- 14 ppi (Pitch per Inch)
- Recommended Filing - Hybrid
- Plate Thickness .018"
- Kerf of .027"
- Depth of cut 2 1/16"
- Perfect for building furniture, cabinets, and general joinery
- Great for cutting tenons, dados, and long sliding dovetails
Plate: We wanted to make a lean, shallow-backed carcase saw with a 14" toothline for furniture-grade cuts with long-rifle precision, while retaining the robust nature and crisp action for which our saws are known. The .015 plate was too delicate for the kind of comprehensive joinery tasks we had in mind, particularly when making sliding dovetails and dadoes-kink it once through inelegant technique or when encountering some tough stock, and it's toast, just a one-generation tool. And-the .015 plate has practically no heat sink--anything more than a 4/4" cut spanning 3 inches will S-roll the toothline as cut friction heats up the metal.
Then we looked at the .018 plate and got fantastic results by lessening the amount of real estate below the back to enhance rigidity and extending the classic carcase saw's 12" toothline up to 14". The longer, shallower .018 plate spreads the heat generated by cut friction far more efficiently, while remaining significantly tougher than the .015 plate, and, with fewer, more accurate strokes compared to the action of a .02 plate.
The result? No S-roll generated by cut friction. No tapping your foot, waiting to complete the cut. Instead, Bad Axe has produced a rigid, thin, shallow-backed saw fully capable of slicing down 5/4" stock spanning 5" across, with an incredibly positive, deliberate action.
Filing: "What filing should I choose for my new go-to carcase saw?" It depends entirely on your personal woodworking style. While you can't go wrong with this saw in crosscut for making what would be the preponderance of cuts across the grain, I guarantee our Bayonet's performance is enhanced even more when filed in hybrid mode. Why? Think about those long sliding dovetail joints you'll want to make, or making a more robust dovetail altogether in 6/4, even 8/4 stock.. Look at it this way: no one's going to take you out back and beat you up if you decide to cut with the grain for whatever woodworking reason you can cook up. Hybrid-filing gives you a great, positive cut whether with or across the grain with absolutely no sacrifice on the clean finish along the end grain that Bad Axe saws are known for. So--taking off my sawmaker's hat and putting on my woodworker's hat--IMHO, all dedicated crosscut serves to do is slow down your cut. But I'm also a strong believer in doing what best works out for our customers' personal woodworking style as they see fit.
Back: Traditional folded sawback finished in black-oxide carbon steel, or titanium nitride carbon steel. Read more about this critical component for any backsaw, and why Bad Axe promotes the enduring traditional folded sawback over commonplace static-backed saws that disallow retensioning the toothline with heavy use.
Have you purchased enough brass-backed saws already to know that they just don't age that well? It's a great look, but it doesn't take long for tarnish to set in, and over time a brass-backed saw deforms with hard use, wreaking havoc on your toothline. But it's traditional, right? And conveys a traditional, warm look we all like to see. But form only goes so far before substance sets in. You very seldom see brass-backed saws longer than 12" or 14", because brass just isn't a strong enough an alloy for larger saws. Steel on the other hand presents superior strength and durability. So-we at Bad Axe made the hard choice to phase brass out of our product line, since it's difficult to work with (it has a 'springy' quality to it), doesn't form well, tarnishes, and at the end of the day, just doesn't measure up to carbon steel, which can take a variety of plating’s for aesthetic purposes.
Long a favored finish for high-end firearms, titanium nitride presents stellar corrosion and wear-resistance, Titanium-Nitride hits the sweet spot when it comes to form following function. The tone falls between the look you get between brass and bronze, so it certainly scratches that aesthetic itch you desire. And the cool thing about it? We can apply Titanium Nitride on our largest sawbacks, where the strength and durability of a steel-backed saw is paramount. So, what are you getting for the $75 upcharge? It's obviously not cheap-because it's not a cheap plating process for us to apply. But what you get is corrosion and wear resistance, along with that deep, brass/bronze look that retains its golden luster over time. Give it a shot--this is a drop-dead gorgeous plating that will retain its deep, rich look for the generations to come.
Handle: Modeled after traditional 1876 Disston-pattern open handle. All Bad Axe handles are milled from full-heart quartersawn stock in Cherry, White Oak, Hard Maple and Walnut. Why quartersawn? Though it's the most expensive cut of wood, quartersawn stock mitigates wood movement with seasonal change, which can throw the plate out of true.
Bad Axe sources all handle stock from a family-owned business practicing sustainable lumber harvesting practices, and with whom we've done business from the very beginning. North American hardwoods: beautiful, sustainable, environmentally responsible.
