When designing a new tool, it can be risky to reinvent the wheel. Sometimes the risk pays off, however. That’s what happened with Dave Jeske’s new joinery saw. To create a quick, precise handsaw for smaller joinery cuts, Jeske took a thin, razor-sharp, Japanese-style blade and tensioned it in a frame made of carbon fiber and aluminum, adding a traditional wood handle. The result is a light, comfortable, agile saw that cuts quickly and tracks well. While the thin kerf may turn off those who like to saw out dovetail waste with a coping saw (the kerf is too small for a coping-saw blade to turn sideways at the bottom), the thin blade makes it very easy to follow a line. I used the saw to cut dovetails in poplar, a medium-density wood, and was very impressed with its speed and accuracy. Tenon cuts in ash were just as smooth, with the saw handling both ripcuts and crosscuts equally well. Even tough white oak was easy to cut. If you do damage or dull the blade, replacements are just $25.

—Jeff Miller is a pro woodworker in Chicago.

Jeske Joinery Saw

To create a quick, precise handsaw for smaller joinery cuts, Jeske took a thin, razor-sharp, Japanese-style blade and tensioned it in a frame made of carbon fiber and aluminum, adding a traditional wood handle.

Price: $235 at the time of writing

Buy at Direct