New bowsaw

[Bodgy]

Just finished a new 50 cm bowsaw. Already have an 80cm bought one, which, whilst it cuts beautifully, can be too big and unwieldy for smaller work.

Made this one from Liquid Amber, which (thanks ZED) is excellent for tool handles. Got to be careful of the tear out, tho.

Cut to size on the TS then spokeshaved to shape. Sanded to only 120 grit, finished with UB Shellac x 2 and Trad Wax. Used threaded rod rather than wire etc, as it seems logical and the weight of the rod helps the cut. Omitted the traditional handles as I haver never used them on the bigger saw, simply grasping the frame.

Used pieces of old hacksaw blade in slots to hold the central compression/tension bar in place, simply cut slots in bolts to hold the blade.

Cuts beautifully, but takes a bit of practice to keep the cut straight, particularly as the blade goes thru timber like butter.

2 nd piccy shows the two saws for comparison

[jmk89]

A lovely piece of work. Greenie dispatched.
What did you use for the blade itself?

[martrix]

Nice job Bodg! Excuse my ignorance, but what is a Bow saw good at?

What is the Liquid Amber like to work with? Is it a hard Dense timber? I have the opportunity to mill some up from a tree that is to be felled.

[Bodgy]

JMK - The blade was one of 4 that came with the bigger saw. It seemed far too fine for the size of the saw, so I simply cut it down and redrilled a hole to fit the new saw.

People often used old bandsaw blades for bow saws, or people like Henry Btros will custom make, quite cheaply.

Matrix - Bow saws can be used for most purposes depending on the balde size and TPI. I was inspired by a video where I saw a master cabinet maker use one. Cut so quick! Another advantage is that as the blade can be tilted, you can cut big chunks of wood. Finally the blade is tensioned, unlike a normal panel saw. I can also be used as a pull saw, like the Jap ones.

Can't really comment on the liquid amber yet, as my stash is still very green. I probably shouldn't have used for the saw, but I wanted to have a go at this new (for me) timber.

Opinion differs, I found it quite nice to work, but as I said, watch for tear out. It is a dense timber. NB this is still greenish timber (2 months cut down). If you search for LA, you'll see some of the guys work with it.

I have also heard it said that its only good for axe handles.

In your shoes I'd go ahead and mill some up, the tree I felled was mostly cut up and several members here took some chunks. No doubt there will be more posts once the moisture content drops.
In my limited experience, closest comparison would be European Beech.

[Mirboo]

Nice work Bodgy.

[arose62]

Used pieces of old hacksaw blade in slots to hold the central compression/tension bar in place,


Not sure I understand this - could you explain in a bit more detail please?

Cheers,
Andrew

[Bodgy]

Not sure I understand this - could you explain in a bit more detail please?

Cheers,
Andrew

Andrew. The horizontal member in the middle acts as a pivot(s) when you wind up the tension on the blade by turning the wing nut on the threaded rod.

As there is movement you can't fix this middle bar in place. Neither can you use traditional joinery as cutting out a mortice (or whatever) will cause the two end vertical members to loose strength and hence probably snap, or at least bend too much to be effective, when tensioned up.

Hence to hold the middle bar in place I cut a slot 50cm or so long vertically, exactly in the middle of these end pieces, depth equalling half of the hacksaw blade depth. Did the same either end of the central 'torsion' bar. I then epoxied a piece of old hacksaw blade into the slots on the vertical members. The protruding 5mm of the hacksaw blades fits snuggly into the slot on the torsion bar - not glued.

This then keeps the torsion bar in place when the tension is eased off (when bowsaw not in use) but allows movement as the wing nut is cranked up to tension the blade.

Hope this makes sense.

[Tiger]

Nice one Bodg, being in the parallel universe, does that mean I've got to make one too?

[Bodgy]

Absolutely! i

I only took a couple of hours.

I'd go for an 65cm size and recycle some old bandsaw blade. In retrospect maybe cutting out the profiles on the BS and then shaping with a sanding disc on the small angle grinder would be quicker. Not so darkside tho and I wanted to seriously use my spokeshaves.

Go with the Force, Tiges.

[jmk89]

Hey Bodgy

Sounds like you have found a market for busted bandsaw blades! Why would anyone buy a blade when a member on thisBB must bust a BS blade evey day??!:D

Seriously, it looks like a good project for all of us, especially as the product is so effective and useful.

Cheers

jeremy

[Auld Bassoon]

Smashing tools there Bodgy!

Old Tage Frid swears by these types of saw. Was he the Master you referred to?

I've never used one, but am tempted to have a go at making one myself.

[Bodgy]

Thank you Basson and others.

I'm unsure if it was Tage Frid, howver I do remember it was a video on M&T joints, by one of the recognised icons.

Do make yourself one, I was most impressed by the video, not only did the guy's bowsaw cut extremely quickly, but he also used it to cut out the tenons. All with perfect accuracy! The accuracy still challenges me, but I've got the speed right off.

Nothing like using tools one has made

[Schtoo]

It musta been Old Tage.

