Finished

[MikeW]

Here is the 28" rip saw I showed in progress a while back. Ready to ship off following a touch up on the teeth.

Panamanian Rosewood handle patterned after a JH Noble design. 5 ppi, heavy taper grinding to it. Progressive rake and fleam at the toe back to a nominal 4 degrees of rake and about 2 degrees of fleam. Large breasting.

Take care, Mike

 

[Paul Chapman]

Real cool, Mike 8) 8)

Paul

 

[CHJ]

Deserves a "Handle With Care" label for the packaging.

 

[Mike Hancock]

Now that does look very good - a Classic Hand Tool no less

 

[garywayne]

Now thats the sort of tool I would like in my workshop.

 

[bugbear]

Progressive rake and fleam at the toe back to a nominal 4 degrees of rake and about 2 degrees of fleam. Large breasting.

That sounds tricky.

Progressive pitch is easy to cut, at least no harder than hand creating uniform teeth, since I use a computer template for both.

Rake and fleam (on the methods I use) would be much more difficult to make evenly graduated.

BugBear

 

[Anonymous]

Another nice saw Michael 8) 8)

You mention about breasted teeth
Would you be willing to please share a little technical knowhow about breasted edge's, why they are made, what advantages they have etc? In my ignorance I always thought it was just to make it easier to cut large (long) tenon cheeks and shoulders, but I am sure there must be more to it than that?? :lol:
cheers Jonathan
Ps if you have a saw with "concave breasting" is that a bad thing? Several that I acumulated have that "feature" I thought it was down to not topping or jointing the teeth when sharpening? and just sharpening the "blunt" teeth in the middle area.

 

[Mirboo]

Another lovely saw Mike.

When are you going to show us one with an etch on it?

 

[Evergreen]

Mike

Wow. That is one very big and beautiful saw.

I guess the lucky owner must be a tall bloke with big hands and an aversion to powered saws?

Regards.

 

[MikeW]

Thank you all for the kind words!

Hi Chas--trust me, they all go out supposedly marked fragile...

Master Hancock--nice turn of words there
Classic is a good term though. This design was on the JH Noble saws, Disston used a slightly modified version [or vice versa] on a couple models. I'm sort of partial to the Kenyon/Seaton period. At least for now.

Hi BB.
Progressive pitch is fairly easy to layout. Getting a nice blend into the nominal isn't any easier/harder than the other if doing so by hand. And besides. I doubt the saw above would win any awards for perfectly blended teeth. But creating it is incredibly easy.

But we also use a retoother. I don't have variable pitch geared bars. I have stopped it about 6" form the end before and hand cut variable pitch in. But in use assuming the other geometrical aspects are equal, the method I use actually creates an easier to start saw and nearly assures if the toe is withdrawn into the cut, it won't bind--the most common cause of damaged toe areas on long western saws.

Hi Jonathan,

This is what I wrote this morning on another forum:
In theory, breasting on a saw cuts faster. This is true for a person who is use to sawing and has good sawing habits. However, most people actually arc their arm when sawing in a high-low pattern. The hand starts out is a high position and as the stroke proceeds, the arm swings down in an arc. In this case, breasting presents the teeth to the wood in a consistent tooth angle. This is not the best habit.

For someone who has good sawing habits, because of the arc of the blade--the breasting--the rear portion of the saw blade presents the teeth so the rake is actually relaxed--leans back further. This slows the cutting action and makes it smoother more or less in time with one slowing the stroke, getting ready to begin the back stroke. The saw won't try to "grab" the wood towards the end of the stroke as one is slowing down.

Take care, Mike

 

[Wiley Horne]

Hi everyone,

I'm looking forward to receiving this saw, and wanted to say a little bit about working with Mike. A few months ago, I contacted him and told him I wanted a saw mainly for resaw, and was considering both a frame saw and a plate saw. He gave me typical specs on both choices, and said if it were him he'd go with the frame saw. But I went plate, so he set about designing the attributes with that purpose in mind--the tpi, the rake, the set, the fleam, breasting or no. He asked me how I would be using the saw (in order to set the length). The reason for the heavy taper was to accommodate minimal set and thin kerf. He made himself a Japanese-type 'sen' (very hard blade scraper) to accomplish the taper he wanted. Some of Mike-san's sen tracks are still on the saw.

