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Chocolate powered woodworking

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New Frame Saw / Scroll Saw

November 26, 2022 by Bob Easton 8 Comments

It’s smoother, more accurate, quieter, and doesn’t scare the children.

photo of the scroll saw from the front

My previous scroll saw was an attachment for my treadle powered lathe. It was built from a postage stamp sized drawing by Roy Underhill. While it served well for years, it is a clanky, rickety, wobbly, insanely noisy collection of loose parts pretending to almost work as a saw. Accuracy is subjective. Yet, I cut many wood carving projects with it and was satisfied until arriving at a new project that wants several parts thicker than the saw could handle; basswood parts that are 3 inches thick.

This new saw, also treadle operated, is a simple frame saw that has the frame moving in a vertical plane, riding very smoothly on drawer slides.

photo of treadle operated frame saw

The support frame is simply an unfinished flat assembly of construction grade 2 x 4 lumber, joined by half-laps. It clamps to the front face of my workbench. Drop a rope from the bottom of the moving frame, loop it around a hinged treadle, and we have the motive power that pulls against the spring at the top of the support frame. That spring is only a couple of strips of quarter inch thick lattice, and more rope. Functional, not pretty.  It has the added benefit of storing away in minimal space.

For the table that supports the workpiece, I use my woodcarving bench-on-bench sitting behind the frame. Clamped to the bench is a piece of cabinet shelving with a hole drilled for the blade. Simple, and as with the other parts, easily stored in minimal space.

The saw frame itself is poplar, using bridle joinery. Most important are the blade holding pins and blade. These are parts from the Tools For Working Wood 12″ bow saw. I’ve used them before for a wonderful turning saw and for that earlier scroll saw. I cannot say enough good about them. The bottom pin has its flange trapped by a wood block screwed to the bottom of the frame. The top pin is adjustable thanks to being pinned inside a lamp pipe which can move inside that upper block. Tensioning is via a slightly bent cross bar. A variety of blades from TFWW offer a good range of cutting options.

photo of top blade holder
top blade holder
photo of top blade holder parts
top holder details
photo of bottom blade holder
bottom blade holder
photo of cut pieces for a Gibbons-like woodcarving

So, how well does it work? Two answers. The next photo shows the parts of a new carving project, all but one cut with this saw. They are 2 and 3 inches thick, with the longest being 21 inches long. The video shows a comparison between the old saw and the new.

What I haven’t shown you are the smiles that come along with using the new one.

Inspiration

The first inspiration appeared in the middle of a video made by Esteban Jiménez at his woodcarving shop in Barcelona. His treadle operated frame saw is gigantic in comparison to what I wanted. Impressive! Watch Esteban describe it and then demonstrate its operation:

Another inspiration is one of many examples I found of treadle operated fret saws used by marquetry artists. Here we see Christina Moreno using her frame saw:

Filed Under: frame saw, Shopmade, Woodcarving

New Greenland Paddle – part 1

July 13, 2020 by Bob Easton Leave a Comment

Evan has asked about another Greenland paddle, this time longer and with slightly different dimensions. So, a trip over to Condon Lumber brought home a couple of pieces of lumber. Condon keeps a large stack of cedar at one end of their yard, fully exposed to our wonderful 4 season weather. A yard worker there opened the stack with a fork lift, helping me find a suitable flitch, 8/4s thick, about 8 inches wide, 12 feet long.

  • photo of two boards leaning on my ruck
  • photo of long board and frame saw
  • photo of frame saw in middle of a cut

Atlantic White Cedar and some sort of very heavy, dense, dark wood (Mora?). Rough cuts defined by red chalk lines, the magic 12 foot long straight edge. Quick rip with my favorite 4 TPI frame saw.

Update: July 14

  • photo after cutting 2 boards
  • photo of 2 boards cut to rough length
  • photo of gap under bowed board

Two solid 2x4s (real 2″, real 4″), then cut to approximate length. It’s always interesting to see how wood moves. After cutting, one piece developed a slight bow: 1/8 ” over a 7 foot length. The other piece did not. We’ll see what they look like tomorrow. 3-4 days in the shop after years sitting outside in a stack.

Update: July 15

  • photo realignment for grain orientation
  • photo - using drawknife

The ideal grain orientation for almost any project is “vertical.” None of the lumber available provided a way to get there directly. (i.e. no pieces 3+ inches thick, none from the absolute center of the tree) So, let’s tilt our object within the board to get closer.

The desired finished dimensions are ~ near / within ~ 1.5 inches by 3.25 inches. Layout some more guide lines and start reducing. The drawknife makes for quick waste removal.

…and that 12 foot long workbench makes the work easier.

P.S. that little bow noted earlier isn’t going to make a difference. Just a curious observation.

end view of refined board

Update: July 17

After grain reorientation, I have a board that is 1.5 inches by 3.5 inches, ready for final layout. The angled edges won’t matter, as they were always going to be cut away.

Update: July 21

Moving slowly … cautious of wood movement as bulk of waste is removed. Best news: no twist!

  • photo of a greenland paddle - roughed out
  • photo of a greenland paddle tip - roughed out

Filed Under: Boating, frame saw, Woodworking

Resawing – Introducing “an eBook of Convenience”

March 8, 2016 by Bob Easton 4 Comments

Every once in awhile my inner geek checks the statistics for this blog, and I find that certain articles are visited very often. Articles about resawing are some of those frequently sought out. My tutorial about sawing long lumber for boats sits near the top of the list. In addition, what a lot of people miss, are several other resawing articles, including one that summarizes all that I have learned. They’re scattered through the most recent 4 years of posts, and not always easily found.

resawing-coverNow, as a convenience, I’m bringing them all together in what I call “an eBook of Convenience.”

This eBook is a compilation of my articles about resawing brought together for your convenience. You’ll get everything I’ve learned about resawing lumber, long wide lumber, smaller lumber, softwood and hardwood.

The eBook includes:

  • 3 articles about sawing long softwood (originally for boats)
  • 1 article of concise advice for both softwood and hardwood: “Problems and Solutions”
  • 1 article comparing saws: “Dueling Saws”
  • Bonus: 1 article with construction details of my Frame Saw
  • Bonus: 5 articles with construction details of my Kerfing Plane

For the nominal cost of only $1.87, you’ll receive these 11 articles in a 65 page eBook in PDF format, complete with numerous photos and interactive links to additional resources I’ve found along the way.

Purchases are simple: via PayPal.

[purchase_link id=”3669″ text=”Purchase” style=”button” color=”white”]

Filed Under: eBook, frame saw, kerfing plane, resawing

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