Florip Toolworks Dovetail Saw
A quintessential backsaw with a unique story
The showpiece skill of any serious hand tool woodworker is the dovetail joint. We love to show them off. We love to talk about them. We love to have heated arguments about angle ratio, spacing, and whether or not its pins first or tails first. I will like and comment on almost any picture of a dovetail on social media, and judging by the number of reactions those type of posts garner, so will most of you.
The Dovetail Joint
A dovetail is a beautiful and functional woodworking joint, so named for the shape of the joint resembling the splayed tail of a dove. Dovetail joints have been in use for 4000 years, maybe longer. Egyptian mummies have been entombed with dovetailed furniture, some examples of which you can view at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. (I’ll post a link at the end of this article.) Traditionally, dovetails have been used to join drawers and furniture carcasses, as the geometry of the joint makes it almost impossible to separate when pulled perpendicular to the pinboard. This geometry also makes the joint extremely resistant to racking. Dovetails are extremely strong, without the need for mechanical fasteners.
The Dovetail Saw
Handcut dovetails require only a few tools to build. You need some sort of way to mark the dovetails, such as a dovetail marking guide (either shop made or commercially produced), a good bevel edge chisel, a coping saw or small bowsaw, and a dovetail saw.
A dovetail saw is a backsaw, fairly small and light, and filed as a ripsaw. It usually has around 14 or 15 teeth per inch (TPI), which is suited for stock around 5/8” to 3/4” thick. Dovetail saws as fine as 20 TPI are produced for thinner stock. For thicker stock, 6/4 or more, I think most woodworkers would switch to a tenon saw rather than file a dovetail saw much coarser that 14 TPI, but I supposed it would be possible, if you were doing a lot of dovetails on thick material, to have a dedicated dovetail saw of 12 TPI or so.
Florip Toolworks
Many woodworkers spend inordinate amounts of money on their dovetail saw, taking almost as much pride in the saw as they do in the joint itself. When I was shopping for my own dovetail saw, I looked at a number of manufacturers. I remember drooling over a Wenzloff and Sons saw that was far out of my price range at the time, but I settled for a decent 20 TPI dovetail saw from a less expensive manufacturer in England. While I liked the saw, I never loved it, as the 20 TPI was just a little too fine for the work I was doing at the time, and it didn’t have that classic open pistol grip look that I loved.
I‘d been following a really interesting instagram account at the time, by a former marine named Eric Florip. He had been doing some woodworking initially, but what I found most interesting was watching him develop as a maker of fine tools. I watched with fascination as he collected large machines for metalworking, and learned how to use them. The fact that he posted the entire adventure on social media meant that folks like myself became invested in the story. We would interact in the comments with each other and with Eric. He was always really good at answering questions about his tools. I watched him develop prototypes, getting a really unique inside look at how a budding toolmaker develops and refines both the tool and the process. You can imagine my excitement when he finally put a batch up for sale! I immediately sprung on the opportunity and ordered one. Unfortunately, it didn’t arrive; it was lost in transit somehow. The silver lining was that it afforded me the opportunity to speak with Eric on the phone; we sorted out some details, and he shipped me a new saw. I was impressed by him during the interaction: he was clearly a stand-up guy, and I was happy to be among his first customers.
The Florip Toolworks Dovetail Saw
When my dovetail saw finally did arrive, I rushed to my shop to unbox it. It did not disappoint. Out of the box it had the classic look of a dovetail saw, a beautiful open pistol style cherry handle, a classic brass back, that typical shallow saw plate, and brass saw nuts.
Picking it up, I remember how comfortable it felt in my hand, indeed to this day I still enjoy the feel of it in my hand. The balance is perfect, and the handle size feels just right. It’s not cramped at all, but it is compact enough that the saw feels nimble and agile in the hand.
The 14 TPI rip tooth pattern is excellent; it saws quickly through dense woods and yet leaves a decent enough finish that it’s possible, with practice, to get a good fit “off the saw.”
The Story and the Saw
I have something of a saw habit, in fact, and my saw collection has grown to a level that might be embarrassing, if I didn’t know for a fact that I’m not even close to being alone when it comes to amassing large collections of fine tools. I have antique Disstons and Marples saws, saws from Pax and Veritas, and any number of saws from lesser known manufacturers, purchased from tool stores, antique stores, and received as gifts. But out of all of them, the one that has consistently brought me the most enjoyment is the Florip Toolworks Dovetail Saw. I love that I was able to follow the story of a fellow maker week by week as he developed this saw. I love that I was able to get one right at the beginning of production. I love that the saw itself exceeded all my expectations. This is one tool that will always have pride of place in my shop. I love both the story, and the saw.
Final note: It’s come to my attention that Eric is currently not filling orders, as he’s fighting brain cancer. As a Marine Corps veteran, he’s a warrior in every sense; he’s proven it before, and he’s proving it now. If your family is a praying family, add Eric and his family to your prayers, that God will strengthen them all in their time of need.
Check out Florip Tool Works
Check out some photos of dovetailed ancient Egyptian furniture in the collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Notes
1 Joinery-throughdovetail.gif: SilentC SVG conversion: Duncan Tate, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
What a huge loss - he will be missed. Great saws from a great man.