Making a Turning Saw
What little shop time I’m getting right now is coming in very short segments. Casting around for a smallish project, that didn’t require juggling large pieces of wood resulted in my indulging a desire to own a turning saw.
What’s a turning saw you ask? It’s a small bowsaw, of course? Oh…and a bowsaw is a handsaw where a wooden frame holds a blade under tension. I think its fair to say they are more popular in Europe than in North America, though more and more of us are coming to understand to their virtues.
Bowsaws come in many shapes and sizes and are used for everything from cutting tree limbs to cutting coped mouldings. If a coping saw is a Pinto, a turning saw is a Ferrari.
A turning saw is on the small end of the bowsaw size continuum. The photo above shows one in action as a luthier cuts the headstock on a guitar. Notice that he’s able to turn the blade relative to the frame as he makes his cut. These saws not hard to make, particularly if you take advantage of the hardware (blade and holders) from Tools for Working Wood. They also have a great set of plans/templates that you can download for a turning saw. Of course, if you don’t want to build one, they’ll be happy to sell you one too (grin). If you don’t have a lathe or lathe skills, you can always create handles that are either square or hexagonal (using a drawknife or spokeshave to cut the flats).
To build a turning saw requires a small amount of wood. From the top left, this small block of mahogany (1/2″x3/4″x6″) became the tensioner, the larger mahogany block (2″x2″x8″) became the handles, and the three pieces of maple (3/4″ cut to template length) was used to create the frame itself.
Step 1: First step is to print the templates. For this you must print without fit-to-page and you need to print to 8.5×14 paper. This will give you full-size templates. If you don’t have 14″ (legal size) paper, you can tape a couple sheets together to create some as you only need a couple sheets. Once you have templates, attaching them to the frame pieces with a spray adhesive will give you the required outlines.
Step 2: Before shaping the parts, I cut the mortises in each of the two frame sides and the tenons on each end of the spreader piece. These joints are a bit different from most M&T joints as they have to be somewhat loose as the frame pieces rotate slightly as tension is placed on the arms.
A) I marked out the mortises according to the templates using a marking gauge.
B) I drilled out the bulk of the wood to create the mortise. These small motises required drilling a couple 1/4″ holes next to one another, controlling depth as you do it. I used a brad-point bit for this to help with location.
C) Using a chisel I pared the sides smooth andsquared up the corners.
D) While there’s no photo, I also drilled the holes through which the blade holders fit. This is much easier to do while the frame pieces are still square.
Step 3: Now you take your turning saw and cut out along the outlines. The ultimate Catch-22 I suppose. As I didn’t have a turning saw…yet, I used a band saw, followed up by some rasp work to get the basic shapes.
Step 4: Knowing that the frame shaping was the major task ahead, I procrastinated by turning the handles. Turning stuff is just kewl and this process always gives me a thrill. I’m easily amused. The Honduran Mahogany I used is a really nice mahogany for handles.
Step 5: The shaping portion of the frames is the most work. It involves rounding over of the edges and the creation of pleasing curves. I ran a pencil around all the perimeters, keeping the distance from the edge the same in all cases. These lines served as guidelines to allow me to remove equal amounts of stock off the edges. I used both curved- and straight-blade spokeshaves to do most of the shaping, finishing up with a cabinet rasp.
Then there was some sanding involved….lots of sanding (grin). Ultimately I sanded everything to 220 grit.
Step 6: This is where I realize that I forgot to take a photo of the creation of the tensioner. I wasn’t too particular about the shape, simply tapering the piece in both dimensions. Then I used a file to round the top and to cut small indentations where the tensioning string sits. I used sandpaper glued to dowels of proper diameter to smooth the edges of those grooves. Sorry for the lack of photo but you can see it on the finished saw, particularly if you click on the photo to see the larger version.
Step 7: On to the finish step. I prefer my tools to have a ‘soft’ finish so I applied a couple coats of boiled linseed oil to bring out the grain a bit and then applied a couple coats of shellac. I’m pretty happy with the results.
Cheers — Larry
Tiny Magnets To Hold Tiny Objects
I was discussing roomboxes with one of my miniatures buddies and I mentioned seed magnets as a useful way of holding things in place. Her response was “What be seed magnets” and since I don’t often see miniaturists using them I thought I’d mention them here.
Here you see six of them sticking to the end of a common mechanical pencil. These happen to be 1.5mm in diameter but they come in a variety of sizes and shapes. As they’re rare earth magnets, they’re also quite strong. Best of all, they’re quite inexpensive and available from a number of suppliers. The Super Magnet Man is one such source. If you scan their product listings you’ll see what I mean.
Using them is very easy. To attach a painting to a wall, drill a tiny hole in the wall, imbed a magnet in the wall, do the same thing to the painting and voila, instant attachment. Best of all, you can remove the object any time you want.
