I'm not a fan of sawing guides or plane fences. Basically anything that gets in the way of the freedom of motion of the tool. But sawing guides like these Barron guides can be a major head start to someone new to hand cut dovetails or someone struggling with their sawing. Here is my review of the Barron Dovetail Guides using both a Japanese saw and some Western Dovetail saws.

I have to say that I did enjoy using these guides and I'm definitely going to add a 45 degree guide to my collection. I don't know that I will be using them to cut dovetails in the future, but it is good to know they are there when I'm having a bad day and can't saw straight at all. Thanks to David Barron for the opportunity to try out his guides and be sure to visit his site for more information/videos/etc on these and other cool products he makes.

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This "Hand Tool School" series is provided courtesy of Shannon Rogers, a/k/a The Renaissance Woodworker. Rogers is founder of The Hand Tool School, which provides members with an online apprenticeship that teaches them how to use hand tools and to build furniture with traditional methods.