with the op's topic? He is talking about the handle, not the saw.

For me, it is comfort.

Simon

I don't think you can take any one aspect of a saw and claim that by itself makes a good saw.  To the OP's list, add hang angle, plate thickness, spine weight, sharpness of the teeth, rake, set, fleam, slope, and many other things all must work together to provide a comfortable, working saw.  OP didn't even mention what kind of saw.  Dovetail, tenon, full-sized rip, crosscut, panel?.  Open handle?  Closed handle?  Thumb hole?  Most responses to this thread assume dovetail because OP cited Pedder in the title.

[Derek Cohen]

My choice of saw for dados and sliding dovetails is a Japanese Azebiki ...



This has a breasted plate for starting in the middle of the board (as with stopped dados/sliding dovetails), and the straight handle creates a low centre of effort, which takes the power to the teeth. Cutting on the pull allows for a thinner plate, and less waste to move.

Tapered sliding dovetail ...







Regards from Perth

Derek

[adamcherubini]

Now I see. Good, our saw design doesn't do that - except a fine joinery saw for a big handed person.


And how does the handle interfere with that?

Cheers
Pedder

For the joints Warren is discussing, sometimes we turn the saw around and pull it, exactly like I mentioned earlier about the stair saw. In that scenario, the handle must clear the work and absolutely limits the depth of cut. Note that tapering the saw plate helps this by lifting the handle slightly.