Which Handsaw - confused terminology!

[ByronBlack]

That might be interesting for your curve, as I said earlier.

BugBear

Which is why I picked it up It was only £16 - very good condition, and the blade has come sharp too - bonus!

 

[ByronBlack]

Ok, so the bowsaw wasn't a great success in the beech - i think because the blade that's currently in the saw is blunt, i'm going to try it with one of the new ones that came with it.

However, with the other tools (rasps, rabbet plane, and newly sharpened spoke shave) I've made some real progress with the horror-show of my previous attempt at using the multiple kerfs and chisel method.

Here are some pics:

Marples Bowsaw:

Gardener Skew Rabbet Plane:

The original attempt!!! Agh!

No.6 Fine rasp getting to work:

Almost all the high spots are now smoothed out:

Tidying up with the spokeshave

The end-result although on the actual real piece i'll probably scrape or sand to a shine.

A couple more practice runs and i'll attempt this method on the actual workbench feet.

Thanks to everyone for all your tips and suggestions!

It was great working with the rasps (and sharpened shave), gives a real connection to the wood - a real extension of the hand, amazing quality for the price, i think i'll order some coarse and medium ones to compliment these! I think i'll be doing a lot more shaped/curved work!

 

[Anonymous]

Hey careful Byron you are buying a lot of tools :shock:
Personally I would advise repeating the saw, chisel and rasp approach until you get it right. Just keep working along the piece until it's all gone.
In the process you have to keep asking yourself why it is or isn't working; if you just keep swapping tools you might never find out.
It can take longer than you expect - in my first training course I had to spend best part of a week doing nothing but simple crossed halving joints until I got it good enough, using the same tenon saw and chisel throughout.
A_n_g_e_l_a said something similar interestingly in another thread.
And anyway I wouldn't expect a bow saw to be accurate or fast in 3" beech you'd still have to tidy up with a chisel.

cheers
Jacob

 

[ByronBlack]

Jacob. I agree entirely in the practice theory - i'll be doing a few more before I start on the actual piece.

With regards tools, I don't think i'm buying a lot - I had no rasps, or any rabbet plane of any description, and currently no way of cutting curves, so the purchases I feel are pretty essential not only to this project but to future projects, at the end of the day one cannot practice unless he has the tools to practice with.

I would be more concerned if I was spending a ton of cash of router jigs/machinery etc..

But I am going to continue the saw/chisel/rasp approach for this as it seems to work well (not that I have some rasps that work). I'm pleased with result on that first test piece and hopefully with a little more practice I can get the curves a little tighter and cleaner.

 

[bugbear]

A nice Gardener Skew mouthed rebate plane (1917) for tarting up tenons and such like

Here's a report on some of the fun I had tuning a skew rebate:

http://people.iarc.uaf.edu/~cswingle/ar ... t_thread=1

BugBear

 

[Benchwayze]

However, to use handtools solely for their own sake, whilst laudable enough, seems to be something of a 'head-in-the-sand' approach.

Hi John

Personally I blame the Arts & Crafts movement - all this hand work for the sake of it which even in its' day so few could actually afford. :roll:

..... and then use a pit-saw?

Especially when you realise that the underdog (the guy in the pit pulling down and guiding the cut) often went blind doing his job :shock: So there are some extremely good reasons for not doing things the "traditional" way at times. As you say, the trick is to find a level you're comfortable with

And FWIW, I had it that the circular saw was invented by a female Shaker. How true that is I don't know!

Oh-oh! Another one spreading the great American myth....... We know better in the UK, the first recorded user of the circular saw (in 1781) was one William Walter Taylor and even Marc Brunel had circular saws in use by about 1805, some 5 years before the good sister. Here's the real story (from the UKWS archives)

Scrit

Thanks Scrit.
I did say, I wasn't sure how true my statement was! I've printed off the screed, to put in my scrapbook. As for the A&C movement, I do like some of their designs, and they do take some knowledge. But they also use a lot of timber, and my Mum was continually dusting between all those rails.

Obliged.

John

 

[Benchwayze]

Byron, you obviously want to feel at one with the tools, and you must also feel good about a job that's done well, and quickly. So:

If you ever need something to remove a lot of stock, rapidly, break an old bandsaw blade into lengths of about 15 inches. Tape them together with each piece having the teeth facing in alternate directions. Use it with some thick gloves or plenty of 'Gaffa tape'. It makes a surform seem like a nail-file by comparison.

Rocking horse makers find it a boon when rough shaping.
Works a treat!

John

 

[Scrit]

For that matter there's also a modern "cheese grater" tool called a Microplane which cuts really quickly in comparison with a Surform. They even do a version which goes onto a power drill - a bit like a Mouli-legumes for wood

Scrit

 

[MikeW]

And don't forget--Microplanes work great grating cheese in the kitchen!

Take care, Mike