Used my own 25cm one today to lop off a niggly bit. Love how fast they are. :D

Bodgy, your looks much nicer than mine. I just used some steel screwed to the centre bit, then drilled through with a pin. Lotsa flexability, simple and ugly. ;)

Also used some SS wire with a winding doohickey. The 1" oak end pieces do bend under tension, so it must get tight enough...

[Andy Mac]

Nice work there Bodgy!:D I'm a real fan of bowsaws too, have made 4 or 5 after using a bought one, from coping saw size to...well, its huge! I have made them with the standard stub tenon, and a very short dowel too, on the ends of the spacer bar.
Hey Bodgy, I know you made yours to suit your style, having no knobs, but how do you twist the blade when you need to? I find I use the closest knob in one hand (out of the gutter!:rolleyes: ) and the far upright in the other.

Cheers,

[Bodgy]

Nice work there Bodgy!:D I'm a real fan of bowsaws too, have made 4 or 5 after using a bought one, from coping saw size to...well, its huge! I have made them with the standard stub tenon, and a very short dowel too, on the ends of the spacer bar.
Hey Bodgy, I know you made yours to suit your style, having no knobs, but how do you twist the blade when you need to? I find I use the closest knob in one hand (out of the gutter!:rolleyes: ) and the far upright in the other.

Cheers,

Andy

Its not hard to alter the blade angle, just loosen off the wing nut on tension bar, fingers adjust then tighten again. I've discovered that one of the advantages of using the oversized threaded rod, in addition to the greater weight, is that the coarse thread means only a few turns to tighten. As opposed to the shop bought one where you turn the wing nut about 4 revs.

Re your style of cutting I'll try that. It may help with the accuracy. Couldn't reach the far upright on the big bugger tho.

[Waldo]

G'day Bidgy,

Nice work.

I'll tell you a story. I was doing a bit of backyard maintanence which included getting the bowsaw out to hack back a Hibiscus, as I was doing so the blade jumped (as they do) and cut 3 deep cuts through my left thumb :eek: , one of which cut 1/3 of the way up my finger nail, didn't hurt at the time as all sharp cuts don't but afterwards!

The blood ran forth, and I had to suck in the language as I had 2 little nephews helping at the time.

[Bodgy]

G'day Bidgy,

Nice work.

I'll tell you a story. I was doing a bit of backyard maintanence which included getting the bowsaw out to hack back a Hibiscus, as I was doing so the blade jumped (as they do) and cut 3 deep cuts through my left thumb :eek: , one of which cut 1/3 of the way up my finger nail, didn't hurt at the time as all sharp cuts don't but afterwards!

The blood ran forth, and I had to suck in the language as I had 2 little nephews helping at the time.

Coulda been worse, don't you have a chainsaw?

[Waldo]

G'day Bodgy,

Nah, don't have much of a call for one. A chainsaw'd be nice but there's others things on the list that are ahead of it. ;)

[derekcohen]

As there is movement you can't fix this middle bar in place. Neither can you use traditional joinery as cutting out a mortice (or whatever) will cause the two end vertical members to loose strength and hence probably snap, or at least bend too much to be effective, when tensioned up.

Hi Bodgy

I am not with you here. Every bowsaw I know, including those I have made, use a M&T joint for the cross piece. It is a loose joint, and the two ends pivot around this.

Here you can see the centre mortices:

<center> <div><img src="http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/saws/Bowsawparts1.jpg" border="0" alt="" /> <br /></center>

<center> <div><img src="http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/saws/Bowsaw11.jpg" border="0" alt="" /> <br /></center>

I also used a bandsaw blade (6 tpi). It works OK on dovetails. My next will for re-sawing and use a cut down mitre saw blade.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[BobL]

Derek that's one gorgeous looking saw.

Now you guys have got me really excited so I gotta make one too. Is there anyone in the Perth area that can sell/donate/trade a busted band saw blade?

Thanks

[derekcohen]

Sure Bob, got plenty. Come over and get some. I'm in Rossmoyne. Where abouts are you?

Regards

Derek

[Bodgy]

Derek

What a beautiful saw, it puts the rest of us to shame, however.........

In the design you have obviously compensated for the loose tenon, by doubling the wood depth at the middle. My point was that without this compensation a mortice would weaken the piece.

[Andy Mac]

That is a beautiful bowsaw Derek! Is it recent?

Cheers,

[keith53]

Nice saw Bodgy.

I don't want to be picky guys but I was always led to believe that dressmakers use cm for units of measurement, woodworkers use mm.:D

[Bodgy]

Nice saw Bodgy.

I don't want to be picky guys but I was always led to believe that dressmakers use cm for units of measurement, woodworkers use mm.:D

Keith, you may be right, my last dress, a sexy little black cocktail number, was measured in cm.

Seriously, I find it all too confusing metric v imperial etc, particularly when you get to screw threads. Converting fractions of inches to metric is particularly tiresome, as the verniers etc give a decimal value to inches, ie 0.5" rather than 1/2". Try converting 5/64" to metric