Score Your Dovetail Saw

What We’re Scoring On (Your “Dream Dovetail” Anchor)

We start by defining one perfect dovetail hand saw — our dream model. Every spec you enter gets compared to these ideal values. Each metric begins at 10 points and loses points the further it strays.

• Blade length: 230 mm
• TPI (teeth per inch): 16 TPI
• Plate thickness: 0.6 mm
• Tooth geometry: Fine crosscut (micro finish)
• Blade material: Hardened spring steel

Note: This tool does not cover every possible specification. The formula used is only made to give a general idea of what a good product may look like. It’s a great way to shortlist your choices, but this tool is not 100% bias-free, and cannot replace real-world testing insights

Values for the Best Dovetail Hand Saw

Metric	Dream Spec	Score at Perfect Match
Blade length	230 mm	10
TPI	16	10
Plate thickness	0.6 mm	10
Tooth geometry	Fine crosscut	10
Material	Hardened spring steel	10

Enter any real-world spec into the tool and each metric starts at 10 then loses points as it deviates.

How Score Changes with Deviation

Here’s how the scoring works.

Blade length

• Rule: Subtract 1 point for every 5 mm (or part of 5 mm) the length is away from 230 mm. Minimum score is 1 point.
• Examples:
  • Exactly 230 mm → 10 points
  • Within ±5 mm (225–235 mm) → 9 points
  • Within ±10 mm (220–240 mm) → 8 points
  • Within ±15 mm (215–245 mm) → 7 points
  • Within ±20 mm (210–250 mm) → 6 points
  • Within ±25 mm (205–255 mm) → 5 points
  • Within ±30 mm (200–260 mm) → 4 points
  • Within ±35 mm (195–265 mm) → 3 points
  • Within ±40 mm (190–270 mm) → 2 points
  • More than ±45 mm away (less than 185 mm or greater than 275 mm) → 1 point

TPI

(each TPI metric is scored against 16 and then averaged if you compare several TPI inputs)

• Exact match → 10
• 1 tooth off → 9
• 2 teeth off → 8
• 3 teeth off → 6
• 4 teeth off → 4
• 5 or more teeth off → 2

We selected 16 TPI because it gives a balanced results for both smooth and fast cuts.

Plate thickness

• Rule: Subtract 1 point for every 0.05 mm (or part of 0.05 mm) the thickness is away from 0.6 mm. Minimum score is 1 point.
• Examples:
  • Exactly 0.6 mm → 10 points
  • 0.55–0.649 mm → 9 points
  • 0.50–0.699 mm → 8 points
  • 0.45–0.749 mm → 7 points
  • 0.40–0.799 mm → 6 points
  • 0.35–0.849 mm → 5 points
  • 0.30–0.899 mm → 4 points
  • 0.25–0.949 mm → 3 points
  • 0.20–0.999 mm → 2 points
  • Very far from 0.6 mm → 1 point

Tooth geometry

• Fine crosscut → 10
• Fine rip or hybrid → 6
• Standard crosscut or rip → 3
• Coarse or butcher style → 1

Blade material

• Hardened spring steel → 10
• High-carbon (e.g. SK5), hardened → 9
• Hardened stainless → 8
• Generic high-carbon/quality unknown → 6
• Chrome-vanadium or unknown alloy → 4
• Soft or budget alloy → 2

Overall Score

1. Enter the spec values in the Dovetail Saw Spec Scorer tool.
2. Each metric outputs a 1–10 score based on its deviation rule above.
3. The tool averages the five metric scores to give a final rating from 1.0 to 10.0.

Use this page to quickly compare dovetail saws by their spec sheets. Higher scores mean a closer match to the dream dovetail saw every fine joiner wants in the shop.