New bow saw at Woodlore

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QDanT

Settler
Mar 16, 2006
933
5
Yorkshire England
I'm pretty certain he would still use his rolled up blade in a billy can if he's travelling light.[/QUOTE]

How can the "Podgy One" travel light
 

maynman

Member
Sep 26, 2006
24
0
58
pembrokeshire/west wales
Hi folks....you might be interested to know that i have made several of these saws, with plans to make more if i can sell them.
They are just as good as the woodlore ones and almost half the price.

They are made of kiln dried ash, and come with a quality bahco blade.
The handles fold down from each end protect the blade when in transit.
They also come with a waxed cotton bag.

Hope to get some pictures up soon.

P.M me if youre interested :)
 

Shinken

Native
Nov 4, 2005
1,317
3
43
cambs
I think that we should treat people how we expect to be treated. If poeple like to read bulletin boards and see the micky being taken out of them on nearlly all of them then i guess it's fine.

Anyway it's not for me to judge i just get fed up of hearing it all the time, the record needs changing :D
 

Hoodoo

Full Member
Nov 17, 2003
5,302
13
Michigan, USA
All this talk about bucksaws got me looking around. Last one I bought I wasn't too happy with. It looked nice and all but the limbs were too thin and flexible to be very effective.

But this one looks like a winner. There's a video too and from watching the video, the saw looks pretty sturdy. Nice packable size too. It's a tad less than that woodlore model too. ;) But maybe not as pretty. :)

Bucksaw
 

nigelp

Native
Jul 4, 2006
1,417
1,024
New Forest
newforestnavigation.co.uk
Here is Maynman's bowsaw that I am now a proud owner of. Really nice construction solid sustainable Pembrokeshire ash. Blade folds up inside the handle, quality Bhaco blade, stainless steel fixings and toggle tension adjustment.

bowsaw.jpg


Toggle adjustment

toggle.jpg


PM maynman who can make you one!
 

topknot

Maker
Jun 26, 2006
1,825
2
59
bristol
I looked at the bow saw on rays site, it looks easy to make.The 5ft by 2" by 1"pp beech wood cost me £4.00. The saw blade came from B&Q, but the project will have to wait because ive got 3 knifes on the go.
 

swamp donkey

Forager
Jun 25, 2005
145
0
64
uk
It always amazes me how mean hearted some people are, you do not belong amongst such generally lovely/ helpfull folk.
As for the price of the saw . It never ceases to amaze me how many people have no idea about buisness and making aliving.

As a self employed person for the last 18 years I have some idea.
Firstly if I make something to sell the seller is going to put a mark up of between 30% and 100% (120% if its a top art gallery) depending on their circumstances. so at 30% I would be selling at £59 . raw materials wood, blade ,canvas, leather etc. £10 now £49 , hourly rate (including wages, tax, national insurance. workshop, electicity, insurance etc etc.) £15 to £25 per hour . 3 hours to source, make frame and sew bag Ok £45 leaves £4 left as profit . seems about right to me . Hand made is not mass produced.
First lesson of self employment do not under price your self as you wont last long.
 

ESpy

Settler
Aug 28, 2003
925
57
53
Hampshire
www.britishblades.com
swamp donkey said:
It always amazes me how mean hearted some people are, you do not belong amongst such generally lovely/ helpfull folk.
As for the price of the saw . It never ceases to amaze me how many people have no idea about buisness and making aliving.

"Problem" is - and you've pretty much hit the nail on the head - this group tend to be pretty can-do about making things (and learning about making things) and it is easy to get carried away on acquiring the skillset, without factoring in the cost of the time to make the item... We're also pretty good - or bad, in market terms - on sharing the skills we develop.
 

Hoodoo

Full Member
Nov 17, 2003
5,302
13
Michigan, USA
Ok folks, lets just all take a deep breath here and refrain from the ad hominem attacks, either on Ray Mears or each other. If you can't keep a civil tongue, you don't belong here.
 

Rod

On a new journey
Fed up of sweating like a donkey when cutting firewood with a laplander saw?

Save your money and don't buy a Ray Mears saw!

Here's a little something I made in a couple of hours one weekend.

Made from a green ash sapling. Cost £5.99 for the blade. 40p for the nuts and bolts and £1.00 for a length of plumbers pipe to store the blade in as I don't have a round billy tin.

Frame_saw001.jpg


Put together and awaiting a 'wind up':

Frame_saw002.jpg


The cross-bar is seated into V-shaped rebate-type slots:

Frame_saw004.jpg


These shots were taken immediately I returned home. I've since had the saw in the wood box for a couple of weeks to dry it out a little. I needed to do a little more work to the the joint areas. I've since linseeded the frame - except the joints.

Tips:
1. Make sure you don't have too much cord, otherwise you will have to wind till Easter to get anywhere near a good working tension in the frame! The frame wants to hold together before you insert the windlass paddle and wind. I also used clove hitches to secure the cord to the uprights.
2. Don't use paracord for the windlass - it's truely pants!
3. The blade is a 20" Bahco/Sandvik. You can use any length you wish - just make the cross bar a couple of inches shorter than the length of the blade.
4. Try to cut the pieces so you get the best use of the shape of the sapling

If you want a closer look at this baby in action I'm coming to the Christmas moot. Jason Sears, Aaron, Joker & Fenlander have all used this and now leave me to cut all the firewood! I've become a victim of my own success :(

Seriously though - you don't need to support RM by buying his (no offence intended) - you'll have loads more fun making and using a tool like this yourself! :)
 
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Simon E

Nomad
Aug 18, 2006
275
14
53
3rd Planet from the sun
This is just the Rolex vs Plastic junk watch thread.

If you dont want it dont buy it, simple.

If however you like nice things then by all means go ahead.

Just because you personally can't or wouldn't want to pay it, does not mean that everyone else is the same.While I agree that it seems expensive, look at the work that went into it and the skill to do it, this wasnt made by some slob.

Ford Fiesta vs Rolls Royce, both will go from A-B, both will reach the speed limit on motorways.

Another thing, why the digs about Ray? Its like the people that take a dig at Bill Gates. Old Billy boy is probably responsible for trillions of dollars worth of job creation worldwide, making people more affluent so that they can buy whatever product or service you offer/produce. If everyone was such an Uber-Miser we would all be in the poor house.

Rant off :D
 

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