Homemade Windsor Chairmaker's Bowsaw

Nice saw, Jim!

-- Chuck, Pullman, WA

That is one pretty Saw! So where are the Chairs? ;-)

-- Mike in Manchester, NH---Unpleasant tasks are simply worthy challenges to improve skills.

Heirloom quality piece!
The curly wood is gorgeous…
I have been considering to make one of this for some time, and thinking about that detail of the brass rod and handles. Thanks for sharing.

-- Francisco Luna, San Francisco Bay Area.

I agree that this is definitely heirloom quality. Really beautiful and better yet, functional. Did you use a piece of bandsaw blade to get the longer length? I saw some discussion on that on here recently and was thinking of trying it myself.

-- Dale Manning, Carthage, NY

Hey thanks,

It was a fun project. As usual you learn a bunch too. I wanted to use tiger maple because I saw a nice bowsaw that J. Crate Larkin published in FWW #151. Since I have made this one, I realize off course that there is a trade off between using a figured wood with a bit more bulk versus using a hand split arm that is lighter and yet can safely flex under tension. As you would expect you can make the saw even lighter by using the optimum grain strength.

For now I’ll stick with this design. It seems light in my hand and strong enough for the blade tension I need.

Dale,
Good question. You can and many do use a part of a bandsaw blade. I opted to buy one from Highland Hardware out of Atlanta, GA, about 3/8” wide, 27 1/2” long and with 9 teeth per inch. Even though I bought a new blade you often still need to sharpen them. I also chose to buy a new blade because I wanted the traditional tooth pattern rather than the wider tooth configuration that comes with band saw blades.

If you make one of these and I hope you do, I highly recommend that you cut the mortises and drill the holes in the arms before cutting and shaping them.

Take care,
Jim

-- www.chairsbypaulson.com

Mike,

You can see my chairs at “www.chairsbypaulson.com” and at my blog at “http://jimthe chairmaker.wordpress.com”

Jim

-- www.chairsbypaulson.com

excellent saw and workmanship.

-- /\/\/\ BarryW /\/\/\ Stay so busy you don't have time to die.

really nice I need someday to make one or two of these in the meantime I’ll stick with my Japanese collection of handsaws.Alistair

-- excuse my typing as I have a form of parkinsons disease

Beautiful saw Jim, what exactly is the blade? Did you purchase it somewhere already that length or is a bandsaw blade that has be cut to your size?

Thanks for posting, and for the information,

-- -- Rob Hix, King George, VA

Awesome,,,,Nice saw!

-- Les, Wichita, Ks. (I'd rather be covered in saw dust!)

Great work Rev. Paulson. I love that tiger maple

-- Paul Sayre Creativity is a drug I cannot live without. Cecil B. DeMille (1881 - 1959)

Thanks for the link Reverend. I guess I should have just checked your profile…Your Chairs are truly works of art as well as of craftsmanship. Beautiful!!

-- Mike in Manchester, NH---Unpleasant tasks are simply worthy challenges to improve skills.

wonderful saw, i,m the guy who posted asking about useing bandsaw blades for these only because you can,t get bowsaw blades here. Seems like it will work though. Hope mine comes together as nice as yours.

-- if the hand is not working it is not a pure hand

well done,looks great

-- Jim from Heirloom Woodshop Southern Oregon

Good looking Bowsaw, lovely timber…....well done.

-- I will just keep doing it till I get it right.

That is downright pretty.

Nice work.

-- "I'm just a simple man trying to make my way in the universe." -- Jango Fett

That’s almost too pretty to use. Great job!

-- "I asked my wife if I look dorky in the video below where I'm planing that long piece of wood. Her reply: "It's all dorky."" - Mitch Roberson from his blog Furnitude

Thanks guys. I have plans to make a smaller one, but it’s on hold till I get some other projects finished.

-- www.chairsbypaulson.com

Pretty saw Jim, how rewarding that must have been to make. Glad to have you here to showcase your many talents.

-- Fred.... Poconos, PA ---- Chairwright in the making ----

Thanks Fred. It gave me an excuse to work with tiger maple. Hopefully, I’ll bring an improved model to class sometime after my son’s wedding. God bless her, Barb keeps me on task for making chairs though LOL.

Jim

-- www.chairsbypaulson.com