Bow saw blade

Re: Bow saw blade

JL

>I have a friend who makes them. As I understand, you can buy them or do what he does - which is chop up old bandsaw blades. I've given him a 3/4" and an 1" bandsaw blade.

Re: Bow saw blade

Neal in San Jose

>You might try posting over on the hand tool board; lots of very knowledgable hand tool types hang around over there. But, your first stop should be at toolsforworkingwood.com. Joel has very kindly posted plans for a bow (turning) saw and a well thought out article about why he did things the way he did. Then, to cap it off, he sells complete bow saws or just the parts that are difficult to make, like the metal pieces. And, best of all, he sells blades made for bow saws. People use old band saw blades, and some quite successfully, but they tend to be prretty aggressive for hand tool use.

What do I use? I scored an antique James Howarth at an antique tool show with a blade that was like new. When it gets dull, I just touch it up with a file. HTH Neal

Re: Bow saw blade

John Lucas

>Jeff You can get bow saw blades from Highland hardware in Atlanta. I don't know how to describe the difference.

Re: Bow saw blade

Brian Hahn in SW Wisconsin

>Bow saw blades are thin, relatively narrow and somewhat flexible because the frame stretches the blade and keeps it taut. It's like a hacksaw blade and frame. By normal saw blades, I'm assuming you mean hand saws. Hand saw blades are thicker and much wider because the blade must provide its own support as it is pushed through the wood.