The forgotten bowsaw
The bowsaw is one of my favorite saws when I need to do some major sawing. It may not be as fast as a jigsaw or a circular saw, but it gets the job done and I can still listen to some music while I rip through an eight feet long board.Pictured on the right is a small bowsaw, which are usually found in the US and the UK where most bulkier sawing would be done with a large handsaw like a Disston D-8 or similar.
This type of saw will have a thin narrow blade and is most useful to cut curves.
On the other hand, traditional European bowsaws are larger saws, usually between 24" and 26" long.This type of saw would be used in the continent to cut just about anything.
This saw has a clear advantage over a large panel saw. Because the blade is kept under tension it can be quite thin and the cutting goes much faster since there isn't so much wood to remove.
Check out Bug Bear's website for the famous bowsaw plan and you can make your own bowsaw.
Labels: tools
4 Comments:
Cool!!!!....Luis. Thanks. Very much appreciated. That's the one I was picturing, but only with a thick blade. Your's looks like a woodworking tool, I was picturing something a lumberjack would use.
I've never used one. Is it heavy??? Does the blade twist like a coping saw or is the upper portion of the saw always above the blade???
Thanks again Luis... Neil
Hi Neil,
Glad the post was helpful. The saw is not heavy, but you need to pay attention to the type of wood used in order to keep it as light as possible. I used pine for the bridge and cherry for the two arms.
The blade turns 360º but I keep mine at an angle around 7º from vertical. This way I have enough clearance when ripping a long board.
Thanks.......DT-Kid
Thanks for the bowsaw link, Luis! Making one has been on my to-build list for a while.
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