Wood Joy 24" Bowsaw

[ken hatch]

Wood Joy sent me a 24" bow/turning saw. It is a thing of beauty. I already have a TFWW 12" bowsaw and use it all the time. It is much better than a coping or fret saw for cleaning out the waste between pins or tails. The 24"er will be used for sawing out chair/stool seat blanks.


One of the joys of woodworking is when you go down a different path there are always must have tools to buy :p.

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ken

[Phil Mueller]

I have one as well and a couple different blades. Very well made and a pleasure to use. I purchased it when making a curved front table and have no bandsaw. I too love it when a project presents the “need” for a new tool!

[William Fretwell]

Had one over 20 years, very useful. With 3 blades; I think it was $11.

[Howard Pollack]

Ken, would you please say a bit more about why it is better than a fret saw for removing the waste in dovetails? Can you make a tight turn with it, the blade looks wide for that... thanks -Howard

[ken hatch]

Ken, would you please say a bit more about why it is better than a fret saw for removing the waste in dovetails? Can you make a tight turn with it, the blade looks wide for that... thanks -Howard

Howard,

Sorry if I confused you. The 24" bowsaw will not be used to clean out waste. Its job will be sawing out chair seat blanks. The small 12" bowsaw from TFWW is the saw I use for waste removal. The reason it is better than either a coping saw or fret saw at that job can be summed up by the 12". There is more saw blade in the cut, ceteris paribus more saw blade in the cut will be faster than less. Other factors are the small bow saw blade is thinner than a coping saw blade, almost as thin as a fret saw blade and will turn almost as quickly as a fret saw. It is truly win win when compared to either.

ken

[Frederick Skelly]

Howard,

Sorry if I confused you. The 24" bowsaw will not be used to clean out waste. Its job will be sawing out chair seat blanks. The small 12" bowsaw from TFWW is the saw I use for waste removal. The reason it is better than either a coping saw or fret saw at that job can be summed up by the 12". There is more saw blade in the cut, ceteris paribus more saw blade in the cut will be faster than less. Other factors are the small bow saw blade is thinner than a coping saw blade, almost as thin as a fret saw blade and will turn almost as quickly as a fret saw. It is truly win win when compared to either.

ken

OMG! My 12" Grammercy Bowsaw arrived today from TFWW. Since it's a Christmas present, I was a good boy and only took about 6 practice cuts to remove the waste between tails. Then I put it away.
Ken, from what I can tell in those few test cuts, you were right on - this tool seems to work very well for cutting waste. The blade is a hair thicker than my LN dovetail saw, but it was easy to insert in the kerf and it was easy to make the 90* turn at the bottom. Very fast.

After Christmas, I'll make a few complete sets of dovetails to confirm it's cutting waste as precisely as I need for a very tight fit and post a brief review. But my first impression is very positive, as you said it would be. So thanks again!

Enjoy your big bowsaw!
Fred

[lowell holmes]

I bought the hardware from Grammercy and made a bow saw using curly maple. It is a sweet saw.

[Phil Mueller]

As I had said earlier, it is essentially my “band saw”. For thinner material, a jig saw works, but sometimes it’s just easier to pull out the bow saw. For thicker material, it’s the only option I have. It does a great job, although my skill level with it still leaves a fair amount of cleanup.

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[Mike Holbrook]

I have the 400mm saw made by WoodJoy. I have been thinking about buying the 600mm for a few years now. The problem with the 400mm saw is it is hard or imposible to find crosscut and rip blades for it. The “universal” blade may not work as well for specific tasks. If I had it to do over I would buy the larger saw.

Glad to hear you use the TFWW Bowsaw for dovetails. I tried to “sell” that idea a decade or so ago but found mostly skeptics.

[ken hatch]

OMG! My 12" Grammercy Bowsaw arrived today from TFWW. Since it's a Christmas present, I was a good boy and only took about 6 practice cuts to remove the waste between tails. Then I put it away.
Ken, from what I can tell in those few test cuts, you were right on - this tool seems to work very well for cutting waste. The blade is a hair thicker than my LN dovetail saw, but it was easy to insert in the kerf and it was easy to make the 90* turn at the bottom. Very fast.

After Christmas, I'll make a few complete sets of dovetails to confirm it's cutting waste as precisely as I need for a very tight fit and post a brief review. But my first impression is very positive, as you said it would be. So thanks again!

Enjoy your big bowsaw!
Fred

Fred,

I'm glad you like it. I've found it is a great little saw.

ken

[ken hatch]

I have the 400mm saw made by WoodJoy. I have been thinking about buying the 600mm for a few years now. The problem with the 400mm saw is it is hard or imposible to find crosscut and rip blades for it. The “universal” blade may not work as well for specific tasks. If I had it to do over I would buy the larger saw.

Glad to hear you use the TFWW Bowsaw for dovetails. I tried to “sell” that idea a decade or so ago but found mostly skeptics.

Mike,

I expect for the most part the results will be the same today:confused:. A wood frame bow saw just isn't as sexy as a space age titanium framed fret or coping saw, also it is cheaper so it can't be as good. Besides it is too European :D.

ken

[ken hatch]

As I had said earlier, it is essentially my “band saw”. For thinner material, a jig saw works, but sometimes it’s just easier to pull out the bow saw. For thicker material, it’s the only option I have. It does a great job, although my skill level with it still leaves a fair amount of cleanup.

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Phil,

I have a bandsaw and I expect when able the bandsaw will be first in line but there are many times the bandsaw is unavailable or will not work. The bow saw should earn its keep.

The cuts look pretty good to me.

ken

[Stephen Rosenthal]

About a year ago I scored the Woodjoy 400mm and 600mm bowsaws on the auction site for less than half price. Both were unused when I received them but not anymore. :) With a little practice I've come to appreciate them. The idea of purchasing the Grammercy bowsaw has been simmering for a while, but I have a Delta 1200 scroll saw and a Knew Concepts coping saw and can't justify the cost of the small bowsaw. I know this is blasphemous to admit on this forum, but I use the Delta to, among many other things, cut out dovetail waste. With the right blade it does a remarkable job on up to 1" hardwood, requiring only 1 or 2 paring strokes with a chisel to finish the joint.