Popular Woodworking 2009-12 № 180, страница 20

Tool Test

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Lie-Nielsen's Thin-plate Tenon Saw

The more I saw by hand, the more I prefer a thin sawplate. Having a thinner wafer of steel makes the saw easier to push - that's because there's less weight and the tool has to remove less wood.

There is, of course, a downside. Thin sawplates are a little more fragile so you need to keep the tool away from the ham-handed. But in even slightly skilled hands, I think you'll find thin saws are a revelation.

Lie-Nielsen Toolworks has now started making a thin-plate version of its tenon saw, and it is one of the best tenon saws - old or new - that I've ever used.

The tool is large - the blade is 16" long - but it weighs only 1 lb. 7 oz. That's because the sawplate is .02" thick. That is significantly thinner than the company's other tenon saws, which are .032" thick.

The other critical specification here is how much blade you have under the brass back. The Lie-Nielsen has a whopping 4V8". Now before you dismiss that as too much, hear me out. Many 18th-century tenon saws were sized like the Lie-Nielsen. And

because steel was very expensive then, they had to have a good reason. Here's my guess: I find a larger tenon saw is more accurate. With the heavy back of the tool high above the work, it's easier to sense when the tool is plumb. And tenon cheeks are almost always cut so they are plumb.

I have absolutely zero complaints about this Lie-Nielsen saw. Its 11 points-per-inch blade starts incredibly smoothly thanks to the hand-filed teeth (even beginners have commented on this aspect of the saw to me). And the tool plunges quickly through even difficult ring-porous hardwoods.

In my book, this saw is the new standard

Lie-Nielsen ■ 800-327-2520 or

lie-nielsen.com Street price ■ $175

For more information, go to pwfreeinfo.com.

for tenon saws. Strong words, I know. But if you give the tool a try I think you'll agree.

— Christopher Schwarz

Bosch Brad Nailer is Smaller and Lighter

The Bosch BNS200-18 brad nailer is part of the company's new "Full Force Technology" line of air tools, all of which have a patented air chamber that allows the nailers to use 100 percent of the air from the compressor to drive the fastener. In traditional nailer designs, some air is kept in reserve to return the tool to the ready position. Among the other tools in the line that many woodworkers use are a 15-gauge angled finish nailer and a 16-gauge straight nailer.

The upshot is that these new nailers are smaller and lighter than comparable tools on the market (Bosch says they're 20 percent smaller and 10 percent lighter), which means that for someone like me (small hands, little upper body strength), this 18-gauge brad nailer is easy and comfortable to use, plus the body is narrow, so there's a better line-of-sight to the workpiece.

I was particularly pleased with the tool-ess adjustable depth-of-drive, as I used the nailer to attach some thin poplar trim. It was simple to turn the adjusting wheel until I got the drive depth I needed.

The tool also features a toolless "quick clear" feature to access the tip to clearjams, but I didn't experience any jams in two hours of use. It is, however, easy to access the tip.

A dry-fire lock-out feature prevents blank firing, which is nice for those of us who have "attached" an entire run of moulding, just to discover that, no, we haven't. That lockout prevents damage to both the workpiece as well as the interior mechanisms of the tool.

The selectable trigger is another good feature; it allows you to switch easily (again, with no tools) from bump firing to sequential firing.

My one complaint about the brad nailer is that it didn't come with an air-hose coupler. I know these are inexpensive and easy to find at any hardware store, but I didn't realize I needed a coupler until I was ready to use the tool. So, I had to stop what I was doing

Bosch ■ 877-267-2499 or boschtools.com

Street price ■ $126

For more information, go to pwfreeinfo.com.

and traipse to the store before I could get started. It's not a big deal, and I was pleased with the nailer's performance, but it was annoying at the time.

The 18-gauge brad nailer weighs in at 2.5 pounds (with the coupler and brads removed), and takes fasteners from ⁵/8" to 2" in length. PW

— Megan Fitzpatrick

14 ■ Popular Woodworking December 2009