Hey people, great forum, loads of helpful insight from really experienced woodworkers and everything you will ever need to know about my beloved Festool...
So, dovetail saws. I would like to start by saying that I have now spent almost as much money on premium handtools as I have on my Festool. £7k on Fes and around 5 on an exhaustive collection of handtools, my point...very addictive.
The majority of info you need has already been posted so I just wanted to say that as an owner of Veritas, LN, Pax - Thomas Flynn and Bad Axe saws (western) the right choice for me is the LN tapered dovetail saw with the leather case. I started with Veritas, bought their DT saw, cross cut tenon and the largest rip cut tenon. I quickly acquired the set of 4 Gyokucho from Workshop Heaven after receiving the Veritas and was almost completely converted to Japanese saws for thier precision, simplicity and their obvious efficiency (replaceable blade). Enter the 10" Bad Axe dovetail hybrid and 14" sash saw. These saws will outlast me, outperform the majority of saws available on the market and pretty much make your handtool operations a joy. One would think that the abovementioned saws would be sufficient for all workshop applications but I couldn't resist the LN tapered dovetail saw and wanted to know if their saws are as good as the handplanes I own from them, in short, they are equal in quality and performance and I now place the LN saw at the very top of the shelf as it simply rocks.
To round it off I bought the two golden series Kataba saws, 150mm dovetail saw and a cross/rip hybrid and they are ridiculously brilliant in their performance. The usual saw marks visible after a cut are non existent and I mean smooth as. I was amazed by their performance and will not be looking elsewhere for tools. Classic Handtools and Workshop Heaven provide me with all I need in relation to handtool needs and despite the initial costs it is so worth having a collection of saws that never need to be replaced.
The argument over western vs eastern is moot in my opinion as I use one or the other for both tasks depending on the size of the stock and species of timber.
In summary, veritas do make nice handtools and the majority of my speciality planes (plow plane/router/shoulder/rebate) are supplied by them but for saws I must insist LN or Bad Axe irrespective of the cost as they are superior and look so much better on your saw rack.
Happy woodworking
