New backsaw in progress

[Stewie Simpson]

Hi all. Having spent 3 to 4 months focused on making traditional hand planes, its a nice change to be working on a new backsaw build.

Here's a photo showing the assembled view of the new backsaw. Still a bit of work to finish it off.

http://i1009.photobucket.com/albums/af219/swagman001/traditional%20handle/_DSC0441_zps8eit7fha.jpg (http://s1009.photobucket.com/user/swagman001/media/traditional%20handle/_DSC0441_zps8eit7fha.jpg.html)

The handle wood is Tasmanian Blackwood, and the saw plate length is 12 inches.

I have added a stepped profile along the top line of the brass hardback.

The handle shape is based on an early English design.

Stewie;
http://woodworkerszone.com/igits/images/misc/progress.gif

[Frederick Skelly]

Nice work! Have you sharpened her up and tried her out yet?

The Blackwood is beautiful. Is it native to Australia? How is it to work/shape?

Fred

[Chris Hachet]

Nice, I wish I had the talent to do this.

[Stewie Simpson]

Thanks Fred. No teeth on the saw at this stage. Its the last job I do with each of my backsaw builds. No Foley machine in my workshop. I prefer to it all by hand.

Blackwood is native to Tasmania and mainland Australia. Shaping by hand can be difficult with most Blackwood's so a little patience is required. As they say, no pain no gain.

regards Stewie;

[Stewie Simpson]

Thanks Chris.

Stewie;

[george wilson]

A VERY beautiful handle Stewie. I'm not sure what I think of the stepped back,but you certainly have done that neatly too. You are trying to do something distinctively yours to the design (with the back),and I understand that.

[Stewie Simpson]

Thanks George. Appreciate your feedback.

regards Stewie;

[Stewie Simpson]

Here is a photo of the handle in its much earlier basic form.

Stewie;

http://i1009.photobucket.com/albums/af219/swagman001/traditional%20handle/DSC_0436_zpsf31acd20.jpg (http://s1009.photobucket.com/user/swagman001/media/traditional%20handle/DSC_0436_zpsf31acd20.jpg.html)

[george wilson]

I have not worked Tasmanian blackwood. What is the difficulty in working it? I have worked African blackwood. It is nearly impossible to plane it cleanly in either direction. It really is black,and is a rosewood.

[Stewie Simpson]

Hi George. In general blackwood is a difficult timber to plane by hand. A lot of care needs to be taken to avoid tear out. The blackwood I am using for this handle has a fiddleback pattern, that's very tightly grained. It's certainly hard work on the rasps during shaping.

Stewie;

[Derek Cohen]

Hi George

Tasmanian Blackwood - in my experience - is rather easy to work. Medium hard only, and while figured, it is not interlocked. It is almost identical to Koa, which you may have experience of as it is popular for sound boards.

Tasmanian Blackwood is one of my favourites - it has a chatoyance second to none.

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Planes/MarcouTasBlkwoodshavings1a.jpg

Regards from Perth

Derek

[george wilson]

well,
i have 2 completely conflicting answers1:)

I have used Koa,and have a mildly figured long plank of it on hand. It has gotten very expensive. Koa has been used as wood for backs and sides,but only on a few instruments for soundboards. Martin made a Koa model. Some ukuleles are made completely from Koa. Understandably since it is a local wood to Hawaii.

[Jim Koepke]

Nice looking saw Stewie.


I have added a stepped profile along the top line of the brass hardback.

What? No nib? :confused:

jtk

[Ron Bontz]

Nice saw there, Stewie. That blackwood is indeed stellar. The back reminds me of this one. 304898 It's the ole one step two step. :) Best wishes.

[Jim Matthews]

Lovely saw, Stewie.

The handle is elegant.
The back is flashy.

kudos

[Stewie Simpson]

Thanks Ron. Your backsaw designs have evolved into something that's better put on the shelf and admired, than been put to good to use.


regards Stewie;

[Jeff Wittrock]

Lovely saw Stewie.
The blackwood is beautiful.
It always amazes me how if you were to close your eyes and grasp a handle, even without feeling its weight, it is very apparent that it is hard and dense or not. There is just a coolness to it that your mind takes as a cue that it is hard and dense. I'm sure a wood like Tasmanian Blackwood has a nice feel to it.

[Stewie Simpson]

Nice looking saw Stewie.



What? No nib? :confused:

jtk


Hi Jim. A nib on a backsaw. No thank you.

Stewie;

[Stewie Simpson]

Lovely saw Stewie.
The blackwood is beautiful.
It always amazes me how if you were to close your eyes and grasp a handle, even without feeling its weight, it is very apparent that it is hard and dense or not. There is just a coolness to it that your mind takes as a cue that it is hard and dense. I'm sure a wood like Tasmanian Blackwood has a nice feel to it.

Thanks Jeff.

