Curly Maple Surprise

[MikeW]

Hi Y'all!

Got to hand deliever the below--wonderful host. Had a bear and some pizza and got a tour of a shop to die for. These are his new additions.

Enjoy, Mike

 

[Mirboo]

Had a bear and some pizza and got a tour of a shop to die for.

Did the bear like the pizza.

Lovely saws by the way.

 

[houtslager]

any pics of

a tour of a shop to die for.

all the best from HS on a weekend pass to Amsterdam

 

[Alf]

Well I like bear, but I couldn't eat a whole one <i>and</i> a pizza... :wink:

Lovely set there, Mike. Details? Length? tpi? Rip and/or x-cut? C'mon, if you're gonna make us drool you might as well do the job properly. :lol:

Cheers, Alf

 

[Derek Cohen (Perth Oz)]

Well Mike, they look about as good as mine from a distance ... I guess we need close ups .. we could not bear not to have close ups .. :lol: :lol: :lol:

Seriously, the new owner is a lucky guy. What a truly beautiful set. Details please.

Regards from Perth

Derek

 

[Chris Knight]

They look gorgeous Mike. Details please!

 

[MikeW]

Well, thank you all!

Ok, ok--guess after a couple beers my fingers didn't work so well last night!

The panels are 22" blade lengths, with the rip at 9ppi and the cc at 11 ppi. The small joinery saws have 10" blades, the rip at 16 ppi, the cc at 15 ppi.

No pictures of the shop. I think the gentleman has posted a picture elsewhere of the bench he made from $1 bd/ft Makore. I'll see if I can find that. The house sits up on a mountain side. A log house they built over a few year period by themselves. Guessing I would say it is 3 to 4 thousand sq foot of floor space.

So we had a great time looking at all the built-ins, the cabinets and general woodwork. A well traveled couple, they have brought back many antiques from around the world. Some beautiful new pieces from India.

All in all, it was too short a visit to see the whole place. And the shop? Heck, he's building a downdraft sanding and assembly table combination which seems as large as my entire shop.

What's great about the shop? Modest tools. Easily within most woodworkers budgets over a short time. Some would say entry level tools. Doing nice work. That's what counts.

Take care, Mike

 

[MikeW]

Well Mike, they look about as good as mine from a distance ... I guess we need close ups. Snip of the pun

You know, I once was attacked by a 7' grizzly. But that's another story...

Here are close-ups of two of the handles.

This board of Maple, and in particular the end that the joinery saws was cut from, was destined for veneer for box lids. That is until I messed up on a different order, had to recut blanks, and then messed up on one of these four. Chewed through that board in a hurry.

But the joinery saws ended up form a section where the curl looked like frost or fracturing ice and can be seen on the lower handle of the joinery saw pic. Still have enough to do a couple small box panels, but...

Take care, Mike

 

[Derek Cohen (Perth Oz)]

Not bad, young Mike, not bad at all! A little more practice and you'll have it :lol:

I really like the sweet curve in the lower horn. Very nicely done, Mike.

My compliments.

Regards from Perth

Derek

 

[Philly]

They look gorgeous Mike! :shock:
Nice plank of Maple,
Philly

 

[Alf]

Not bad, young Mike, not bad at all! A little more practice and you'll have it :lol:

Yeah, he's not doing too badly for a beginner, is he? Messed up a few blanks, but hey, these things happen <she says side-footing two or three failed walnut handle blanks under the bench where no-one'll see them...>

Cheers, Alf

 

[engineer one]

so if i get this right, you attacked a bear with a plank of curly maple
whilst stealing his pizza. and then you wonder why your saws have
funny patterns on their handles. :lol:

mike you truly do bring pleasure to us poor grunts in the trenches
thinking first i must learn to sharpen a saw, then i can be brave
enough to learn to use one properly, then i can save ALL my pennies
and steal a few to hope to buy one of these OK looking pieces of
steel

boy you are making life harder and harder. i thought i had blocked that part of the slope off, but along you come and open the gate again [-X [-X

as usual mike truly special pieces =D> =D> :tool:

now what are you going to make the rubbish bits into handles for????? :? :twisted:

paul :wink:

 

[MikeW]

Thanks Gang.

Paul, I had to show your post to my wife...we got a good chuckle. One of the things I appreciate about you, Paul, is your sense of humor! Thank you for the kind words.

Take care, Mike
still seeking to improve...

 

[engineer one]

aw shucks mike
if i didn't have a sense of humour with some of my clients

it is really nice to be able to appreciate both well made furniture
and tools in this forum, must start the process myself soon without all
the talking.

paul :wink:

 

[bugbear]

.

Here are close-ups of two of the handles.

A masterpiece of refined simplicity, IMHO.

BugBear

 

[MikeW]

Many thank yous for the kind words, BB!

That meant a lot to me to read and I have passed it along for the boys to read as well.

Take care, Mike

 

[Miles968]

Mike, does your choice of saw plate material make a great difference, do you find, in either the making or the using of the saw? (Assuming it's some reasonably hard material). What do you choose for yours? Was there a wide range to choose from, or not? Does some stuff resist getting bent better than others? I have been shown an old panel saw (long-ish, maybe 28") being bent round until the tip tucked into the handle, and then springing back perfectly straight. Of course, accompanied by a 'can't do that with any modern one' comment from the grizzled owner. (He also had a _really long_ backsaw, about 2' long, for use in a mitre box)

I'd love to know whether it would be possible to get tough saw teeth in something much harder, so that the edges would last, without going to impulse hardening and once-only use. CPM3V, anyone? I'd love to have some edge tools in RWL34, which is a hardenable stainless with high edge toughness... nearly got around to it but not yet...

So, any secrets from the Artful Mike for the Admiring Audience?

Miles

PS LOVE the handles - BB said it best, have to agree 100%

 

[MikeW]

Hi Miles--thank you for the kind words.

In general, I use 1095 blue tempered spring steel. The hardness is rated between 48 and 52 rc. My experience is the thinner the saw plate, the less hard it is. But it is hard to judge. The .042" as used on the Kenyon panel saw is pretty darn tough stuff.

Bending. While I have seen people bend vintage saws around to the handle without problem, I have also seen them obtain a cast, an even bow, to the blade. I don't know how practical it is to be able to bend a saw plate in that manner.

Any saw can kink. Any saw can obtain a cast to it. Best simply to use and care for a saw--vintage or new--in order to avoid needing to shorten it because of a kink or worse to toss it into the scrap pile.

I think it has always been possible to harden beyond the steel typically found in both vintage and modern saws. I have some 58 rc I am going to make some pull saws from one day. But it is a little tougher to sharpen. And that is really the main issue. A balance between edge holding and being able to quickly sharpen as needed. Then again, I like HC steel for plane blades and chisels for just that reason, too.

Secrets? No secrets I wanna share :lol:

There is an article coming out in July for which I was interviewed. The article really isn't about me per se. Too boring. Does have something to do with saws, though. But the person doing the interview promised he would not share any of the secrets I told him :wink:

Take care, Mike