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Question about this miter box/saw combo on Habor Freight...

Posted by Grace Bowyer on June 12, 2010 at 5:22pm in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion

I'm looking into buying this miter box and saw for fretting purposes:

http://www.harborfreight.com/hand-tools/saws/miter-box-set-37022.html

They don't have the kerf of the saw listed in the specs tab, but it looks pretty similar to a lot of hobby/craft saws that I know some people use for fretting. Do you think it'll be alright for a fret saw? I know that Harbor Freigh sells the popular Japanese flush-cut saw as well, but if I can safely save myself the $10, my shoestring budget would thank me.

A bit of background: This would be for making my 3rd cookie-tin banjo ukulele. For the frets on the past two ukuleles, I used a junior hacksaw with the waves filed/sanded/pounded out, but the cuts are still too wide, so I've had to superglue them in. This is a huge pain, it's ugly, and it doesn't work well at all.

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freight, fret, fretting, harbor, saw

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Replies

BenBob June 20, 2010 at 9:19pm

FYI I just bought a Harbor Freight "Flush Cut Saw" and it says the blade thickness is "0.6mm (0.024")."
Wes "I'm Baaaaack" Yates June 20, 2010 at 1:05pm

Take a look at my page (blog) and see my depth gauge.
-WY

BenBob said:
Have you rigged a depth guard for when you use the speed square?

stan bryars said:
This is what I bought
I use a speed square to line things up, it works better and faster tna using a miter box that may allow the blade to wobble or get slightly of at an angle That is also the handiest saw I have for general cutting

Wes Yates said:
Grace,

Buy a Japanese Flush Cut saw from Harbor. It has a .023 kerf which is .001 less (more?) than Stew Mac Fret tangs. I guarantee you this is what you want. If you don't. I will buy it from you. That's how much I think you will like it. Also check out my page blog for info on this saw. You can make your own miter. I did. Its simple.

-WY
William McCauley June 20, 2010 at 12:03pm

Buy a reasonably priced backsaw from a big box home store. Make a three sided box and cut 90 degree across the box sides. This will set your kerf to match the saw. Use a steel rule, or machinist square as a guide for the saw when you make the cut. Size the box for the depth and the width of the neck.
BenBob June 18, 2010 at 11:31pm

Have you rigged a depth guard for when you use the speed square?

stan bryars said:
This is what I bought
I use a speed square to line things up, it works better and faster tna using a miter box that may allow the blade to wobble or get slightly of at an angleThat is also the handiest saw I have for general cutting

Wes Yates said:
Grace,

Buy a Japanese Flush Cut saw from Harbor. It has a .023 kerf which is .001 less (more?) than Stew Mac Fret tangs. I guarantee you this is what you want. If you don't. I will buy it from you. That's how much I think you will like it.Also check out my page blog for info on this saw. You can make your own miter. I did. Its simple.

-WY
stan bryars June 18, 2010 at 9:41pm

This is what I bought
I use a speed square to line things up, it works better and faster tna using a miter box that may allow the blade to wobble or get slightly of at an angle

That is also the handiest saw I have for general cutting

Wes Yates said:
Grace,

Buy a Japanese Flush Cut saw from Harbor. It has a .023 kerf which is .001 less (more?) than Stew Mac Fret tangs. I guarantee you this is what you want. If you don't. I will buy it from you. That's how much I think you will like it.

Also check out my page blog for info on this saw. You can make your own miter. I did. Its simple.

-WY
Craig Cox June 13, 2010 at 7:47pm

Wes, I'm going to buy this saw tomorrow thanks to this post and my own on fretting about fretting. Could you describe how you modified the saw with a depth stop?

Wes Yates said:
Grace,

Buy a Japanese Flush Cut saw from Harbor. It has a .023 kerf which is .001 less (more?) than Stew Mac Fret tangs. I guarantee you this is what you want. If you don't. I will buy it from you. That's how much I think you will like it.

Also check out my page blog for info on this saw. You can make your own miter. I did. Its simple.

-WY
Wes "I'm Baaaaack" Yates June 13, 2010 at 3:17pm

Here is a link to my blog about the flush cut saw.

-WY

Wes Yates said:
Grace,

Buy a Japanese Flush Cut saw from Harbor. It has a .023 kerf which is .001 less (more?) than Stew Mac Fret tangs. I guarantee you this is what you want. If you don't. I will buy it from you. That's how much I think you will like it.

Also check out my page blog for info on this saw. You can make your own miter. I did. Its simple.

-WY
Grace Bowyer June 13, 2010 at 12:51pm

Thanks very much for the responses, everyone! I trust your experience (that's why I asked you guys in the first place), so I'll go with the flush-cut saw. Thanks a ton!

Cheers,
Grace
Tracy Kennedy June 13, 2010 at 10:41am

I actually have the exact miterbox and saw set from HF. I bought it with the same intentions as you are considering. MY advice is dont do it. I dont know what the kerf is but it is too wide for fret slots. You will indeed be gluing the frets in. The box slot are sloppy and with use the saw chews the box slots up even more. As a general purpose set up that you dont require accuracy on go for it. What I have dont recently is picked up a HF Jap pull saw as everyone reccomends. I just use it with a standard square as a straight edge and hold it tight against it. Ill put a depth guage on it soon
Wes "I'm Baaaaack" Yates June 13, 2010 at 9:53am

Grace,

Buy a Japanese Flush Cut saw from Harbor. It has a .023 kerf which is .001 less (more?) than Stew Mac Fret tangs. I guarantee you this is what you want. If you don't. I will buy it from you. That's how much I think you will like it.

Also check out my page blog for info on this saw. You can make your own miter. I did. Its simple.

-WY