Aff Wood

Making A New Turning Saw Part III

It was time to refine the shape of the new saw; making it lighter both visually and physically. Most of the work was done on the shavehorse, but some work was done over at the bench vise. The tools used were: drawknife, spokeshaves, files, and a knife. The work was slow but fun.

Heres the beginning of the shaping process on the shavehorse:


I just shaped it by eye. The hardest part was not taking off too much - its addicting!


Some sections were easier to work on at the bench with the piece held in the front vise:


I ended up taking off quite a bit of stock. The areas around the mortise and the bottom of each arm I kept close to full thickness. Here are some comparison shots between the unshaped arm and the mostly finished arm:




After shaping the two arms with rounded, curving surfaces, the stretcher looked out of place with its flat surfaces and beveled edges. I decided to rework it to more closely match the arms. Heres two shots of all three pieces, with most of the shaping work complete:




And a shot of the assembled frame surrounded by the tools that have been working on the shaping:



Next up are the tension device (easy) and the blade assembly (not too hard, except I have this new idea on how to attach the rods to the knobs without using epoxy) so maybe this will be a four part post. Probably shouldnt have said that...