Cheers — Larry
Scrollsaw Blades for Miniatures
It’s probably heresy to say so but if there was one thing a miniaturist could learn that would improve many aspects of their craft it would be that home building centers and mass-market craft outlets are often NOT the best place to buy the tools and materials they use. I know, I know… how could I be so silly?
But it’s true. There are two reasons for this. The first is that these places are serving different customers than those specializing in the creation of miniatures. The tools, finishes, and materials used to work on your home, or to do scrapbooking are often not ideal for creating miniatures. The other reason is that these large outlets serve customers who are very sensitive to price point and thus they often have ‘less than’ quality products. I don’t mean this to be perjorative as often they’re ‘good enough’ but sometimes they’re not. In almost all cases there are better tools and materials available elsewhere, which is why you won’t find those making fine furniture buying their stuff at the local ‘big box’ store. If you know about the alternatives, and know the differences, and still find that you don’t need ‘best’, then fine. But if you don’t even know that better alternatives exist, you’ll often find yourself wondering how others get better results than you do.
A good example of this is scrollsaw blade choices. The two blades on the left of the photo above are the sort you’ll find being sold in the home centers. They are “pinned” blades, meaning they have pins on each end that hook into the scrollsaw. The blades on the right are “unpinned” blades and these are clamped into the scrollsaw. If we zoom into this photo we see this:
Notice a couple things. First, the teeth of the blades on the right are much smaller and there are more of them. The blades are also thinner both in depth and in cross-section. One thing you can’t see is that these blades can be had for less money than the ones on the left. The blades on the left are sold to people who think that 1/4″ thick wood is “thin.” Even then these blades are akin to cutting toothpicks with a hatchet but when you start cutting 1/16″ and 1/8″ thick wood, they are simply innappropriate.
I buy my blades from Mike’s Workshop because he sells Flying Dutchman blades and I like them. I don’t really know Mike but I’m sure I’d like him too as he provides prompt service any time I order from him. His website is also a wealth of information.
Flying Dutchman blades sell for $2-3 per dozen and come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes. For myself, I’ve found the “scroll reverse” blades are ideal for general miniatures work. The name refers to the fact that the bottom few teeth are actually reversed from the others so that they enter the wood from the bottom during the upstroke. This eliminates the fuzzies that you get normally when using a blade with all the teeth pointed in the same direction. Other blades I like a lot are their “Superior Puzzle” blades. These are VERY thin and have a very high tooth count. They are ideal when cutting fine details as they leave a very smooth edge and take very little kerf.
The scroll reverse blades come in a variety of sizes. I use #5R blades for most general cutting (of the 3 unpinned blades in the photo, it’s the left-most blade). Other blades I use regularly are #2R and #2/0R blades, as well as the puzzle blades.
I admit, however, to have tried lots of different blades and have a LOT of tubes full of blades. I like to experiment. But the truth is, it’s probably better to pick a few and learn how to use them well.
Here’s my “collection.” The tubes, by the way, come from Lee Valley. They’re 1/2″ diameter and ideal for blade storage. Lots of folks use PVC pipe for this and I did too but I prefer clear tubes as I can simply cut the data off of Mike’s labels, stuff it into the tube and I can quickly know what blades are in the tube and how many I have left.
Cheers — Larry
Just a Couple of My Friends
One of the fun things about being a woodworker is that once you have a bunch of tools, you can do a lot of things with them. Oddly, most people don’t, concentrating on a single form of woodworking, whether it be scrollsawing, furniture making, miniatures, or whatever.
I’m not so much that way. I enjoy working wood and I enjoy doing things I’ve never done before. I see something made of wood and my first thought is “I can make that!” Often, when I do, my family rolls their eyes and respond with something like “Sure, but in what Century?” You see, they know my propensity for having more gleams in my eye than time permits for actual creation of the objects.
But there are many simple projects that can be done in an afternoon and that make me feel good and, sometimes, maybe even the people who end up owning the items. Here are a couple such items. I made this one afternoon, a long time ago. They sit in my shop and keep me company. I still think they’re cute.
Cheers — Larry
My New Toy
When the red and white Canada Post truck pulls up in front of my house something special happens. I become 8-years old and it’s Christmas. I dash to the door, eagerly wondering why it’s taking the driver so long to get out of the truck.
And it happened yesterday afternoon, when a box was delivered from Lee Valley (my favorite place to send money). Inside was one of their medium-size shoulder planes. I say ‘their’ plane but this one is MINE…ALL MINE!!!
Aside from a block plane, a jack plane, and maybe a jointer plane, this is one of the more important hand tools that should be in a woodworker’s arsenal. I’ve struggled without a good one for way too long but no more and the Lee Valley shoulder plane is at the top of the heap. Have I mentioned that this one is mine?
Cheers — Larry
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