Thread: Melbourne, Backsaw Making Workshop

Originally Posted by hiroller

Big thanks to Dale, Ian and Ray for the day.
There was a great vibe and lots of assistance around the room.
It was great also to have a look and try at some of the varied kit on show.

I still have to trim my spine to length and give the wood a final sand but already cuts better than some of my old saws! Now to find something that takes a photo better than my phone.

After trawling the metalwork section of the forum I invested in an Optivisor for magnification. I had been looking at getting one anyway. As anyone who borrowed mine on the day will have worked out, getting the focal length of the lens right is more important than magnification. To sharpen a saw, you need a focal length of around 300-350mm to be comfortable. However most of the magnifiers are focused to close to be usable. This means you are limited to a magnification of 1.5x to 2x in a headband magnifier to be useful.
This explains it pretty well:
How to Choose the Right Optivisor Headband Magnifier - YouTube

So where is the link to the solution????

Lens Plate	Power	Working Distance
Lens Plate #2	1.5 x	20"
Lens Plate #3	1.75 x	14"
Lens Plate #4	2.00 x	10"
Lens Plate #5	2.25 x	8"
Lens Plate #7	2.75 x	6"
Lens Plate #10	3.5 x	4"

Magni-Focuser

Who's Len?

..........

Oh - I think I cracked a rib. Nope - my mistake

Who's Len (Groan)

One of these:
Donegan Optivisor DA3 1 3 4 X Power AT 14" | eBay

I've been a good boy today and organised for some nice Pferd files.
First I asked where I could get some and they said Only one person buys them and they are in Qld.
They won't sell direct so they organised for a company around the corner to take my money and I pick it up from them in dingley.

Box of 4 inch and a box or 5 inch.

Paigie, empty your mailbox if you want a reply.

Empty now

One of the things I found difficult with the shaping of the tote for the saw was the work holding. I always was finding clearance issues and couldn't get the angle of attack I wanted.

Here are some options that may help.
























Cleats on bottom help to locate on the corner of your bench

The Rasping fixture features a stable and spacious 7-1/4 x 14-3/4, 3/4 inch thick base.The cleats underneath locate it over a corner of the bench,
offering a 3-1/4 inch overhang that protects your bench from errant tools.
Installation is quick and easy!
Simply clamp it to the corner of your bench with either a clamp or holdfast.
Depending on your bench, you may also clamp it with your vise.
The circular cutout allows you to rasp and file the work productively,
with total ergonomic control.
Go ahead and shape using any rasp or file, without fear of damage to your bench.
This fixture supports the work and takes all the abuse.
This fixture supports the workpiece with just hand pressure,
so you can reposition productively as you work.
Saw building from kits are very popular, as is working with complex shapes.
Shape compound radiused and increasing / decreasing parts such as saw handles with ease.



This can be bought from Evenfall Studios.


If you can make a saw handle you can make your own I would think.

Some may find this interesting to know. For the record I do not condone the use of shaping the saw handle with a cnc machine.

Stewie;

Blog: CNC Routing - Not Always at the Lowest Common Demoniator..

Originally Posted by DSEL74

One of the things I found difficult with the shaping of the tote for the saw was the work holding. I always was finding clearance issues and couldn't get the angle of attack I wanted.

Here are some options that may help.
























Cleats on bottom help to locate on the corner of your bench

The Rasping fixture features a stable and spacious 7-1/4 x 14-3/4, 3/4 inch thick base.The cleats underneath locate it over a corner of the bench,
offering a 3-1/4 inch overhang that protects your bench from errant tools.
Installation is quick and easy!
Simply clamp it to the corner of your bench with either a clamp or holdfast.
Depending on your bench, you may also clamp it with your vise.
The circular cutout allows you to rasp and file the work productively,
with total ergonomic control.
Go ahead and shape using any rasp or file, without fear of damage to your bench.
This fixture supports the work and takes all the abuse.
This fixture supports the workpiece with just hand pressure,
so you can reposition productively as you work.
Saw building from kits are very popular, as is working with complex shapes.
Shape compound radiused and increasing / decreasing parts such as saw handles with ease.



This can be bought from Evenfall Studios.If you can make a saw handle you can make your own I would think.

Good info Dale. just a question. Are these actual photo's of you doing the shaping or are these photo's downloaded from another site.

Stewie;

Originally Posted by planemaker

Good info Dale. just a question. Are these actual photo's of you doing the shaping or are these photo's downloaded from another site.

Stewie;

Gathered and saved to my computer from various sites during my research for the workshop. Now having made a saw, I'm going back looking over the saved images for tips that may not have made sense or not been understood before making one.

No idea where the first image came from, the blue swivel vise is from a blog which belongs to a personal blog by Pedder or Klaus (from two lawyers toolworx). The last one I found today and as noted is from Evansfall Studios where you can buy it.

I am a visual person so I randomly save lots of "Inspiration" photos. I have about 5 folders on planes & plane making and planes I like for styling. That is a project I want to try possibly next in my tool making journey.

When I get to it actually making a project months, years later. I often wish I knew where I saved the images from to go back and look for more info.

I wish it was me in the photos. That would mean I had an actual proper workbench and space to do woodwork…….Happy days that would be!

Originally Posted by DSEL74

I wish it was me in the photos. That would mean I had an actual proper workbench and space to do woodwork…….Happy days that would be!

Dale I use a small vise similar to this one except mine as a rubber shroud that stops the wood dust from getting into the ball joint. 3" Ball Swivel Clamp ON Hobby Vise Bench Tool NEW | eBay

I actually have 2 of these. The other 1 is still in its original box unused.

Stewie;