Thread: Anyone built a roubo frame saw?

Hi, delbs - I got my coil from an industrial supplier in the united states called Zoro tool. It would cost a mint to ship to australia. What you need to do is find an industrial supplier in australia that sells 1095 spring or they may refer to it as shim stock.

4 feet long, 4 inches of blade and that thickness is definitely the way to go here and I wouldn't change any of those (as mentioned, I tried to use a lighter blade , but just the weight of the saw can cause it to flex in the cut and it wasn't possible to saw straight with it (if the saw were substantially lighter, it would be unproductive because there wouldn't be enough downforce on the teeth and you don't want to be the person who has to supply said downforce - you want a saw that engages like a well sharpened chainsaw - the teeth move, it takes a proper cut and moves a lot of material out of the cut with each stroke (and that it does).

When I got a coil, it was $75 (and zoro was selling it on ebay). I haven't checked since but have seen more expensive listings (maybe by a factor of two) and there wasn't exactly a line of people wanting to buy the offcut from my coil (which was still 6 feet long).

I think a 10 foot coil is a good idea, though - you may not be satisfied with the first teeth that you cut in and I wish I'd have just kept mine to either use later or wait to sell to someone who actually wanted it.

As far as muscle memory, it's not as fiddly as that. If you can saw with a hand saw and understand correcting the tracking a little at a time so that you're always on your cut, then this works the same way. The only difference is you can twist it a bit and pull it left or right - that combination allow correction on one side of the cut without affecting the other (that is, you can move it back toward a line on the far side without changing where it's going on the near side).

My very first cut wandered some on a test board and by the next cut, I'd figured out how to steer it. Never lost stock in a project to wander since - they're easier to use than you'd expect.

For those who a bit lazy (whose looking at me!) and simply want to throw dollars at a problem... ahem... these kits are the US ones.

Very nice and a good price.

frame-saw/kit-parts-roubo-frame-saw-medium-hardware-inc-rip-blade-cut-range-4-to-5-inches - 4 to 5 inch kit

frame-saw/kit-parts-roubo-frame-saw-large-hardware-inc-rip-blade-cut-range-to-6-inches- 6 inch kit !!!

The prices at The Woodworks are pretty good too. Impressed.


Delbs, any update on spring steel that might be appropriate?


edit - there is also this el-cheapo that might be good just for the 40mm blade, toss the rest... its spring steel, so modifying it with files to be "better" is an option... BOW SAW FRAME SAW LUBAN CARPENTERS HAND SAW 800mmx40,500mmx20mm | eBay

I've purchased a few things from there before and were pleased with their service and items. They however hit a few stock issues as most Aussie retailers have but didn't find out until I placed the order.

Regardless I am still hunting for my own and did find minibearings.com.au did list a number of options very close but was either 2" thick or 6" so I asked for 4" and they said they could definitely do it in a roll of spring steel either 1 or 2m lengths but not this side of Xmas.

Will update this once I find out costs ,seems to be a possible option for the optimistic 2021 year ahead

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I only looked briefly, but must've lucked out getting a 10 foot roll for $75 a few years ago. I couldn't find 1095 here in the pre-cut size (all that has to be done is the mill edge needs to be ground off on the tooth side, as it'll be rolled rounded and extremely hard).

I couldn't find anything under $150 on quick browse. I think it's just not something in demand elsewhere. 1095 bar stock is very cheap here (thanks to knife forgers reviving simple steels for forging), but spring isn't, except in lower carbon grades.

Isaac smith sells blades here for about $130 or something. I was full of pizz when I filed two out (and still have the 2" version hanging on the wall waiting for some reason to make a lighter shorter saw out of the 4 foot piece - it can be cut down with holes drilled in it, but it has giant teeth). IF I did it again, I think I would pay the cost for a pre-drilled blade. It was a fun adventure, but filing in 8 feet of those teeth with large heavy taper is more like busting rocks than it is a nice hobby-level sit-down-and-resharpen-your-favorite-saw kind of thing.

But it's fun to do once, so if you do go the route of making your own, I think you'll like it. I still like it, but everything like that is fun to do once or twice and you feel like you wouldn't do it again (but had I not done it before, I'd probably do it).

It's very worth the trouble if you're going to consider woodworking entirely by hand, though - and perhaps a few smaller saws for ripping vertically would be a good replacement (I do my stock ripping with a handsaw sitting holding the saw vertical).

if you have the time, there is something about the physical element of sizing stock by hand that is engaging. If you have to do 7 hours of it in one day, then it wouldn't be quite so much, but as a way to blow off a half hour to two hours of steam at any given time, it's pure brain stimulation without the boredom of going for a jog only to end up back in the same place you started.

And the development of neurons in hand, brain and trunk that occurs with any hand work carries over to others, without a doubt. It makes even simple things like cutting joints better, and before you know it, you'll be planing and sawing with your off hand sometimes just to keep moving - your brain understands what's going on and the second hand takes about a 20th of the time to learn as the first.

Originally Posted by D.W.

..... and the second hand takes about a 20th of the time to learn as the first.......

How I wish!

Not when you are as dominantly right-handed as I am! It takes years to train my left hand to do anything useful - I still can't brush my teeth left-handed without skewering my tonsils, as I discovered when I had an injury to my right shoulder a while ago.

