# The Bowsaw



## lew (Feb 13, 2008)

I watched Roy Underhill use one of the on his PBS show. It made me think of how labor intensive fine furniture building must have been before power tools.

Thanks for the post.

Lew


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## moshel (Apr 25, 2008)

I am now in the process of making one! I have several pieces of Oak trunk that me and deltxguy saved from becoming firewood and we were looking for a way to mill it. bowsaw seems like and interesting idea, as it can slice to any depth. will probably fail, but worth trying… i just finished the handles and the beam (its a long beam - 90cm). handles are cherry, beam is Rimu. should at least look nice. we will use bandsaw blade for the blade. may we all live at interesting times


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## Ingemar (Feb 22, 2008)

Thanks for the post. Right on time it is too. 
I got one of these with a rip blade yesterday. Today I am ripping a pice of Ash over 2" thick. To me it is exhausting more than booring. (Just taking a little break now.) As you say, they are not easy to steer. I was off track, but following your instructions got me back on track in a matter of seconds. Thank you! 
As for the quality of ECE tools, in my experience they are what I would expect from a german maker, excellent quality - but not things of beauty. I am thinking of getting one of their planes with a lignum vitae sole too.

Ingemar


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## lethentymill (Jul 9, 2008)

People ask me about E C Emmerich (ECE) tools and I can 'hand on heart' say that they are good. They are a good, modern equivalent to the antique wooden tools, which I am very keen on. I use them at evening classes, where people can try them out and I recommend them on one of my other sites too, http://www.wood-shop.co.uk.

I've written another review about the Primus planes, which may be of interest (the link is http://www.wood-mag.co.uk/articles/primus-planes.html). I'll have to get round to posting this article on LJs soon, since others (happily) seem to share my enthusiasm for these tools.

Moshel - I was interested to read your post. I think one of the nicest features about the bowsaw is that it can easily be dismantled and transported in pieces, if necessary. Is the bowsaw you are making going to be easily dismantled?


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## moshel (Apr 25, 2008)

yes, it is. there is no glue in the joints (actually, i think that you shouldn't glue it unless its a very small saw), and the blade will be held in place by two small bolts.
another nice feature is that you can use several "horizontal beams" and blades on the same saw, using it for different jobs (smaller saw if you need precise cut, longer saw for slicing and resawing). its not finished yet, so all this is theoretical.


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