I’ve been thinking of building myself a cheap frame/Roubo saw. Cheap because I’m wading into this hobby, and poor.
Project for Timmy2Hands is my jumping off point, I don’t know if it’s bad form to link to other pages.
So the blade would be a band saw blade cut to length with mounting holes punched and tensioned with common hardware.
My difference would be, where he said he was using a pine for the frame I thought I might use 1.5^2 for the two short stretchers, and two aluminium tubes for the long stretchers. Thinking oak over pine for strength and durability, and aluminium over either for strength, durability, cost, possible rate reduction.
What are the bad and terrible aspects for my idea? Brutally honest. The goal of building this would be to resaw lumber in my moxon vise, and just something to tinker on and build knowledge with.
I thank you gentlemen.
Replies
A Roubo style saw will resaw as long as the log or board can fit between the handles. They were built with thicker, wider blades than bandsaw blades, though. A thicker, wider blade will track better and saw straighter when sawing by hand. I do not own a bandsaw yet because I work on a back porch, not in a shop. I use a handsaw and bowsaw to make 45 degree angled kerfs on each side of the log. Then I use a frame saw, I made from a 700-millimeter long ECE blade from Highland Woodworking to saw the middle (between kerfs). Without the bow saw and handsaw, it would be difficult to saw straight. I'm working on a cherry log now; it is very slow going. Once I get the log sawed in half, it will go much quicker to get quarter sawed boards. I have to make sure the board is wide enough so that I can plane it to the right thickness and reduce any twist or warp. This takes a lot of practice to get right. There are many good articles on how to do it in FWW.
https://www.finewoodworking.com/2000/06/01/four-squaring-with-hand-tools
God bless you. Remind me to never get in an arm-wrestling contest with you.
If you can successfully build a frame that securely holds and tensions a blade well enough that you can saw with it, it doesn't matter what design it is or what material it's made out of.
A frame saw is a very basic design dating back over 1000 years, there is no "right" way to make one.
No reason not to try
I have zero interest in resawing by hand. But if that's what you like, go for it.
A bandsaw blade is thin, so you'd need a stiff frame to keep the blade tensioned. Old frame saws had much thicker blades, and the frames were easier.
I've seen a couple of people making Roubo blades for sale. Maybe whole kits.
If I had to rely on resawing by hand, I think I'd have taken up knitting instead. Or skipped a bunch of meals to buy a bandsaw.
Handsaw blades have their teeth ‘set’ to cut a wider kerf. Bandsaw blades don’t and that will immediately work against you. I’d skip the Frankenstein route and (cheaply) build an all-wood saw with a properly set blade.
The article tells what you need to sharpen handsaws. If you buy bow saw blades, get one(s) with 4 or 5 teeth per inch. You might want to sharpen one for cross cutting and another for rip sawing. Work holding is a whole other issue with logs. The Roubo saw picture with a Moxon vise is like a dream but may not work when you are sawing by yourself. For logs I have to use ratchet straps and a sawhorse for the 45-degree cuts. For the 90-degree frame saw cuts, I use ratchet straps and strap it on end right to my workbench. You have to chisel notches so the strap doesn't slip off as you tighten it.
https://www.finewoodworking.com/2006/02/08/a-tool-kit-for-sharpening-handsaws
There is a company called Blackburn that sells the whole kit or just the blade and tensioning hardware. It wasn't all that expensive as I recall.
Old master woodworkers had a way to power their saws. They were called apprentices!
I've got the Blackburn kit. It is really nice. Assumes you have enough funds.
Have a look at how Rex does it - he's the bomb when it comes to doing this sort of thing on the cheap.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Agk6tJtRs0&t=135s
That looks like the one I made 42 years ago when I was poor too, I just changed the blade since Lee Valley did not carry the same length anymore so I had to make a new stretcher. I would not use a bandsaw blade for that application, get a good blade, it’s the only really important thing if you want to enjoy it, mine is a miter blade and keeps me from buying the Japanese saws that have always tempted me.
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