Bowsaw blades?

[mahking51]

Hi all,
As the bench is nearly done I feel like taking on a small project and have decided to make myself an old fashioned bowsaw or two.
I have got the designs from the net and will build the frame in Rosewood with Ash stretcher and (natch!) greenheart handles!
What I don't know is if there are blades avaiable and if so, what size are they.
Apparently you can cut down bandsaw blades at a pinch but I would like to get some proper ones.
Can any one help me here please?
regards
Martin

 

[jasonB]

Dick sell japanese blades for their bow saws, just click on one of the saws and then on the accessories box that comes up on the top righthand side for the blades.

they were reviewed in F&C some time ago and got good comments.

Jason

 

[Shady]

Yup - I bought mine from them: excellent blade, very good service, reasonable pricing.

 

[Alf]

Erm, bowsaw or framesaw? When I think bowsaw, I think of one like, erm , this:

In which case Roberts and Lee do them, as do Crown I think...? I got mine from Tilgear IIRC.

Cheers, Alf

 

[jasonB]

From the description of the parts I assumed it was a frame saw, to me a bowsaw is the type used for trimming tree branches as the frame is shaped like a bow as in bow & arrow.

Jason

 

[Alf]

I dunno; the "designs from the net" comment suggested a bow saw to me. Martin! Help us! :roll: :lol:

Cheers, Alf

 

[mahking51]

Alf,
Yup you are on the money as usual, thats a bowsaw alright!
They seem to come in a variety of sizes and for the odd sizes you have to make the blade from a bandsaw segment.
I am going to try to do something a little more exotic with a couple of minor innovations and will send it to you to evaluate.
I am looking at floating radii on the centre strut and a gizmo that makes the tensioner easier to use.
I am thinking of calling it 'The all new Veritas Bowsaw'; nobody will be upset will they?
Best Regards
Martin

 

[Alf]

Alf,
Yup you are on the money as usual, thats a bowsaw alright!

<Runs round the room with arms in the air making noises of football crowd cheering>

Ha hum. Sorry, 'bout that. Where were we...?

I am going to try to do something a little more exotic with a couple of minor innovations and will send it to you to evaluate.
I am looking at floating radii on the centre strut and a gizmo that makes the tensioner easier to use.
I am thinking of calling it 'The all new Veritas Bowsaw'; nobody will be upset will they?

Well pro-Europeans might be... Whatever you do, don't forget to patent it, make alternative brass knobs available and, for preference, make the teeth low angle... :wink:

Cheers, Alf

Facing the likelihood of pausing in the polling booth on May 5th in order to pen a quick review of the Veritas candidate...

 

[Frank D.]

FWIW,
Dave Anderson uses a knuckle-style joint as well as a tenon (round shoulders) where the stretcher meets the arms to eliminate any gaps beteen them when the saw is under tension. William Duffield uses a gizmo which is basically a small oval "plate" with a groove along the edges to accomodate the strings. The paddle fits into the plate and the tension of the strings is spread out onto the plate (the grooves, the diameter) when the paddle is turned (that probably makes no sense, I'm at a loss for words...if you want I could try to find a pic, but I did a quick search on Google and nothing came up). I'm making a bowsaw now (no knuckle joints, but with the gizmo), I started about a year ago...
Frank

 

[devonwoody]

I purchased a bowsaw blade from screwfix a couple of years ago but haven't made the frame up yet.