What's it called? - frame saw for resawing

[dedee]

Reading Douglas' (condeestesco) thread on frame saws reminded me that I once intended to make the kind of frame saw that has the blade in the middle of the frame which is held horizontally for resawing planks and boards

What is this type of saw called? Has anyone made one? Are they a viable alternative to conventional handsaws when resawing?


Andy

 

[bugbear]

Reading Douglas' (condeestesco) thread on frame saws reminded me that I once intended to make the kind of frame saw that has the blade in the middle of the frame which is held horizontally for resawing planks and boards

What is this type of saw called? Has anyone made one? Are they a viable alternative to conventional handsaws when resawing?


Andy

Big frames saws have been used for resawing for hundred of years!

But I'm afraid they're just called frame saws.

The whole bow saw/frame saw naming thing is not good.

BugBear

 

[dedee]

Presumably the tensioning of the blade on a Resaw Frame Saw has to be done to the blade itself a bit like a conventional hacksaw.

The suppliers of conventional frame saw components, AFAIK, do not seem to supply the type of hardware necessary. Unless anyone knows differently?

Andy

 

[Richard T]

Hi Andy - they seem to be called 'veneer saws' quite a bit, though I have seen old drawings of them in use as general big rip saws; especially in Japan - don't know if this makes them originally Japanese though ...?

In the Woodwright's Shop episode "Sawing Secrets" - Roy U. and Chris S. briefly have a play with one but no real detail can be gleaned.

re tightening, I would think that a tightening system would be , as you say, like a hacksaw with a split square shank (through a square mortice in the frame) turned down to round and threaded with a wing nut or similar. A wooden knob with a hex mortice to take a conventional nut might be fun - I've made those before.

To hold a square bar to turn would need a four jaw chuck - maybe it would be easier to turn a wider round bar down at one end then square up the thicker end with a file ... just thinking in type ...

 

[xy mosian]

To hold a square bar to turn would need a four jaw chuck - maybe it would be easier to turn a wider round bar down at one end then square up the thicker end with a file ... just thinking in type ...

...Or fabricate it from a square bar and a threaded bar tapped into it?

xy

 

[Paul Chapman]

Quite a lot of stuff on here, with various links, about resawing by hand http://www.bob-easton.com/blog/?p=475

There's plenty of other stuff out there if you look for it.

Cheers :wink:

Paul

 

[Alf]

I made one years ago when there was a bit of a fashion for them sweeping the Old Tools List. Can't say I've used it much, but that's more because I have never got round to finding a more suitable blade for it than anything else, but fwiw, some pics. Blade holding, as you see, does not have to be complicated at all to work. If you can chop a mortise and use a hack saw, you can make one:

A more elegant solution here might be a coach bolt, but I didn't have one handy at the time.

 

[Karl]

I had to re-saw a couple of wide boards for bookmatching - see here. About mid way on Page 2.

Cheers

Karl

 

[dedee]

Thanks.

Using a combination of techniques from here http://www.galoototron.com/tag/frame-saw/ and here http://hyperkitten.com/woodworking/frame_saw.php3 and I think from Alf above

I have started making a Resaw Frame Saw. I will use a 600mm rip blade from here http://www.fine-tools.com/gestell.htm along with one of their blade holders for one end and some kind of spit bolt for the other. So far I've cut the tenons in the arms. Photos to follow..


Andy

 

[dedee]

Progress so far.

eagerly awaiting the saw blade now.


Alf, did you glue your tenons or leave them loose?

Andy

 

[Alf]

I was an idiot and glued them - you shouldn't need to and it makes it a major pain in the proverbial to store.

 

[dedee]

Is dismantleability the only reason not to glue the joints? I will try without glue but 1 of my tenons is a little loose and would undoubtably benefit from some adhesion.

Andy

 

[Alf]

A matter of some debate. There's the ability to break it down for storage or travel, and should you need to replace a broken part it'll be that much easier. Plus it's easier to do additional shaping and weight reduction if you can take it apart - at least until you get "just so". Tom Holloway on the Old Tools List has used one quite a bit, and he reckons the joints flex enough that any glue joint will fail anyway. But mainly it doesn't seem to be necessary because even a "relaxed" mortise and tenon will be held under tension by the nature of the design. If you want a full and in-depth discussion on the matter, here's a Google search of the Old Tools List which should keep you from making the decision for ages yet - if you read it all.

 

[dedee]

Alf

I love the term "relaxed mortise and tenon". One of mine is so so relaxed I had trouble waking it up .

The old tools list is certainly a mine of information and I will admit to giving up after 15 minutes. I guess the regular contributors like its format, to me it seems a difficult to follow sometimes. As usual it is hard to differentiate between what is been written about ie frame saw with cord tensioner or centre blade frame saw.

The obvious thing for me to do is to fit the blade with unglued joints and see how it performs.

Cheers

Andy

 

[bugbear]

I guess the regular contributors like its format, to me it seems a difficult to follow sometimes.

It's much easier "live"; the archive isn't properly threaded, and sometimes breaks threads up utterly.

Still worth reading though - the contributors have (collectively) deep knowledge.

BugBear

 

[dedee]

After a good rummage in the nuts and bolts box I found a hacksaw bolt and thumbscrew which when paired up with a bolt and brass wing nut I thought would be ideal:-

Well the hacksaw bolt migt have been a good ideal if I had drilled the large hole on the right side

The slot is there so the blade does not twist when tightening or in use.

In reality what seemed like a good idea was not. The hack saw bolt was too short and the large hold required weakened the frame too much when the blade was tensioned.

So out came my variable speed lathe

and along with the only turning tool I own I made a plug

Which seemed to fit quite well

A new longer bolt was fashioned. By being able to adjust the blade at each end I reasoned that it would be easier to keep the blade upright

The finished saw

Of course any tool is only as good as it performs

I am reasonably pleased with the result. I think the frame needs to be thicker, at least wider than the blade itself so as the blade does not touch the bench when it is laid down.
It also seems quite hard to exert downward pressure while sawing. Perhaps it shouldn't be necessary? I'll put this down to technique although I think I would like to try a t thinner Japanese pul saw blade. Blade came from http://www.fine-tools.com/gestell.htm


Cheers


Andy