Salutations,

 Posted this as a quick tip Blog post yesterday and was asked to post it here...

If you need a better way to make long narrow kerfs in your projects, i.e. Router Planes used for groves, the one I made shown above is very simple to make and costs under $20 in parts.

All you need is one of those 20" crosscut handsaws from Irwin, some hard wood for the sides, as shown above, and a few fasteners.

I used a high-speed drill bit to drill through the saw blade and Red Oak for the sides. A few things to keep in mind are:

1. 
   
2. The wood needs to be tight against the blade and straight.
   
3. Shape your wood so you can see your kerfing work, if the blade is too high or the wood is too wide your view will be obstructed.
   
4. Use whichever thread works best for you overall, for me it's 10 tpi at 20", because most often my kerfs are for the long dado's created with a 1/4" Router Plane blade.
   

If I missed any details please let me know, but I think that pretty much gives you enough juice to get cracking. This one works great btw.

know there are lots of ways to make Kerfing saws but I''m pretty sure that's one of the easiest ever.

 All the best,
   Mark Wisecarver

Mark, excellent tip!!!!! Thank you so much. This would be applicable to making hand cut dadoes?

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John Morris
The Patriot Woodworker

Correct. As an example using a Router Plane, even if you are taking small cuts, going along the edges first with the kerfing saw will give you surgical precision in your cuts, no more tear outs.

Right on Mark, this is a great tip. And I would imagine, for those who are a bit challenged in their finances, and they need that saw as it is without the kerf gauge, they could actually have two saws in one, if you set those guides with wing nuts the guide could easily be removed in seconds to be used conventionally, just a thought.

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John Morris
The Patriot Woodworker

Indeed, if that was a good saw I would have definitely used wingnuts.

ok still learnin,what the HECK is Kerfin ?

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take Life slowly,no reason to speed,it will be there when u get there,slow down an smell the trees an fresh cut wood

Would no doubt be a good Blog post to cover Kerfing in detail.

The Kerf in Woodworking is a line, cut, you make. Japanese saws are very good at this.
You can also cut a kerf with a sharp knife, or even a typical box opener.

Lets say for example you are cutting a notch for a hinge with a chisel, before you touch the chisel it is best to kerf around the intended area with a sharp blade, as you would with a pencil. Then you have much greater cuts with your chisel.
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/kerf

Ron England said:

ok still learnin,what the HECK is Kerfin ?

It's a drink made with active bacteria and milk

Or it's the abbreviated verb tense from the word kerfing.

Kerfing, as everybody knows, is that process one undertakes when transiting multidimensional space/time portals.

Actually...I do ferment kefir at home. (Natural yeasts and SCOBY also.)

I'm thinking about creating a Blog post with the Kerfing saw in action, showing the benefit of a kerf in wood cuts.

The blog post, bring it on Mark! We'd love to see it.

Mark Wisecarver said:

Actually...I do ferment kefir at home. (Natural yeasts and SCOBY also.)

I'm thinking about creating a Blog post with the Kerfing saw in action, showing the benefit of a kerf in wood cuts.

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John Morris
The Patriot Woodworker

Ron England said:

ok still learnin,what the HECK is Kerfin ?

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ok so its like a scribe line u use on metal to mark where to cut,i get that now.I thought it was anew word for surfin lol,cant keep up w/all the new slang now days

 

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take Life slowly,no reason to speed,it will be there when u get there,slow down an smell the trees an fresh cut wood

Pretty much but in working wood by hand it's what brings a level of perfection and without the dreaded tear-outs.

I'm willing to be called out on this: By kerfing I can create a better dado cut by hand than any Tablesaw or Router.

Ron England said:

ok so its like a scribe line u use on metal to mark where to cut,

All true, and in Ship building it is the kerf for bending that is most often used.
As for guiding, I don't use them for that, on my Router plane I screw a scrap piece of wood each time.
You may be able to see that in the images I just created for the next blog post.