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RWW 201 Barron Dovetail Guides

17 comments
8 years ago
Hand Sawing     Hand Tools     Videos

I’m not a fan of sawing guides or plane fences. Basically anything that gets in the way of the freedom of motion of the tool. But sawing guides like these Barron guides can be a major head start to someone new to hand cut dovetails or someone struggling with their sawing. Here is my review of the Barron Dovetail Guides using both a Japanese saw and some Western Dovetail saws.

I have to say that I did enjoy using these guides and I’m definitely going to add a 45 degree guide to my collection. I don’t know that I will be using them to cut dovetails in the future, but it is good to know they are there when I’m having a bad day and can’t saw straight at all. Thanks to David Barron for the opportunity to try out his guides and be sure to visit his site for more information/videos/etc on these and other cool products he makes.

Want Your Own Dovetail Guides?

You can buy these guides through Highland Woodworking or check out David’s other products like saws, mallets, and DVDs

Your Turn

Would you consider a sawing guide? Have you used a sawing guide like this? What was your experience?

Please share your thoughts and experiences in the comments below

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joseph laviolette

I used these when I first started dovetailing. I agree with the fact they are not at all training wheels. What you said is 100% accurate. You can make some horrible looking joints (with perfect angles!)… and I did. I don’t use them a lot anymore again due to the things you pointed out. It takes extra time flipping the board and you probably noticed it takes a little doing to get the saw and the guide right to the waste side of the line. However I do use them for the big stuff (like the tool chest I am getting started on) and the long stuff for 2 reasons:

1 – layout. Especially on the pin board. Transferring those lines down the face seems like it takes twice as long as actually cutting them. The tail board I generally don’t lay out down the face.
2 – Starting square. I also find the mechanics horrible (thanks to your other vids!) and don’t like the fact the baselines are obscured. So I only use the guide for the first 1/4″ of the cut – even if I am using as saw with enough clearance. It gets me started square across on the tails, and plumb on the pins. After that I’m good on my own. Also very useful when gang cutting. I find as the width increases, so does my margin for error. That initial 1/4″ really helps keep things square.

Ethan Sincox

At WIA 2015, David was placed next to another English bloke, Phil Edwards (Philly Planes). I was one of Philly’s helpers, so I got to bump shoulders with David for a while.

I spent some time looking over his wares and was impressed with the quality of all of them and gave his dovetail saw guides a spin. They worked amazingly well.

I didn’t buy any, but that was really mostly because I’m in a no-buying phase of my woodworking life right now and I’ve tried very hard to restrain myself from most purchases. The other reason, though, is because I really do want to spend more time with free hand sawing. It is a skill I want to improve and that won’t happen if I’m using a guide.

It was sort of sad to hear a hand tool woodworker dogging his guides on a forum (or FB or… maybe it was a YouTube comment? Trolls abound…), saying it wasn’t *true* hand tool work if you were using a saw guide. How… narrow minded. I suppose he doesn’t use a workbench (you know, a REAL hand tool woodworker would hold the wood in one hand and the tool in the other, not deign to use something like a bench, which is just a large jig for holding wood)).

Anyway… David makes quality products. And he’s really quite nice, to boot.

mark weber

shannon the guide has 4 sides you do not need to flip the board . right side left side on the guide

    Shannon

    but if you saw on the other side of the guide you have to reach across the saw with your non dominant hand to hold the guide and that is really awkward. Its only 2 sides actually because the rest of the guide is not angled.

wilbur

In regards to your body mechanics issue, did you try cutting some dovetails with the guides and the Japanese saw using the leg vise on your Roubo bench? I think lowering the board will help a lot.

    Shannon

    In the back of my mind I knew that to be true, but no, I did not try it…I will. I feel like I’m purposely avoiding Japanese tools until I can sink some time into them more exclusively. And I really like my joinery bench

Thomas Wilson

I agree with some of the other commentators about how they work. I use them to just start the cut and then finish free hand and have had good results.

Mark Salvaggio

Shannon, I think some of the mechanics problem you are having is because you are using a “western” grip on the Japaneses saw with your wrist and elbow straight and your index finger extended. If you would grasp the handle with your whole hand and then drop your hand and elbow, you will have a more natural feel. You will still keep your hand and elbow aligned. You will also be pulling slightly down and the angle of the blade will then hit both baselines at the same time. Try it.

Mitch Wilson

I have a device that aids in cutting an infinite number of dovetail angles called the Angle Mag. Comes from Australia. Tools for Working Wood carried it about ten years ago and I picked one up from Woodcraft when it was discontinued several years back. It requires longer boards because it has built in clamps to secure it into place and works quite well, with the heavy duty magnet covered with rubber. The key to its use is to use a single sided Japanese saw with no spine, so you shouldn’t use a ryoba, otherwise you will nick up the rubber. (Now, how would I know that?) Without the back there is no bottoming out. This would resolve your problem that occurs with typical dovetail and back saws. TWW might still carry the recommended saw, but there are others still out there. Mine is a Shark. A thicker kerf than most Japanese saws but still about the same (or less) than my Bad Axe saws. I think going this route will make David’s guides easier to use.