My attempt at the Gramercy Bow Saw

[Tony Shea]

This is my attempt at the Gramercy Bow saw kit. I used some curly pear wood that I've had for a while and have been dying to use on something. Not sure if it's the best wood to use for a bow saw with all the stress that it might see but used it reguardless. The plans were very well layed out and was really a simple little project. I opted not to use the rounded tenon shoulded as I do not plan on using odd ball blades. I think it would have been more trouble than it's worth to get tight shoulders. My other issue I have is the handles. I have no way of turning my own handles, therefore had to use what Gramercy sold with their kit. I would love to replace the existing handles with some curly maple to match the tensioning bar but have no access to a lathe or anyone with one. If anyone is interested in turning me some handles I would gladly pay for the service and material or I can ship some blocks. Project was done entirely with hand tools, not that it matters.


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[Chris Griggs]

Very nice work Tony. I really like the pear and you did a lovely job on the shaping. I think you nailed it!

[Jamie Bacon]

Project was done entirely with hand tools, not that it matters.



Matters to me. :) Makes it all the more :cool:! Looks really good. I got the kit, with the handles two or three Christmas' ago and it's still sitting in a cabinet in my garage. :( Gotta find time for that soon.

[Jack Curtis]

You don't necessarily have to turn handles. Instead you can carve them, whether with a draw knife or carving chisels or ....

[george wilson]

Pearwood might be too soft. It depends upon how hard the particular selection might be. I had some Nigerian pear that was harder than the Swiss pear I have. But,it was still not as hard as hard maple. More like red maple. Be aware that curly wood is inherently not as stiff as straight grained wood. If you ever turn a spindle you will see it jump around like rubber compared to the same spindle in straight grain.

You did do a real nice job on that saw. If the arms do bend,make them twice as wide if you use the same wood. It would be well to not tension the blade too much,and leave it just tight enough when not in use to keep the saw from falling apart.

I think those handles are nicely designed.

[Bill White]

Don't overthink success. I like it.
What blade did ya use?
I have used some bandsaw blades in my "rustic" attempt, and find that the blades will bind. Maybe not enough set?

Bill

[george wilson]

I made some authentic turning saw blades for the cabinet shop. The original was nearly 1/16" at the cutting edge,and tapered to 1/32" at the back. No set,just a lot of taper. The old blade was also about 1/4" at the front end,and 3/8" wide at the rear end.

I used our .042" 1095 steel,punched teeth on a wide piece,then sheared the blade to the tapered shape. Then,I freehand belt ground it to a taper on the Square Wheel belt grinder,leaving just the ends,where the holes were punched full thickness. Not a project I enjoyed a lot,trying to taper grind those blades without any getting forced down between the tool rest and the belt. I had the tool rest VERY close to the belt,and had no accidents,though I was wary!

[Tony Shea]

The blades that I used are the ones that come with the Gramercy saw. I decided that these blades are all I would need for my purposes, (although I could probably make my own to fit easy enough) therefore did not shape the curve on the tenon shoulders. I just couldn't come up with a good way to make them have a nice tight fit, gaps would have constantly stared me in the eye while using the saw.

George, I do agree that the pear wood may be a bit soft for the purpose of a bow saw. The pear that i have from the same batch all seems to be relatively strong. It is a bit softer than hard maple from around here but seems to be a bit more forgiving when bent. The maple seems more apt to shatter while this pear bends much further until breaking. I tested this with some narrow scraps before actually going through the proccess of building the saw.

[Leigh Betsch]

looks great Tony. One more thing to add to the make list for me!

[Peter Pedisich]

Tony,

Nice work! I love the color of that Pear - would make a nice saw handle.

Pete

[Steve Branam]

I think you mis-spelled the second and third words of the title, they should be "s-p-e-c-t-a-c-u-l-a-r-l-y s-u-c-c-e-s-s-f-u-l". :D

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

FWIW, I was contemplating how to best make the rounded shoulders on on the mortise for my bowsaw build; I ended up just carving them with a chisel bevel down, and scraper to slightly smooth the transition at the "bottom" of the curve where the cuts from each side met. Came out pretty well. We'll see how well I can get the shoulders on the tenon to match.

Like you said, I don't know how necessary they actually are, but I figured I'd have a go at it. I didn't choose my stock incredibly well, so the whole thing may just self-destruct; I'm kind of just looking at it as "practice" at some free hand shaping (the arms on mine are more akin to Will Anderson's plans from PWW) and something to do to get away from the bench build.

Oh, and your saw looks downright terrific!

[lowell holmes]

The Gramercy saw handle rasp works really well on those curves.

[Federico Mena Quintero]

That's a very handsome saw! I recently printed the Gramercy plans to make a similar saw, but longer - got hold of a blade about 60 cm long. You've set a high standard from those plans :)

(No fancy hardware here; I'll just saw and drill a bolt for the pins to hold the blade...)

[Stewie Simpson]

I reckon you nailed it Tony. Thats a sweet looking turning saw.

Stewie.