I used to envy my old dad, who was a natural leftie, but beaten (literally) into learning to do things right-handed at school (including play the violin to quite a high standard). It probably gave him a jaundiced view of the right-handed world, but he was the most ambi-dextrous bloke I ever saw, he could switch from one hand to the other on just about any task, and do it with equal facility.

Neither the left-handed nor the ambi-dexterity genes were passed on to the son....

Cheers,

Originally Posted by IanW

but he was the most ambi-dextrous bloke I ever saw, he could switch from one hand to the other on just about any task, and do it with equal facility.

Neither the left-handed nor the ambi-dexterity genes were passed on to the son....

Cheers,

Ian

This is a blatant digression, for which I humbly apologise in advance, but back in the 70s when I played tennis my long time doubles partner was truly ambidextrous in that he had two forehands and would switch from one to the other. I never saw him hit a backhand and only saw him caught out going from one forehand to the other on a couple of occasions. He served right handed, but could serve left handed if he wished.

I did try playing tennis left handed once when I had injured my right hand and I got by, but I was only able to play with the women. Ummm.. Not sure that came out quite as I intended.

Regards
Paul

Ditto on the detour - dad and I played golf at a public course when I was a kid. We took a tee time once and played a round behind a guy who brought left and right handed clubs. There are a lot of pro players who play both sides of the ball (probably out of boredom) when they're screwing around, and they play their off hand well (for the same reason that we can get good at sawing even if our off hand isn't that great - a lot of sawing is about what you don't do rather than what you do, and I guess the same is true for golf. Except it's a lot harder).

The ambi guy would say to the guy across from him, "which side this hole?" and then he'd play whatever side of the ball the guy called, I doubt they did that all round, but when we caught up to them on tees, they did. He looked the same from both sides.

Best way to start sawing with both hands is to resaw boards in a vise from both sides, back and forth. The other benefit from that is if you want to resaw boards (for anyone who doesn't have a band saw), your shoulders don't really ever get used to one arm sawing continuously, but they'll have no issue after a few days with both arms going back and forth without breaks.

DW, I misunderstood, I thought you were saying to use left & right arms alternately - I couldn't saw a straight line with my left arm to save my life! But I often use both arms for heavy sawing - it just means both shoulders ache after a very long session. I think in my case it has much to do with 60 odd years of heavy use and worn joints rather than technique.....

Cheers,

Actually, I did mean alternate using one at a time. It's easy resawing because the job in resawing is mostly to be a motor and do nothing other than tiny course corrections. I don't think most people can resaw a piece of wood with a handsaw and adjust the back and front side independently, so changing sides in the cut without moving the wood out of the vise is very handy (and productive).

Following that, you can get pretty quick at ripping and seeing vertical, and then the most difficult thing is going to cross cutting smaller items, especially in woods that are hard to start (that'd be last).

I am not close to ambidextrous. I've tried golfing right handed because everyone told me golfing left handed is wrong and I'm at risk of serious injury due to falling if I even attempt it. Similar throwing with my left. It feels like a serous injury is minutes away, and I look like an amish person trying to program a computer.

I am probably not the worst in terms of disparity, but learning to do sawing well with the right hand helped me understand not to try to "help" things too much with the left. The rest is just eye dominance and seeing from the cross dominant eye what it looks like when the saw isn't being fed in straight. If it's being fed in round the bend, a jarring jam is right around the corner.

If off hand sawing was tried crosscut with an aggressive saw on the first try, it would probably never be tried again. I'm always looking for ways for someone who doesn't like exercise (And thus doesn't have tons of stamina - me) to more or less continuously exercise in the shop and not be sucking wind or rubbing joints.

Originally Posted by IanW

...
I used to envy my old dad, who was a natural leftie, but beaten (literally) into learning to do things right-handed at school (including play the violin to quite a high standard). ...

Cheers,

Michelangelo was also a natural leftie but, at school, the nuns (literally) beat it out of him. After all, in Latin and Italian, the left hand is the "sinister" or "sinistra" side, the devil's side!

He must have been a good student and learned to cope quite well right handed as in painting the Sisteen Chappel, carving David and designing St Peter's Basilica.

Nevertheless, Michelangelo had a secret laugh when he carved David. His David is left handed!

Originally Posted by GraemeCook

Michelangelo was also a natural leftie but, at school, the nuns (literally) beat it out of him. After all, in Latin and Italian, the left hand is the "sinister" or "sinistra" side, the devil's side!

He must have been a good student and learned to cope quite well right handed as in painting the Sisteen Chappel, carving David and designing St Peter's Basilica.

Nevertheless, Michelangelo had a secret laugh when he carved David. His David is left handed!

Graeme

Sinistra is the latin word for left hand and we do indeed derive our word "sinister" from it.

Regards
Paul

Watching my 4 year old grandson the other day and he was writing letters/numbers and his name on the pages of a large scrapbook and he was using his right hand for the right hand pages and left hand for the left hand pages. Makes sense when you think about it.

Originally Posted by BobL

Watching my 4 year old grandson the other day and he was writing letters/numbers and his name on the pages of a large scrapbook and he was using his right hand for the right hand pages and left hand for the left hand pages. Makes sense when you think about it.

Absolutely. Until you write with a fountain pen.

Regards
Paul

Thanks to an awesome forum member I have got my hands on some 1095 that he used to make a saw blade. I shall get started this holiday break

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