The newest additions to the hand tool arsenal

Waited for the UPS guy to deliver this week and deliver he did! A LN #4 Bench Plane plus a Rip Cut carcass saw and a Cross Cut carcass saw are the newest additions to the hand tool arsenal. First the plane, I have never felt anything like this in my life!! I have Stanley planes sharpened and set up and I thought they did a good job until I used this #4. For those of you that have one you know the feeling, for those of you that dont, save your money and order one when you can.
Now the saws, it is a real pleasure to work with hand tools that are set up and sharp. I have a LN dovetail saw, so I thought I knew what to expect when I handle these carcass saws. Again, I was quite surprised as to how easily these saws cut.

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Cutting Tenons by Hand

The new saws in the post below couldnt have arrived at a better time. I am building a quilt stand and it calls for a through tenon on the stretcher. I couldnt wait to do these by hand verses setting up the tenon jig for my table saw. For those of you that have done this before, there probably isnt anything new, but for those, like me, who have never tried it, I thought I would document the steps I took to finish the tenons. Not sure this is the "right" order of cuts, but it worked for me.

(1) Once I marked the dimensions on the stock, I began my cut by tilting the saw back for the back edge, forward for the front, then cut down through. (2) Once those cuts are completed, rotate the stock and cross cut on both sides, flips the board and repeat. (3) Cut each side of the tenon following your markings and clean up with a chisel to fit.

The tenons came out great (better than the photo) and I didnt compare the time difference between the machine and the hand saw because I did take time to shoot the photos.

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