Thread: Burl Carcass Saw.

The burl handle is very nice and leaving the heel is a simple way to preserve the clearance. That's a great saw Stewie, nice work!

Regards,

Denim.

Gorgeous! Very well done.

Hi Stewie,

Beautiful work, the styling and finish is a fine compliment to that amazing Blackeyed Coolabah burl.

14" is ( I think) a good size for a bench carcass saw, I can imagine a shorter saw would get into tighter spots, but the extra length would give it a nice balance and feel. For bench work the length and the 20 thou plate would make for some fast clean cuts.

I'm not entirely convinced about leaving the last 1/2" untoothed, but it's a good experiment to see how it goes, for jointing and sharpening, won't affect the cut as far as I can see.

Congratulations on another stylish addition to the stable.

Regards
Ray

Beautiful Stewie. I would be proud to be able to make something of that quality.

Regards
Anthony

OOOOOH Yea baby, thats a saw.

Nice, Stewie!

That burl Coolibah looks like black marble (but I hope it wasnt THAT tough on your tools? ). Scrumptious-looking stuff!

And I am impressed with your neat inletting of the spine. Burls can be crumbly, difficult things to work with, sometimes - how was this bit?

I'm often tempted to leave the last 15mm or so at the heel untoothed, myself. Let's face it, the entire last 25mm of teeth rarely see any wood, so I reckon they are only there to complete the set. As wear is greatest on the front teeth, the toe end will inevitably shrink faster than the heel end over time, so you will eventually get your wish for a canted blade.....

Cheers,

Hi Stewie,

Very nice, it is the sort of quality that if the saw was stored in a library they would make you wear white gloves before you use it.

The first step of sharpening a saw is to joint the teeth to bring them up to the same level (the teeth you use the most wear the most), which reminds me of the favourite saying of my high school woodwork teacher...
"use all 235 teeth on that saw, not just the middle two"

So to joint your saw without jointing the handle end teeth would be more difficult that just running a file over the whole lot (but still possible).

Regards,
Chris

Originally Posted by Polie

.....
So to joint your saw without jointing the handle end teeth would be more difficult that just running a file over the whole lot (but still possible).

Chris - As I mentioned in my previous post, I frequently find the front teeth need a bit more cleaning up than the rear teeth. I guess these are the teeth that hit the odd bits of grit (or metal ). I just make sure the front teeth are even by draw-filing, then bring all the teeth into line with the file in a holder as per standard. It isn't a lot, but over years, would put a gradual cant into the saw.

As to using every tooth on the saw, I'm pretty careful to use as much of the saw as possible too - both because of former teachers including my old pot exhorting me to do so, & because I'm the mug what sharpens them, so prolonging time between sharpenings is in my best interest. However, I'm afraid part of the blade sees little use beteeen sharpenings on any of my saws. You can't push past the leading edge of the handle on a panel saw, once the blade is fully entered in the cut, and there is precious little room under the cheeks of most back saws. So even a "full stroke" often leaves a lot of teeth that don't ever get a bite.....

Cheers,

Originally Posted by planemaker

I have attached photo's of my latest backsaw. Its a 14" blade at 14tpi X-CUT with a 1/4" taper. The handle is made from Blackeyed Coolabah burl timber

Stewie
That stuff you have used for the handle really looks three dimensional.
Looks to me a little like that widest grain, like you see in walnut gun-stocks.
Would be great to see your maker's name on a medallion or an etch on these, so when you are long gone, the proud owner will know who made them.
Regards,
Peter

Originally Posted by lightwood

Stewie
That stuff you have used for the handle really looks three dimensional.
Looks to me a little like that widest grain, like you see in walnut gun-stocks.
Would be great to see your maker's name on a medallion or an etch on these, so when you are long gone, the proud owner will know who made them.
Regards,
Peter

Thanks Peter. Your comments are very much appreciated.

Stewie.

Originally Posted by IanW

Nice, Stewie!

That burl Coolibah looks like black marble (but I hope it wasnt THAT tough on your tools? ). Scrumptious-looking stuff!

And I am impressed with your neat inletting of the spine. Burls can be crumbly, difficult things to work with, sometimes - how was this bit?

I'm often tempted to leave the last 15mm or so at the heel untoothed, myself. Let's face it, the entire last 25mm of teeth rarely see any wood, so I reckon they are only there to complete the set. As wear is greatest on the front teeth, the toe end will inevitably shrink faster than the heel end over time, so you will eventually get your wish for a canted blade.....

Cheers,

The burl was excellent to work with Ian . Due to the non directional grain its strength and stabilty has an even spread across the entire work piece. I am pleased that we had similar ideas with leaving the last 1/2 of heel blade untoothed. In practice its not of often we would include right up to the end of the heel within the saw stroke.

Stewie.

Thanks for the feedback Chris.

Thanks Ray.

Stewie.

Thanks Denim.

Stewie.