[Stewie Simpson]

Thanks Jim. I am hopeful that the way I have shaped of the hardback does not draw too much attention away from the saws main feature. The handle.

regards Stewie;

[george wilson]

You could make a nib on the VERTICAL front edge of the saw plate!!:) NOT!!

[Ron Bontz]

Thanks Ron. Your backsaw designs have evolved into something that's better put on the shelf and admired, than been put to good to use.


regards Stewie;

Nah. First and foremost is function. How they feel and cut. But no reason one can not add a little eye candy from time to time. I even have rectangular saw plates on some of my saws.:eek::eek: Keep up the good work. Best wishes.

[Stewie Simpson]

Some feedback from another forum has prompted me to make a change to the way the top line of the brass hardback will end up being shaped.

The new profile now only extends 1 inch back from the front toe.

To accomplish this I have shortened the length of the saw plate from being 12 inches to now 10 inches. Not a big deal.

Hand filing the saw teeth to 14 tpi, with a fine tooth set has also been done. (I dont need a Foley Machine).

Here are the completed photo's of the backsaw.

regards Stewie;

http://i1009.photobucket.com/albums/af219/swagman001/traditional%20handle/_DSC0442_zpswzle3jej.jpg (http://s1009.photobucket.com/user/swagman001/media/traditional%20handle/_DSC0442_zpswzle3jej.jpg.html)

http://i1009.photobucket.com/albums/af219/swagman001/traditional%20handle/_DSC0444_zpsijjvm9wv.jpg (http://s1009.photobucket.com/user/swagman001/media/traditional%20handle/_DSC0444_zpsijjvm9wv.jpg.html)

http://i1009.photobucket.com/albums/af219/swagman001/traditional%20handle/_DSC0445_zpsgoykbfum.jpg (http://s1009.photobucket.com/user/swagman001/media/traditional%20handle/_DSC0445_zpsgoykbfum.jpg.html)

http://i1009.photobucket.com/albums/af219/swagman001/traditional%20handle/_DSC0446_zpszr1nq5uh.jpg (http://s1009.photobucket.com/user/swagman001/media/traditional%20handle/_DSC0446_zpszr1nq5uh.jpg.html)

[Stewie Simpson]

The finish on the handle looks a little dull at the moment. The shellac still needs another week to fully harden before I can hand buff it to a higher sheen.
Stewie;

[george wilson]

Stewie,great looking work. You have really good skills. But,how are you establishing the spacing of the teeth? Back in the 70's,when I had no saw tooth punching machine,I would roll a coarse rotary file down the blank edge of the saw plate,tapping the rotary file with a brass hammer as I went. This left clear notches exactly spaced where I could begin filing the teeth. Worked great for fine toothed dovetail saws.

When we made a lot of saws(as toolmaker) years later,I luckily had found a "Burro" tooth punching machine made in the 1940's,I guess. It came with several racks. None were fine enough for spacing dovetail saw teeth. I took a rack and milled an extra notch in between the factory cut notches to double the # of teeth the rack would space. Took a while,but worked very well. I could adjust the motion of the ratchet pawl to either use the fine spacings,or skip them and use the original spacings. I even made myself a super fine saw for guitar frets with about 20 TPI. I can't recall how I accomplished that,though. The thickness of the blade matched the thickness of the fret tangs,minus their gripping teeth.

[Stewie Simpson]

Hi George. I use the following program to print a paper templates of the tpi spacing I wish to use. http://www.oocities.org/plybench/saw_teeth.pdf

The template is then cut out to remove the unwanted page background, folded down the middle, and then adhered along the top edge of the tooth line with a spray adhesive. The gap between each diamond shape on the template is where I file each of the tpi notches. After all the notches have been filed, the paper template is then removed.

regards Stewie;

[Stewie Simpson]

All work has now been completed on this backsaw.

I have included a photo showing the results of the kerf test on hardwood.

Thank you for your interest.

regards Stewie;

http://i1009.photobucket.com/albums/af219/swagman001/traditional%20handle/_DSC0448_zpsji1qnpgf.jpg (http://s1009.photobucket.com/user/swagman001/media/traditional%20handle/_DSC0448_zpsji1qnpgf.jpg.html)

http://i1009.photobucket.com/albums/af219/swagman001/traditional%20handle/_DSC0449_zpsnuhcqmjv.jpg (http://s1009.photobucket.com/user/swagman001/media/traditional%20handle/_DSC0449_zpsnuhcqmjv.jpg.html)

[Malcolm Schweizer]

Most excellent work! Also thanks for the link to the saw teeth.

[Stewie Simpson]

Thanks Malcolm. It was only after I completed the kerf tests did I realize I had forgot to put my prescription glasses on. No wonder I was battling to see the pencil lines. :cool:

Good to hear the link was worth posting.


regards Stewie;