Luke Dupont
02-17-2022, 7:58 AM
I've been in need of a few panel saws. The problem is, good western panel saws are expensive to ship to Japan, and take up a lot of space, which I don't have.
Solution? Well, how about a frame saw and a variety of blades for it? I made one of these in the past -- a much cruder one -- and liked it a lot.
Here's its reincarnation!
The handles are Walnut (which I'm now in love with), and the stretcher is Japanese cypress.
This is a Chinese style bowsaw -- a very simple and easy to make, but practical design. You can of course find European saws made in exactly the same way, however.
474098
474099
In use, it is typically held at a 45 degree angle, with four fingers above and the pinky below the bolt which holds the blade.
474100
This is awkward at first, but the more I practice with this grip, the more I like it and find it easy to control. Just requires new muscle memory.
The blade is made from a tempered piece of 0.5mm spring steel, 20mm (3/4") in width (3/4" to 1" is typical of Chinese bow saws, even those used for fine woodworking). Took me the longest time to figure out what this is called in Japanese (焼き入りリボン / yakiiri ribon / "tempered ribbon" or literally "baked ribbon" for anyone who might stumble upon this thread wondering the same thing) so I could track it down, but it's apparently super common in hardware stores and home centers here. No idea what people use it for normally, but it makes great saw blades, and if my insane difficulty drilling the mounting holes into it is any indication, is definitely pretty hard despite the blue spring temper. If anyone knows how the hell I can drill this stuff without annealing it, I'd love to know, because none of my drill bits or improvised methods did very well.
474101
I marked the teeth by just marking out 1 inch (or close to, I'm using millimeters) intervals along the blade, and then subdividing those, and then subdividing them again and again into 10 teeth each, for a 10TPI blade. Be careful that you realize that you're marking out gullies, so you'll have one extra gully (11 gullies for 10 teeth) per inch. I just used a piece of masking tape and a pen to make this easy.
474102
I just filed the teeth out, one by one -- no using a hacksaw or anything. I recommend using a hacksaw or dremel to get down to depth though, because I wound up wearing out an expensive saw file by the time I was done.
474103
474104
I set the teeth as one would normally do, but I'd caution you to use the absolute least set you can with such a narrow blade. I over-set mine and had to squeeze it out between the jaws of a vice and two sheets of aluminium.
There's not much to say about making the frame. I kept mine light. A little weight helps the saw in the cut, but with such a large frame, you want to keep it light and slender, especially if you don't have much experience with frame saws. A heavy saw is a huge burden on both your skill and your tendons, and being as my wrist tendons are not very strong, a light frame it is for me. This is why I chose to use a mortise and tenon for a narrow stretcher, and chose light woods (walnut is fairly light for its hardness, and Japanese cypress is definitely light).
The other point, is that you want the bolts to fit very tightly. You should not be able to rotate them with your fingers. I have to use either a pair of pliers, or a screwdriver inserted into the slot for the blade (the slot extends past the end of the blade, so I can still insert a flathead in and adjust the angle with the blade in). If the bolts become loose and turn too freely, the blade will rotate freely in the cut even under tension -- tension alone is not sufficient to lock the blade in my experience, even if you use metal threaded rods for tension. A string and toggle is actually easier and less hassle IMO. Less likely to damage the frame, too.
The difficult thing is finding a drill bit that is just a hair tinier than the bolt. Most bolts are slightly undersized, I think. My bolts are 8mm, but neither an 8mm nor 7.5mm bit worked for me. The 8mm hole was too lose, and the 7.5mm hole was too small. Fortunately, I happen to have an 8mm gimlet that for whatever reason, always produces a perfect, tight fit, so that's what I used. I can't really offer any help finding such a perfectly sized bit though. I'm curious if anyone else can offer suggestions. I'm just lucky to have a gimlet that works. Anyway, point is: you need that bolt to be very tight fitting!
