dovetail bow saw

Re: Lee Valley is getting right on it

ThomD

>No, Nowhere.

Been looking for 30 years.

I did suggest to Lee Valley back in late '00 that they bring one out, though having seen how long it took them/their customers to clear-up unsold bowsaw kits, I wasn't very hopeful. Apparently they took it to their product review committee, which is probably still laughing. I approached the other major catalogue stores at the same time.

The basic concept is you get a turning saw wdth blade, heat the mid third of it to a forging heat, put it in a vise, and pound it around a corner, without overly kinking it or rendering it unuseable. Klaus used it for packing crates.

One wonders whether one would need one blade for pins and angled ones for sockets, that was not mentioned...

Actually..

Rob Lee

>... I spoke with Frank Klaus about it a few months ago....

This is not an easy product to make - and would require a manufacturer willing to make a relatively small quantity, with a lot of hand work - not an enticing proposition.

It's on our "to continue looking for" and "continue asking about" list!

Cheers -

Rob

Ooops...

Rob Lee

>Missed the 'z' ...

Klausz...

Off to write it 100 times.....

Re: Lee Valley is getting right on it

ThomD

>While it isn't half as spectacular, I use a coping saw with the blade inserted so the teeth face the frame and then turned about 45-60 degrees to remove the waste. In this configuration the board can be as wide as you like.

The pictures I have seen of the FK blade suggest that the bend is fairly gradual with just the tip of a tooth making the bend and then a little more and so forth. It isn't just a mater of twisting a blade 90 degrees, the blade has to be able to work it's way around a corner, sawing.

While we are waiting for this product to put in an appearance, I would settle for someone making a decent finish tooth rip/dovetail saw for a bowsaw, the current selection is a bit depressing. The availability of poorly conceived Japanese blades from several German manufacturers (something I asked Leonard Lee about way back in the past before the Germans came out with them) has displaced some of the previously existing blades, and they weren't all that great either. This is definitely doable, though doubtless small volume.

Re: Actually..

mikew

>Never seen such a thing.

Anyone have a picture? Just curious, ya know.

Take care, Mike

St Roy says

David

>In one of the Woodwright books, Roy just takes a coping saw blade and twists it 90 degrees with a pliers. It works great.

How about

Dan Donaldson

>There has been quite a bit on the boards about sharpening/retoothing handsaws. How about getting a strip of spring steel and making your own with the teeth however you like. Doesn't seem like it would be much harder than retoothing a backsaw, and you could get exactly what you want. There might even be a small market for something like this if someone wanted to make a few of them in their spare time.

Re: St Roy says

ThomD

>That doesn't work in this case. It isn't exatly twisted, it is folded. Where the transition takes place the section is like an angle iron. So you have some vertical blade, and some horizontal blade, and the folded section is morphed through 90 degrees. The way it works is that you kinda punch the angled section in there, like starting a drywall hole saw, then once it moves back and forth you work it deeper until you can freely saw horizontal. Unlike a fret say this saw can't begin to be turned within the kerf. However a fret saw is a pretty good thing for roughing out DT tails and pins.

There is a good sidebar in FWW 18 with diagrams and explanations. I know that if I tried to post it, it would go over the size count if I did it so it was legible. Maybe someone with a scanner could put it up.

It looks to me as though the easiest way to make one might be to get a very soft blade, or cut a blade in un-HT material then fixture it in a sheet metal brake. For what it is good for, it would probably not need heat treating, or maybe it could be electro heat treated. I have a crafty concept for that...

This isn't some tool for making the DTs in your ebony sidetable, It would be for big boxes, and I have a fast way of doing those by hand, sorta. Or it would be a great teaching aid for getting a lot of sawing/fitting practice without having to sweat out the chopping.

Re: Ooops...

ThomD

>I'm sure he won't mind, coming from you. I'm going to stick to "Sir".

Re: dovetail bow saw

Dan Clermont in Burnaby

>Hi Chichi

Sounds very much like the method Rob Cosman uses as well.

This can be done by tensioning a blade in a coping saw and a quick kink using some wire cutters in the direction you want the blade to cut.

Cheers

Dan Clermont

here are some spiral blades

david marcus brown

>http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&p=32920&cat=1,42884,42904&ap=1

http://www.olsonsaw.com/s.html

Deneb at the Lie Nielsen booth was using them this weekend at the Woodworking show to make quick work of dovetail waste.

Re: dovetail bow saw

ThomD

>People have been doing that for as long as there ahve been people, it's not the same thing... However, it is more useful.

Re: dovetail bow saw

paul womack

>Sounds very much like the method Rob Cosman uses as well.

No - Robs blade is fully twisted, and used for removing the waste; it's only used for cutting horizontally, and the twist allows clearance for the frame.

The partially twisted blade is used for cutting in two directions, so it's 2 blades in one.

BugBear

Re: dovetail bow saw

Dan Clermont in Burnaby

>Guess I misunderstood the original poster as he mentioned putting the coping saw into the kerf (which I assume was already cut) as I know Frank Klausz uses a pistol grip backsaw. The poster then mentioned he twisted the blade

Dan Clermont