Dominic Greco
06-28-2009, 9:21 PM
I just finished the construction of my 12" Graymercy Bowsaw kit. My first go around was,....not good. Let's face it, it was catastrophic!
But I learned a lot about the importance of grain orientation, not to deviate from the plan drastically, and to go a little lighter when shaping critical areas on the arms!
This time around I paid closer attention to the orientation of the grain. The arms are flat sawn and the cross piece is quarter sawn. I also attempted to rive/split out the blanks from a huge chunk of dried out hickory. That didn't work out so well. That hickory was HARD! I ended up just matching the grain direction to the profile on the template and bandsawing out the piece.
One thing I learned on this project was how COOL card scrapers are. I always knew they were great on flat stock but a well sharpened scraper will remove rasp marks on a curved section and leave you a super smooth finish! So I spent a lot less time sanding (which is always a plus for me).
Anyway, here it is. As you can see the knobs and toggle are coccobolo, and the cross piece and arms are hickory. I plan to sign it (somewhere) and apply shellac to the components later.
http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z287/DominicGreco/BowsawMKII_a.jpg
http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z287/DominicGreco/BowsawMKII_b.jpg
Right before I took those photos I tensioned the cord until the blade was nice and tight. I then ran this saw through it's paces. I was very impressed with the way it performed. Although I need practice sawing to a line! I really liked how I could turn such a sharp radius with this saw and how rapidly I was able to remove material.
Also, you can see parts for another bowsaw in the background. Well, because of the failure I had with my Bowsaw Mark I, I made two of everything this time! I plan to order another Graymercy kit and use these "spare" parts to make a bowsaw for my friend who is helping me rebuild my lawn tractor.
But I learned a lot about the importance of grain orientation, not to deviate from the plan drastically, and to go a little lighter when shaping critical areas on the arms!
This time around I paid closer attention to the orientation of the grain. The arms are flat sawn and the cross piece is quarter sawn. I also attempted to rive/split out the blanks from a huge chunk of dried out hickory. That didn't work out so well. That hickory was HARD! I ended up just matching the grain direction to the profile on the template and bandsawing out the piece.
One thing I learned on this project was how COOL card scrapers are. I always knew they were great on flat stock but a well sharpened scraper will remove rasp marks on a curved section and leave you a super smooth finish! So I spent a lot less time sanding (which is always a plus for me).
Anyway, here it is. As you can see the knobs and toggle are coccobolo, and the cross piece and arms are hickory. I plan to sign it (somewhere) and apply shellac to the components later.
http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z287/DominicGreco/BowsawMKII_a.jpg
http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z287/DominicGreco/BowsawMKII_b.jpg
Right before I took those photos I tensioned the cord until the blade was nice and tight. I then ran this saw through it's paces. I was very impressed with the way it performed. Although I need practice sawing to a line! I really liked how I could turn such a sharp radius with this saw and how rapidly I was able to remove material.
Also, you can see parts for another bowsaw in the background. Well, because of the failure I had with my Bowsaw Mark I, I made two of everything this time! I plan to order another Graymercy kit and use these "spare" parts to make a bowsaw for my friend who is helping me rebuild my lawn tractor.