Frank Klausz Bowsaw Article

[Nathan Talbert]

Anyone read this article? What are your thoughts? Seems like the bowsaw is versitile and can tackle most tasks that we buy dedicated saws for. Why all the backsaw and panel saw hype?

http://www.popularwoodworking.com/article/Bowsaw_Basics

[David Weaver]

I haven't got a lot of interest in a bowsaw, but I'd love to have a rough frame saw for ripping. I'm leery about the quality of the blades around, though, and I already rip with a handsaw the way klaus is showing, I just grip the while facing the bench instead of facing parallel to the bench.

Never seen a good one anywhere cheap, or I might be more encouraged to try one. Definitely no interest in buying replaceable blade saws that aren't japanese, though.

[Jerome Hanby]

I bought one of those Turbo cut 400 blades and a piece of hickory from the hardwood store with the eventual goal of making a bow saw. Did that after watching Tage Frid cut dovetails with a bow saw. Not sure I'm up to that, but the saw sure looked versatile, ...And the idea of tools I make myself is appealing or some reason...

[James Scheffler]

There's another bowsaw article in the latest Popular Woodworking, this time by Michael Dunbar. I'm intrigued, but haven't yet taken the plunge.

Jim S.

[David Weaver]

I would imagine that if someone made a hardware kit for them, there would be a lot more people making them. Though I don't have one of them, I would probably make one just for experimentation if there was a hardware kit.

Just from experience making planes without having an example around - guessing at how to make things without something to copy is a pain in the butt, and something I'd rather not do if I wasn't guaranteed to have something superior.

Having good quality hardware and plans would take all of the guesswork out of it. The other option would be to have a junk saw to scavenge the hardware from, but the closest I've seen is the old worn out buck saws, which I have only seen on walls and never in use.

[James Owen]

I would imagine that if someone made a hardware kit for them, there would be a lot more people making them. Though I don't have one of them, I would probably make one just for experimentation if there was a hardware kit. ..........

Tools for Working Wood offers a bow saw, a bow saw kit, as well as most of the individual components for building your own bow saw; nice quality parts.

[David Weaver]

I recall seeing that they make them for smaller saws. Does anyone make the parts for large saws, or am I off base thinking that the blade-holding hardware might need to be more robust?

On the surface, they seem like a good idea for fast cutting because it doesn't look like there's any way to kink the blade in a hard cut. On the flip side, though, I haven't kinked a blade since I was a kid.

[Gary Hodgin]

I bought a 12" bow saw from a guy at a Craft's Fair in Woodbury, Tn about 5 years ago and it's one of the easiest and best cutting saws I have ever used. The blade is made out of a band saw blade and it's on the rough side, but it will get you there fast. The problem is that the blade is dull and and I don't know how to replace it. Apparently, the guy who built it is out of business because I can't locate him. I suppose I could modify it so that I could use one of the after market bow saw blades, but the original blade was really aggressive. I can certainly see why some one would want to use a bow saw (with finer cut blade than mine) to cut dovetails.

[Tony Zaffuto]

I bought a 12" bow saw from a guy at a Craft's Fair in Woodbury, Tn about 5 years ago and it's one of the easiest and best cutting saws I have ever used. The blade is made out of a band saw blade and it's on the rough side, but it will get you there fast. The problem is that the blade is dull and and I don't know how to replace it. Apparently, the guy who built it is out of business because I can't locate him. I suppose I could modify it so that I could use one of the after market bow saw blades, but the original blade was really aggressive. I can certainly see why some one would want to use a bow saw (with finer cut blade than mine) to cut dovetails.

Gary,

Why don't you simply buy another bandsaw blade similar to the style you like, use your existing blade as a pattern and make a bunch of blades? Where you have to punch holes, heat to red and drill, or just use a carbide tipped bit?

T.Z.

[Gary Hodgin]

Gary,

Why don't you simply buy another bandsaw blade similar to the style you like, use your existing blade as a pattern and make a bunch of blades? Where you have to punch holes, heat to red and drill, or just use a carbide tipped bit?

T.Z.

Tony,
I'll copy your response and try it sometime. I haven't done any "metal work" and wasn't sure what I needed to do to drill a hole through the blade. The blade is housed and pinned inside a fixture that allows me to rotate it. I'm not sure how I'll get the pin out without ruining the fixture. Here's a not so great picture.
Gary

[Brian Millspaw]

Here's one I made over 10 years ago after seeing a picture of an antique one with carved swan's heads on the ends of the arms.

You don't need much for hardware, just some sheet brass that you fold in half and drill a hole and shape as shown in the photos. then slot the tenon on the end of your handle and pin the brass into it. On this saw I used a separate dowel, but it would be better to turn the tenon intregral to the handle.

This saw is built around a 24" blade that sears used to make for some kind of mitre box. It is 14 tpi and cuts very fast.

[Gary Hodgin]

Nice saw and a good design.

[Rich Tesoroni]

I've taken a lot of machines apart that had wheels or shafts held on with tapered pins (and had to get a set of the starrett punches to knock them out).

Is one side of the pin larger? Considering the blade looks to be held in a wood rod, I can't think of anything but a plain pin that could have been used.

Rich

[David Weaver]

Here's one I made over 10 years ago after seeing a picture of an antique one with carved swan's heads on the ends of the arms.