I used wire rather than nails or tiny bolts to hold the blade in, as it's secure but not as fiddly and easy to lose as tiny bolts/screws.
474105
Solution? Well, how about a frame saw and a variety of blades for it? I made one of these in the past -- a much cruder one -- and liked it a lot.
Here's its reincarnation!
The handles are Walnut (which I'm now in love with), and the stretcher is Japanese cypress.
This is a Chinese style bowsaw -- a very simple and easy to make, but practical design. You can of course find European saws made in exactly the same way, however.
474098
474099
In use, it is typically held at a 45 degree angle, with four fingers above and the pinky below the bolt which holds the blade.
474100
This is awkward at first, but the more I practice with this grip, the more I like it and find it easy to control. Just requires new muscle memory.
The blade is made from a tempered piece of 0.5mm spring steel, 20mm (3/4") in width (3/4" to 1" is typical of Chinese bow saws, even those used for fine woodworking). Took me the longest time to figure out what this is called in Japanese (焼き入りリボン / yakiiri ribon / "tempered ribbon" or literally "baked ribbon" for anyone who might stumble upon this thread wondering the same thing) so I could track it down, but it's apparently super common in hardware stores and home centers here. No idea what people use it for normally, but it makes great saw blades, and if my insane difficulty drilling the mounting holes into it is any indication, is definitely pretty hard despite the blue spring temper. If anyone knows how the hell I can drill this stuff without annealing it, I'd love to know, because none of my drill bits or improvised methods did very well.
474101
I marked the teeth by just marking out 1 inch (or close to, I'm using millimeters) intervals along the blade, and then subdividing those, and then subdividing them again and again into 10 teeth each, for a 10TPI blade. Be careful that you realize that you're marking out gullies, so you'll have one extra gully (11 gullies for 10 teeth) per inch. I just used a piece of masking tape and a pen to make this easy.
474102
I just filed the teeth out, one by one -- no using a hacksaw or anything. I recommend using a hacksaw or dremel to get down to depth though, because I wound up wearing out an expensive saw file by the time I was done.
474103
474104
I set the teeth as one would normally do, but I'd caution you to use the absolute least set you can with such a narrow blade. I over-set mine and had to squeeze it out between the jaws of a vice and two sheets of aluminium.
There's not much to say about making the frame. I kept mine light. A little weight helps the saw in the cut, but with such a large frame, you want to keep it light and slender, especially if you don't have much experience with frame saws. A heavy saw is a huge burden on both your skill and your tendons, and being as my wrist tendons are not very strong, a light frame it is for me. This is why I chose to use a mortise and tenon for a narrow stretcher, and chose light woods (walnut is fairly light for its hardness, and Japanese cypress is definitely light).
The other point, is that you want the bolts to fit very tightly. You should not be able to rotate them with your fingers. I have to use either a pair of pliers, or a screwdriver inserted into the slot for the blade (the slot extends past the end of the blade, so I can still insert a flathead in and adjust the angle with the blade in). If the bolts become loose and turn too freely, the blade will rotate freely in the cut even under tension -- tension alone is not sufficient to lock the blade in my experience, even if you use metal threaded rods for tension. A string and toggle is actually easier and less hassle IMO. Less likely to damage the frame, too.
The difficult thing is finding a drill bit that is just a hair tinier than the bolt. Most bolts are slightly undersized, I think. My bolts are 8mm, but neither an 8mm nor 7.5mm bit worked for me. The 8mm hole was too lose, and the 7.5mm hole was too small. Fortunately, I happen to have an 8mm gimlet that for whatever reason, always produces a perfect, tight fit, so that's what I used. I can't really offer any help finding such a perfectly sized bit though. I'm curious if anyone else can offer suggestions. I'm just lucky to have a gimlet that works. Anyway, point is: you need that bolt to be very tight fitting!
I used wire rather than nails or tiny bolts to hold the blade in, as it's secure but not as fiddly and easy to lose as tiny bolts/screws.
474105