Thread: Bow saw blades

Hi Matt and Paul. You gentlemen are too kind! Thanks. I was going to make a lame joke about the speed of the operator and his powerful sawyers arm but your explanation is far more likely.

Nah, stick with your own explanation, MA, sounds more plausible to me....

Can't say I've ever noticed what sort of temperature a bowsaw blade gets to in typical use. I know it'll get very warm if I force a dull blade through a tight curve, but that's understandable. Have never caused any scorch marks yet....

You'll soon figure out what set & tpi work best for the tasks you use it for. If mainly straight cuts or very gentle curves, it doesn't need any more set than you'd have on a backsaw of the same tpi, but if you want to cut tighter curves, it need a more generous amount of set to allow the blade a bit of extra room to twist in the kerf.

When I first started using a small bowsaw I found it difficult to keep the blade square in the cut around curves & the tighter the curve, the more difficult it was. Cutting out a saw handle or the back of a plane tote is a good example, the saw I use for that has a blade about 4mm wide. The first few handles I cut were pretty odd-looking things, not only were my cuts out of square but high & low sides of the cut reversed as the curves went from concave to convex. I spent more time squaring up than sawing it out!

Cheers,
Ian

Hi MA

My first bow saw was quite similar to yours except that I used a threaded rod rather than tightening cords. Definitely not as pretty!

Initially I tried to saw holding the "handle" but found that this was very unstable. My left hand automatically migrated to the frame above the "handle" to steady it.

Bow Saw 3.JPG

Then I found that I could grip it like Ian says above and could use it single handed. Since then, things have evolved:

Saw 2, I only put a "handle" on one end, and experimented holding it on either end and also rotating the blade using it as both a push saw and a pull saw. I found that I prefered to push saw holding the end without the handle. (As I use Japanese saws more, I may change my mind on this.)

Saw 3, no "handles" - marginally lighter and I thought it looked better. Realised function of "handle" was to rotate the blade. But I rarely rotated the blade.

Saw 4, mounted the blade directly into slots in the frame. This gives "firmer" blade placement, very simple and functional, but the blade cannot be rotated. It is my preference so far.

Bow Saw 2.JPG


Qualifier. But recently I have revisited videos by Tage Frid and Frank Klausz where they cleared dovetails very quickly using a bow saw with a 90° twist in the blade. I cannot twist the blade with this design. The quest continues.

PS: As one does not hold the bow saw by the "handle" it is probably more correct nomenclature to call it a "knob".

Hi Ian and Graeme. As suggested I did smooth out the "handle" part of the frame but I didn't find it that uncomfortable to used the turned "knob". Admittedly I only made 2 test cuts but I do use a coping saw an awful lot and there is only one way to hold the cast frame version I have. I might try a little more set, I only put a small amount on

Originally Posted by GraemeCook

... I have revisited videos by Tage Frid and Frank Klausz where they cleared dovetails very quickly using a bow saw with a 90° twist in the blade....

Graeme, I read an article by Frank K. in FWW many years ago, showing how to 'doctor' the blade to perform that little trick of cutting the sides & bottoms of the sockets in one continuous cut. I rushed to my workshop & modified a blade & tried it. The results were worse than woeful! I tried quite a few times & got marginally better, but never anything approaching the neat fit Klausz managed with such nonchalance. I gave up & went back to the way we were taught in school. I'm convinced those blokes must've spent a good part of their apprenticeships mastering that one technique....

Cheers,
Ian

Originally Posted by IanW

... I find, as most do, that you get best control of the saw holding it with thumb & first 2 fingers wrapped around the bottom of the arm. The handle sits in your palm with just the last 2 fingers around it. ...

It seems that Tage Frid held his bow saw in a similar grip to Ian - similar but not identical

Bow Saw - Tage Frid.jpg (Source: FWW Magazine, Jan-Feb 1996, p.81.)


Frank Klausz held his bow saw in quite a different manner, but still firmly by the frame.

Bow Saw - Frank Klausz.jpg (Source: FWW Magazine, Sept-Oct 1979, p.56.)

But, of course, we do not know if they always held the saw in the same manner, or if they varied their grip for the task in hand.

Hi Graeme. Great photos. I wonder what sort of cord Frank Klausz has used. It likes pretty thick.

Originally Posted by Mountain Ash

.... wonder what sort of cord Frank Klausz has used. It likes pretty thick.

MA, one of the traditional materials for this sort of job was rawhide. Can't tell from the fuzzy pic, but that could be rawhide on Frank's saw.

Rawhide is more suitable than cured leather, btw, it's tougher & less extensible...

Ian

Originally Posted by Mountain Ash

Hi Graeme. Great photos. I wonder what sort of cord Frank Klausz has used. It likes pretty thick.

No idea, MA; the cord looks to be flat which is consistent with Ian's suuggestion that it might be raw hide.

I went back to the original source and the photo was no clearer. Back in 1979 FWW Magazine published with low resolution black and white photos, not the full colour hi-res stuff we are now used to.

But you can see how they grip the bow saws, which was to subject of the posting.

Originally Posted by GraemeCook

But you can see how they grip the bow saws, which was to subject of the posting.

I did see that too. I was watching a video of someone using a bowsaw to cut out dovetail waste. I think I could use another saw, or at least make another blade

Funnily enough, using the bowsaw this morning, I "naturally" gripped the frame between thumb and pointer. I think this forum is influencing me subconsciously