Hand Saws

[Stonedog]

Being that I am getting back into bowbuilding I do have a question and confession.

Confession time.  I hate bandsaws. 

I can actually hear all of the eyebrows raising!

I have ruined more staves than I can count using a bandsaw.  If I am using a lumber glue-up I just cut to width with a table saw....then go after the limb tapers with my 12" staney shurform.....and I NEVER tried to cut belly tapers with a bandsaw.

What I have been doing is taking the stave, laying out the bow and using a tenon saw to hog off excessive amounts of wood and then squaring everything up down to the lines with my shurform and rasps.

So.....what is a good brand of tennon saw?

Or

Does a different type of saw work better do ya think?  If so, what?

[Pat B]

I prefer a band saw for removing unwanted wood from a stave but never go near the final outline of the bow. If your blade tension is correct and the guide is set correctly you should not have a problem with it. With a band saw, I am saving myself about 2 or more hours of hard sweaty work.
  I have never used any other kind of saw for shaping a bow. Rasps, files and scrapers is all I use once the general outline is obtained.    Pat

[Pappy]

I am the same as Pat,I messed up some stave also in the beginning but once I leared to keep the side you can't see away from the blade the problem went away.After it is roughed out with the
bandsaw I use a farrier rasp,scraper and 49/50 Nicolas file.And by the way ,don't know what a
tennon saw is.Sorry.
   Pappy

[adb]

Hi,
What kind of bandsaw, if any, do you have, or have tried? Why the fear of bandsaws? A good quality bandsaw is a must, in my book. Saves hours of needless handwork. It takes practice, but with a bit of experience, and a properly set up bandsaw, mistakes are minimal. Stay outside the lines... take it down to the lines with hand tools. Go slow!!

[Dane]

I do have to say maybe needless is too harsh a word. I don't own a bandsaw yet, and I will get one one day, but there is much value in using only hand tools. I love Japanese handsaws, the kind that cut on the pull, large double ones for ripping and cross cutting, smaller ones for finer work. It can be hard work, but meditative as well, and you can do very exacting work a power tool just can't be trusted with.

[adb]

Hi, Dane
You can't make a bow with a bandsaw. You have to use handtools. But, you can cut out a bow's profile with one. No offense intended what so ever, but how can you offer an opinion on something you've never used? As I said, in my book, a bandsaw is a valuable piece of equipment which saves time. Trad bow making, especially tillering, will always involve the careful use of hand tools. Don't worry, I agree with you!

[Dane]

I, too, like band saws. To be clear, I didn't say I don't know how to use a band saw, only that I don't have one right now.

Great tools, one of a large arsenel of devices bow makers can use. I have also used a circular saw to rip wood closer to where I want to be, not wild about it but I have done it. And, I am using quite a few power tools during construction of the two Roman machines I started a thread about. You don't normally get to use a router when making a bow, but without that tool, I don't know if I could do some facets of the work at all. A power planer would be great, but I just can't afford one right now, and heck, a hand plane is one of my all time favorite tools.

However, I do stick by my thoughts about hand saws, and that goes for hatchets and other tools. I am guessing I will never totally abandon hand saws, even for the big jobs. And what did our ancient (and not so ancient) bowyer ancestors do before the invention of the band saw or even electricity (and comedians out there will bring up water powered mills, lol)? They used strictly hand tools. Though, I bet if they had a bandsaw in Medival England, they would have used it happily.

[Dane]

Oh, quickly, let me touch on my comment about meditative use of tools. Only two things give me true peace of mind, cooking and working with hand tools. Power tools, no matter what they are, don't put me in a mental place that a hand plane or saw will. If you have ever gone into the shop and realized time stood still, you know what I mean. Writing is what I do for a living, on a computer, so as much as I love words, it is still ultimately work. Driving is driving, shopping is shopping. But building a bow with hand tools is what I truly dig. Weaving comes close, as do a few things, but not quite in the same way.

That and cooking. Even better than eating.

Okay, enough for now. Maybe that is part of my personal weirdness? But it all works for me.

[adb]

Hmmm... all sounds good to me.

[George Tsoukalas]

I don't use one either. i remove the bulk of the wood with a hatchet. Jawge

[DanaM]

Each to their own eh! Its what makes one happy that matters most

[Coo-wah-chobee]

.........Eddie (mullet) gave me his ole' one. Never used one. I keep lookin' at Eddie's and it keeps lookin' at me then I go get my hachets.  ..........bob

[Stickhead]

I'm with George.  The hatchet method is simple, cheap, follows the grain, and doesn't cut my fingers off.

[GregB]

I can actually hear all of the eyebrows raising!

I reckon my eyebrows were one of the ones you heard raising! 
I agree with Pappy and Pat, I can't think of any type of saw that in my opinion would be better at removing excess wood then a bandsaw. Saves a lot of hard work. If you have your bow outline drawn on the stave back, your first cuts would be just outside the lines an 1/8" or so and angle the stave such that on what will be the belly side of the bow will be wider ensuring you have enough material. After that you can pencil in your handle and limb/fade thickness and again angle the wood to where you know you're leaving it thicker on the bottom next to the bandsaw table. Then it is easy to rasp and then scrape down to your pencil lines, and you're ready for tillering. That's how we've done about a thousand of um!