Day 1 – Handsawing class with Christopher Schwarz

It was my intention to post updates each evening, but that just didn’t happen. Several of the evenings were spent doing other activities. The first night Chris went out to dinner with a group of us. The second night I was just too tired. The night Gary Rogowski had a Bar-B-Q potluck at the shop. The fourth night we went on a field trip to Mike Wenzloff’s shop, which I already wrote about. So, I will try and recap what went on during the week I was there.

My wife will attest to this, I’m a planner and I like to know what we are going to do and when. She is much more spontaneous than me, but she puts up with me and I with her J. I’m not obsessive over this, but I just like to know what’s going to happen. So, the first day of any class is always exciting and anxious for me. I generally settle in pretty quick, but those first few hours can be nerve-wracking for me.

The first half of the day was spent in a lecture on the different types of saws and the different “classes” of cuts. This was the longest lecture Chris did, the rest were short talks and demos as we moved from one stage of a project to another. It was a long lecture but it was full of good information. I think I will save the information on saws for another post. He gave us a lot of information, and it could take a few posts to through it all. He covered the different types of saws, tooth configuration, pitch, rake, fleam, ppi/tpi and much more. The cool thing about this lecture was that Mike Wenzloff happened to be in the shop that morning and he hung around and gave his view on the topic of saws.

The other part of the lecture that morning was on the 3 Classes of saw cuts. These classes breakdown into Third-class (Course), Second-class (Medium) and First-class (Fine). I like how this also fits into Chris’s approach to hand tool use. If you haven’t see or read about how we views hand tools, Chris has a great DVD called Course, Medium and Fine. The DVD covers the progression you should take as you move through the preparation of stock. This idea works for hand tools and power tools. It’s not a new concept, Chris frequently references older woodworking books and articles. The same hold true for the concept of the different Classes of saw cuts. This isn’t a new concept, it’s a very European approach to woodworking.

Third-Class saw cut
Third-class saw cuts are used for rough cutting boards to length or width. When using a cross-cut handsaw or a large rip saw, these saws can leave a rough surface and can cause some splintering. You should account for this in your rough sizes. Because a third-class is rough cut, you only use a pencil line to mark you board. No need for marking knife or anything like that.

Second-Class saw cut
Second-class saw cuts need to be accurate but the resulting surface doesn’t need to be perfectly clean. These cut are generally buried inside a joint, where the surface is not seen. These cuts can/will be cleaned up by shooting, using a Router plane, or by some other means. These cuts are used on: the ends of rails or stiles, or for tenon or lap joint cheeks. The cuts are also marked out with a marking knife or marking gauge. The marking knife helps establish the precise location of the cut.

You will also use a chisel to make a small cut on your knife line, to help start your cut. This is generally done on a corner where two knife lines meet. Place your chisel in the knife line and give it small amount of pressure to deepen the knife line. A question you might have, should the bevel of the chisel be towards the waste or away from the waste? The wedging action of the chisel will push the chisel away from the bevel. If the bevel is facing the waste the chisel could get pushed back across your knife line. If the bevel is facing away from the waste, your cut could be a little fat. Many articles say you should put the bevel towards the waste. I tried it both ways while in class, and I prefer the bevel facing away from the waste for this type of cut. When I did it the other way, the chisel kept moving over my knife line. I will continue to play with both styles and see if they behave differently in different woods.

First-Class saw cut
First-class cuts are cuts that will be visible. Examples of these are: the shoulders on lap joints or tenons, and different parts of a dovetail joint. It is possible to get clean perfect cuts from the saw, although it isn’t uncommon to clean these cuts up with a shoulder plane or chisel. These cuts are also marked out with a marking knife or marking gauge.

In the example of cutting the shoulder on a tenon, you will need to use your chisel again deepen and establish the knife line. Using a wide chisel, and for me have the bevel facing away from the waste, lightly tap the chisel to deepen the knife line all the way around the joint. Then secure the piece and pare away a shallow trough, on the waste side of the line. The depth and width of the trough needs to accommodate the width and set of your saw. This will be something you will workout over time, for the saws you use. This trough will help you start your cut right on the knife line. Without this little trough your cut can wonder and can turn into a third-class cut really fast.