You don't need much for hardware, just some sheet brass that you fold in half and drill a hole and shape as shown in the photos. then slot the tenon on the end of your handle and pin the brass into it. On this saw I used a separate dowel, but it would be better to turn the tenon intregral to the handle.

This saw is built around a 24" blade that sears used to make for some kind of mitre box. It is 14 tpi and cuts very fast.

Excellent - smart idea on the hardware, exactly the kind of thing I'd like to copy rather than think of.

[Gary Hodgin]

Rich,
They're the same size on both ends and it does look like a plain pin. I have a couple of different sized punches and I'll give it a try. I don't have a Starrett though, although I may be able to borrow a good punch if mine doesn't work. Now, I just have to find them. My shop (two car garage) is a mess. I have a heart problem and haven't done much woodworking in the past couple of years. I had some repairs over the summer and feel like doing something now. Thanks for the recommendation.
Gary

[Doug Bowman]

Here's one I made over 10 years ago after seeing a picture of an antique one with carved swan's heads on the ends of the arms.

You don't need much for hardware, just some sheet brass that you fold in half and drill a hole and shape as shown in the photos. then slot the tenon on the end of your handle and pin the brass into it. On this saw I used a separate dowel, but it would be better to turn the tenon intregral to the handle.

This saw is built around a 24" blade that sears used to make for some kind of mitre box. It is 14 tpi and cuts very fast.

excellent confirms my design for hardware except i'm using sheet stainless

[Robert Rozaieski]

Anyone read this article? What are your thoughts? Seems like the bowsaw is versitile and can tackle most tasks that we buy dedicated saws for. Why all the backsaw and panel saw hype?

http://www.popularwoodworking.com/article/Bowsaw_Basics

The difference is mostly geography and preference, just like the difference between Western and Japanese style saws. The Western style of saw we see most today (e.g. Disston) starts to replace the bow saw in England in the mid to late 1600s. If you look at the joinery section of Moxon (written in the late 1600s), the large saw is a bow saw while the joinery saw is an unbacked, pistol grip style saw, similar to today's carcass saw, but without a back. Of course Moxon copied most of his plates from Felibien (a Frenchman), but we assume that since Moxon used those plates that the tools were familiar to the English at that time. In Nicholson's book, about 125 years later, framed saws are not present.

In continental Europe, the framed saw continued to be used and is still popular today. Don't be fooled that one saw does it all in the case of a bow saw though. Continental bow saws use interchangable blades (called webs) for different operations just like we use different saws. There are webs for ripping, crosscutting, joinery, and turning (cutting curves), just like there are differences among the backed and unbacked saws we are more familiar with, and just like there are differences among the different Japanese style saws. There are different lengths, tooth counts, filings, etc. Just like the more familiar Western style saw, with bow saws, there are different webs for different tasks so that each task can be performed effeciently.

The benefit of the bow saw is that one can make or purchase a single frame, disassemble it and carry different webs of different widths and with different tooth geometries for different tasks rather than having to tote around a whole nest of heavy saws. For carpenters, this is a gret benefit and saves a lot of weight and space. However, if you were to look at a continental European cabinet maker's shop, you would no doubt find an assortment of bow saws, just like most of us have an assortment of backed and unbacked Western style saws. It's time consuming to continually change the web for different operations, so most shops will have different saws set up for different tasks. Take a look at Frank Klausz's shop and you'll see what I mean (he has a bunch of bow saws hanging from his walls).

So while it may seem like a bow saw could be the bevel up jack of the hand saw world, just like the bevel up jack plane, it's verstility has it's limitations (one of which is the limited number of tooth geometries commercially available). If you do a lot of work with hand tools, regardless of which style of saw/plane you choose, there is no one saw/plane to do every task. You will eventually find yourself moving toward having several similar tools set up for different tasks rather than relying on the "versatility" of a single tool.

It's not that these "varsatile" tools can't perform a lot of different tasks. They can, they just don't do any of them as well as a more specialized tool. The phrase "Jack of all trades, master of none" comes to mind when I think about these tools. It's simply more effecient to not have to constantly change the settings of a tool for a different task. In most cases, if you have the right tool, set up properly, the tool practically does the work for you. Trying to do a job with a tool that wasn't designed to do so is frustrating, and it's the main reason why so many folks have the misconception that hand tools are slow, ineffecient, hard work. Having the right saw/plane for the job makes the work easier and more enjoyable.

[Steve Branam]

Very nice writeup Bob!

[Kirk Poore]

I bought one from Garrett Wade maybe 20 years ago, and hardly used it. The saw itself was OK, but the blade was junk and in those pre-internet times I couldn't find a source for a good blade.

Then, about 12 years ago, I was building some stuff with Gothic tracery, and the coping saw I was using was nigh-unto useless in trying to cut through 3/4" white oak--poor tension, throat too small, and the blades were too narrow for strength so they were breaking all the time. So I looked at the Garret Wade saw, and made what essentially is a scroll bowsaw. I use 3/16", 10 tpi or higher bandsaw blades in it. 10 tpi's cut fast, 18 tpi's give very fine control. All wood except for the blade and a couple of cut-off nails used to pin the blade in place. No need for fancy hardware at all.

It's easy to untension, unpin the blade, run it through a hole, and repin and retension then start cutting. The other thing is that cutting with one hand on each end of the saw really lets you bend to curves easily.

Kirk