Frame Saw Build #6: stressed out... or not enough?

Ill take mine in ash Purp ;).

That looks liks its going to be a well added tool in the arsenal of wood assaulting items.

-- "there aren’t many hand tools as awe-inspiring as the #8 jointer. I mean, it just reeks of cast iron heft and hubris" - Smitty

Nice Purp.
That Ikea wire thingie looks interesting. I need to keep that in mind.

Overall though, the saw looks wonderful. I bet it will take some practice to get her to sing.
Steve

-- -- I'm no rocket surgeon

Stellar job Sharon! You have created one beautiful homemade tool. Clearly something to be proud of.

-- On the eighth day God was back in His woodworking shop! Lenny, East Providence, RI

Great looking. Way to keep your eyes out for re-purposed attachments.

-- I've been blessed with a father who liked to tinker in wood, and a wife who lets me tinker in wood. Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com †

That is great for a turning saw but I don’t think you will be able to get enough tension for the wide blades to cut well. My store bought ones have arms that are about 1-1/2 in wide by a bit over 3/4 thick. It takes quite a bit of tension for those wide blades.

As to the turning blade, I dunno. Mine stay put pretty well. The store bought ones have wooden pins (with metal plates and have quite a bit of friction. My little turning saw seems to not turn with tension but I thing that it is being pinned by racking the arms when tightening.

I converted the ones I bought that came with a threaded tensioner over to line tensioner. The threaded ones just never felt right to me.

-- Woodworking shouldn't cost a fortune: http://lowbudgetwoodworker.blogspot.com/

To prevent unwanted handle rotation,
You may try puting O-rings

see the 5th picture on this blog :

http://cornishworkshop.blogspot.com/2012/01/oooo-la-la.html

or lock washers.

-- Sylvain, Brussels, Belgium, Europe - The more I learn, the more there is to learn

Very nice all the way around. Thanks for posting.

-- Dan I.G.N.

hmm, thts interesting Sylvain – I was doing some modifications to the saw to have more wood-to-wood friction between handles and frame, but if thats not going to change much, I’ll check out the o-ring idea – thats brilliant- thanks!

-- ㊍ When in doubt - There is no doubt - Go the safer route.

Wonderful build, I really love it.
Yes now you just have to build a set.
I lso love using the frame saws, just bought a bunch that I will restore so no more builds for me.
Hope life is sweet to you – peace,
Mads

-- Mad F, the fanatical rhykenologist and vintage architect. Democraticwoodworking.

Thanks Mads. I think you had your fair share of building them – so you can take a rest ;)

Hope the new place is full of love

-- ㊍ When in doubt - There is no doubt - Go the safer route.

Great build Purp, I envy your metal working abilities.

-- Mauricio - Woodstock, GA - "Confusion is the Womb of Learning, with utter conviction being it's Tomb" Prof. T.O. Nitsch

;-) life is sweet.

-- Mad F, the fanatical rhykenologist and vintage architect. Democraticwoodworking.

David in reference to:
That is great for a turning saw but I don’t think you will be able to get enough tension for the wide blades to cut well. My store bought ones have arms that are about 1-1/2 in wide by a bit over 3/4 thick. It takes quite a bit of tension for those wide blades.

The tension that I do have on the blade seems sufficient as the saw cuts well – and straight. I am curious though to experience other saws tension first hand to compare.

-- ㊍ When in doubt - There is no doubt - Go the safer route.

I have mine strung with Dyneema line. The low stretch stuff that they use for rigging on sailboats – 3.8 mm line with a breaking strength around 600lbs. When tightened, the blade is comparable to a backsaw on the shorter crosscut saw. I hardly get any deflection at all when sawing with it. My longer saw that I have a rip blade in, I don’t use as much tension. It is more comparable to a panel saw. I can make it deflect if I don’t saw straight.

Maybe I tighten them too much. I don’t have any real knowledge of what is “right” but when it is not tight, the saws don’t feel as good to cut with and don’t track as well.

To give some scale, here is the picture of one of mine I bought at Highland Woodworking, the blade is a bit over 1” wide.

For what it is worth, the blades I got over at Traditional Woodworker cut much better than the ones that I got with the saw. My smaller one came with a Japanese style blade tooth but I have taken it out in favor of a 9tpi crosscut blade.

-- Woodworking shouldn't cost a fortune: http://lowbudgetwoodworker.blogspot.com/

Thanks for the input. from your description I think I have it tightened enough, and the saw cuts well and does not wander but stays in a nice straight line and cuts fast.

I think the japanese blades makes the cuts easier (smaller and more teeth) but I just don’t care much for the idea of teeth breaking and having to replace the entire blade for it – that’s why I built this saw to replace my japanese saw. I wanted a blade I could resharpen when needed.

-- ㊍ When in doubt - There is no doubt - Go the safer route.