Mike prototyped the saw before making it. His experiments resulted in a couple of changes from his starting thoughts. For example, he went to 5 tpi from 6tpi, and then introduced the progressive fleam and rake in order that the saw would be smooth starting, and yet aggressive in the main stroke.

I'll post in a month or so how this purpose-built saw has worked out. But am grateful enough right now for Mike's diligent thought and handwork, that I wanted to let you know about it.

Wiley

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for that Mike
What constitute good sawing habits?
Myself I try to visualise a straight line down through the wood and try to move the teeth along that line in a straight movement. I also let the weight of the saw do all the work and use the whole length of the saw teeth. Is this on the right track (sorry lousy pun :roll: ) What improvements can be made?
Cheers Jonathan

 

[Paul Chapman]

Hi Wiley,

That's interesting background. It's good to know that there are manufacturers like Mike around who will go to that much trouble to ensure that the needs of customers are met.

Enjoy the saw. I'm not at all envious :^o :^o :^o :mrgreen:

Cheers :wink:

Paul

 

[djgaloot]

Looks great Mike.
Nice medallion too!
dave

 

[MikeW]

Jonathan, what you describe is a good sawing habit. Others disagree. But it is an efficient method, maintaining maximum contact between tooth and wood.

My belief about allowing the saw to do the work is the same as well. There should only be the need to apply enough pressure that the teeth stay in contact. Pushing the saw can "help" one to saw off line.

If the saw is not sawing fast enough, select a saw with lower pitch, more agressive filing. One will have more energy at the end than forcing a cut.

Hey, Wiley! Thank you for the kind words. Hopefully this saw will see many years of use.

Hi Dave--you mean this ol' thing?

If anyone there gets the Fine Tool Journal, you'll see an article abotu Dave in the current issue. Great article written by Chris Schwarz. In it, you'll read that Dave is the maker of my bolts and medallions...

Take care, Mike

 

[Anonymous]

Jonathan, what you describe is a good sawing habit. Others disagree. But it is an efficient method, maintaining maximum contact between tooth and wood.

My belief about allowing the saw to do the work is the same as well. There should only be the need to apply enough pressure that the teeth stay in contact. Pushing the saw can "help" one to saw off line.

If the saw is not sawing fast enough, select a saw with lower pitch, more agressive filing. One will have more energy at the end than forcing a cut.

Thanks Mike 8) Its not that I was trying to brag or anything, but I suddenly thought hey perhaps theres ways I could improve; do I take such a "simple" task as sawing technique for granted or ever thought about what I do in any depth? Of course thats why its essential to have a sharp saw, as when its blunt your tempted to pressirise it, it makes you tired, hard to steer the cut, plus it sounds "iffy" as well with a blunt blade, it doesnt sing nicely :lol:
cheers Jonathan

 

[Chris Knight]

Wiley,
Thanks for the background thinking. I shall be very interested to hear in due course how you get on with it.

When you talk of resawing- how thin a slice do you plan/hope/expect to be able to make with it?

 

[Wiley Horne]

Hi Chris,

Thanks for asking! The thinnest veneer I want will be 3/32" (say, 2.5mm) for a table top or case side, perhaps taken from a board 9"-10" wide. What I hope to do in such a case is to saw a fat 1/8", and plane the veneer to finished thickness after it is glued in place. Strategy will be to saw along 4 headings, coming in from each corner. Drawer fronts would be another typical application--3/16" finished thickness. And drawer bottoms--1/4" to 1/2" depending on size of drawer.

Am actually not averse to doing this work more sensibly using a bandsaw, but I have caretaker responsibilities that keep me close to the house and working quietly so I can hear when I'm needed.

Wiley

 

[mel]

just out of interest
will this fine piece of craftsmanship go to a joiner or a home user ???

 

[engineer one]

oh mike what have you done, we've only just recovered from the last posting and then you do this again. :twisted: :roll:

so much attention to detail and such a fun item to look at. and not only that the man who bought it actually wants to use it :lol: :lol:

as for saw technique, mine is still poor with european style saws, but the recent article in one of the american magazines, about rocking the saw on the pull stroke made a lot of sense to me, and maybe when i have some room i will try to improve the technique so i can then "justify" hahahahaha
buying one of your pieces of art.

thanks again for the show mate =D> \/ :tool:

love to the bears :wink:

paul :wink: