How to choose a hacksaw for wood? Choosing the right hand saw. Modern hand saw (wood hacksaw): what is it and how to choose it? Types of hand saws

Homemade bow saw. According to the classical scheme. Collapsible.

Introductions or ode to camp saws.

I almost always take a saw with me into the forest.
For PVD/autumn, a small saw is enough.

There is a large selection here:

Chainsaw.

Pros:
-compactness
-weight
- efficiency
-price
- you can cut alone

Cons:
- low reliability
- gets dull pretty quickly
- cutting thick trees is quite difficult

Folding hacksaw.

I walked for quite a long time with Tajima ALOR- A240 - Aluminis t Black 240, Folding Saw, 9.4in 9 TPI (Japan).

I like this saw.
But it has a minus - the price.
Our saw costs about 2000 rubles, replaceable blades It’s quite rare to come across it and costs about 800 rubles.
One blade is enough for 1-2 seasons of intensive use.
I'm disappointed, it's Japan after all. The company specializes in professional hand tools.

Among the advantages we can note:
- compactness
- relatively healthy weight (approximately 340g)
- high efficiency(when the canvas is fresh)

We went on a water trip to Karelia, we had a two-handled saw =)
Naturally, water workers don’t care about weight, but it’s still too much.
As a result, I only took out a two-handed tool once, the rest of the time I prepared firewood with a hacksaw Tajima. The saw did an excellent job with trees 20-25cm in diameter.

But when it gets colder and you go overnight, you want to sit by the fire longer. Or in general this hike requires something more serious.
Options? petrol is clearly not our tool =) is there a two-handed saw left? Only if it's a ski trip.
Those. I need a saw that is light, compact, with high performance. To prepare firewood in large quantities.

Everything is new, well forgotten old.

Bow saw.

In the old days, this was the main tool of a carpenter.
High productivity, precision cutting, low weight, ability to work alone.

Bow saw according to the classic design.

These are not currently on sale. I was surprised when the sellers at Liroy threw up their hands when asked about the availability of such a saw. They just don't know. And they have a saw. But from an aluminum pipe

You can carry such a saw on your backpack, but I don’t like it. And her weight is clearly more than 400g. + Price approximately 1000 rub.

What to do? Do it yourself.
Let's go.

I bought a canvas Bahco 607mm (Sweden).
The company produces extremely high-quality tools.

In Liroy I bought a pvc pipe for heating d25, and an aluminum pipe, plus a couple of snap hooks.
I made a frame for the saw according to the classic design with a crank.

All together weighs 340g. My Tajima folding hacksaw weighs this much. I like.
A long blade will increase productivity and the diameter of logs that can be cut.

Pricing:
Canvas bacho 630mm-450r
Liroy pipes -250r

Manufacturing is very simple. You don't even need a drill. All you need is a torch and a piece of old metal cutting cloth. The main thing is to carefully mark future holes. By heating the transverse tube we form holes on the PVC tubes. The horizontal crossbar should be slightly shorter than the saw blade itself. We heat the old metal blade and form holes in the pvc tubes for the saw blade. Everything fits me perfectly.
We assemble the saw, insert the carabiners (fix the blade). We put on the laces with any stick and twist them with a sliver. There is no need to over-tighten, just adjust the rigidity of the frame and the normal tension of the canvas.

My tubes bend a little, so I want to try to do the same but with all of them aluminum tubes, I wonder how much stronger and heavier it will be.

How to carry a saw? I need to sew a cover. The canvas can be protected with thin plastic, for example from a stationery folder, or simply take a stronger fabric for the cover.

There is another option to carry the saw blade in a bowler hat. Twisting it. I got this idea from Grigory Sokolov’s video link to YouTube for which I thank him. I'll try.

My saw, photos:

UPD
I’ll definitely write after I try the saw.

UPD_2

The saw passed the first test. Peels.
Two jambs have been identified:
1. Coupled carabiners must be replaced with any non-coupled ones. The thread is capricious and jams.

2. It is necessary to replace plastic tubes with aluminum or wood. Insufficient saw blade tension. The tubes are bent. You can see it in the photo.

The saw cuts, but it is noticeable that the blade is moving. You can cut alone, but the output is small. If you cut together, then it’s a song. It will take 3-5 minutes to fell a pine tree and cut it into logs for “nodya”. Swedish canvas - pass!

Here's a video I found youtube
Probably the most correct saw, from my point of view.
The crossbar is rectangular, the grooves on the crossbar are rectangular, i.e. torsional rigidity.
+ the canvas is retracted into the handles.

Among all hand tools For cutting wood, a bow saw occupies a special position; with its help you can handle sawing the hardest types of wood, large and complex workpieces, both in the longitudinal and transverse directions, including along arcs of adjustable radius.

Types of hand saws

Jigsaws and other power tools are much more productive than any hand saw, but electricity is not available for every job. Power supply from batteries and batteries only partially solves this problem, since the power of batteries is often not enough for deep cuts and long-term use. And the cost of purchasing a power tool is more than noticeable, as is the cost of eliminating any malfunction.

Therefore, hand-pulled saws, hacksaws and jigsaws remain in demand at the most various works construction, repair and economic areas. By design hand saw tools are divided into several types:

An ordinary hacksaw, with one handle. It has versatility regarding the materials being processed - it can cut not only wood or plastic, but also metal of small thickness. One-handed hacksaws are widely used when it is necessary to saw off bars for wooden frame or corners for - that is, when the width and thickness of the workpieces is small, usually within 10-15 cm;
Hacksaw reward. Saw, appearance similar to a plane - that is small size, with two handles and a similar application of human power. Used for making straight, narrow and relatively deep cuts in wood various breeds. Among others hand saws stands out for its difficulty in mastering; the reward for skillful handling is precise grooves for key joints;
Backing and passing saws. They differ from hacksaws in having a straight working blade and an angled handle. Backing and passing saws are convenient for making straight and angular cuts in wood, for sawing small sections, and for cutting precise grooves. For example, for joining individual planks or joints MDF wall panels It is best to use such an accurate (albeit low-performance) tool;
A factory-made, folding or homemade bow saw for wood is a bulky device and not nearly as durable as saws with a solid blade. However, only with a bow-type saw can you cut wood lengthwise and crosswise, cut workpieces along complex lines, and do all the work alone, without assistants or power tools.

In addition to durable solid wood, the bow saw blade perfectly and accurately “bites into” MDF panels, fiberboards and particle boards, plastic blanks of any size, in sheets of hardboard and plywood. Such saws can be adjusted to the type of material being processed and depending on the type of cutting - straight or curved.

Typical bow saw design

The saw is called “bow” not because it can be shot, and also not because it is similar to Robin Hood’s weapon; its design is based on the same principle of elasticity as in the ancient bow.

The basis of the entire product is a machine made of durable, carefully processed and often varnished racks. There are three of them - two lateral and one horizontal. The stands are made of hardwood (oak, hornbeam or ash). At the bottom vertical racks symmetrical through holes for attaching handles. The horizontal stand is called mediator;
The working handles of bow-type saws are not even a subject of carpentry, but of carpentry; the convenience and productivity of work depends on their quality. General form The handles are round, in the end part there are cuts and holes for attaching the working blade.
Thin strips of tool steel with a slight “notch” are most often used as blades. The wider the blade, the less maneuverability of the saw, and the weaker the tension force in the clamps.
Each bow saw is supplied with bowstring, which brings it even closer to the throwing weapons of ancient eras. But the purpose of this bowstring is purely peaceful - it serves to firmly and reliably tension the working blade between the handles. The bowstring is usually made from natural materials(linen rope or hemp twine). Synthetic cables as bowstrings have not yet proven themselves - their elasticity and durability are not sufficient for cutting solid wood;
Along the axis of central symmetry, between the center post and the bowstring, there is an auxiliary bar - arrow. When the arrow bar rotates, the hemp or linen bowstring is stretched, hacksaw blade solidifies between the handles - you can start sawing woodworking.

Thanks to the threaded handles and the solidity of the entire structure, bow-type saws are effective for short and long cuts, for cutting wood along and across the grain, they can “overcome” knots and are capable of sawing along radii and curved patterns.

How to make a bow saw for wood convenient and safe for work

When preparing the instrument for use, you should adhere to the following procedure:

Insert the blade into the slots of the handles and fix it through the side holes with dowels;
They bring the saw to the chest so that the bowstring touches the body, and with one eye they carefully study the position of the blade. It should be located strictly perpendicular to the line of sight;
Slowly and carefully turning the handles (namely the handles, not the blade!), achieve an even position of the serrated blade in the fixing slots;
Having aligned the canvas, carefully rotate the arrow, twisting the bowstring and stretching the racks to securely fasten the canvas.

It is not recommended to sharpen and edit working blades for bow saws with your own hands. It is better to purchase factory ones, which are distinguished by their sharpness and precisely adjusted “toothing” of the blades. Therefore, it is prohibited to be distracted during any cutting, otherwise you can saw off your own fingers along with the board. During a forced break, it is not recommended to leave the saw sticking out in the workpiece - there is a high probability of the blade breaking, and it is more difficult to resume work from this position.

Before starting work, you must inspect the tool and make sure there are no cracks or damage to it. wooden parts racks, in the integrity of the bowstring. The saw should be carried carefully, making sure to point the sharp blade down and back in the direction of movement (that is, with the bowstring forward and up). For ease of cross cutting wooden blanks must protrude (“hang”) from a fixed support. If you have experience, the sawing process begins from the nail thumb the hand that holds the beam or beam.

When the blade has “bitten” into the wood, it is lightly supported not on the nail, but on the joint of the thumb. However, to improve the accuracy of cuts (and for any curved cuts), it is necessary to use templates or miter box.

For longitudinal cuts the canvas is fixed at an angle from 0˚ to 90˚ relative to the horizontal post. The force applied will be lower than with cross-cutting, so the process will take longer and is carried out with both hands. In this case, it is convenient to lay the board or timber horizontally and guide the saw towards you, holding it by one of the handles and the side stand. If it is necessary to make a curved cut, it is not enough to select a blade with a narrow width (from 6 to 8 millimeters).

Blades for curved slots must have rectangular teeth and a significant spread - up to 2.5 times the nominal thickness of the blade. When you have to cut a massive problematic board with numerous knots, oblique layers of wood, etc., you should choose the widest hacksaw blade (up to 5 cm). Its spread should be small, but the thickness should be significant. It is not recommended to make figured and curved cuts on problem boards.

The bow saw is one of the most common types of saws still in use today. The design of this tool includes several structural parts, one of which is the bow saw blade. Such a blade can have different sizes and tooth shapes, can be made from a variety of metals and have various purposes. Therefore, in this article we will look in detail at blades for bow saws for wood, and also find out what you need to know in order to choose such a blade in a store or hardware supermarket.

Main features of the saw blade

When choosing or purchasing a saw, it is important to pay attention to the main features of the part, namely parameters such as blade length, density and stability, fastening method, etc.

Length of blade for bow saw. Determining the length of the bow saw blade is very simple - to do this, it is enough to know the length of the frame in which it should be installed. So, the frame can have a wide variety of sizes - it can be a saw with a length of 350 mm, 500 or 700 mm, and so on. Also, important feature in this case, it is the length calculation system - it can be inch or metric. Therefore, if the length of the bow saw is expressed in inches, then inch blades should be selected accordingly.

Canvas material. Several types of steel are used as material for the manufacture of bow saw blades. Naturally, all these types are high-strength, so the following types are used:

- V high carbon steel;

- V high-strength tool steel;

- s hardened steel.

In addition, the coating of the blade teeth can be coated with a special Teflon coating to prevent corrosion processes or any others that arise due to external environmental influences.

Shape of blade teeth. Is enough important characteristic when selecting and using a bow saw blade. The blade teeth may have different shape– these can be trapezoidal or triangular-shaped teeth, they can also be teeth with a forked triangular tip (Kremlin-shaped teeth), and so on. In addition, a feature of bow saw blades for wood is that it has different quantities teeth per inch of blade. This indicator indicates how neat the cut made with this blade will be. The greater the number of teeth per inch of blade, the more accurate the cut will be; accordingly, the fewer teeth, the rougher the cut will be.

Consumer analysis of bow saw blades

Today, you can easily buy canvas at bow saw, but at the same time, it is necessary to know the most suitable options. Therefore, we will present several types of saw blades that are highly popular in the market.

Stanley Fleam Tooth canvas. This blade is intended for use in a bow saw and has hardened teeth of a traditional shape. The material used to manufacture this blade is Swedish high-strength steel. The surface of the teeth themselves is hardened, so when examining this blade you will notice that they have a slightly dark tint in contrast to the rest of the surface of the blade. This blade is best suited for quick cuts, longitudinal and cross cuts.

Thanks to the successful geometry and tooth spacing, the occurrence of vibrations during operation is eliminated and minimized. The blade length of this blade is 610 mm. Thus, if the blade does not fit the size of the bow saw frame, you can install a special adapter that will adjust the size of the blade to the size of the saw itself.

Bahco bow saw blade. This model of blade for a bow saw has been around since 1969. So, the company developed its own version of the saw blade, which was made of bimetallic material. Thanks to the properties of this material, the fabric is very elastic, and at the same time durable and wear-resistant. In addition, the blade has high cutting ability. The length of the blade is 530 mm, and the cutting has 51 teeth. In turn, this allows in an ideal way work with old and dry bars, wood, etc. And thanks to the triangular shape of the teeth, the blade is also well suited for cross-cutting raw wood.

Intertool bow saw blade with an “American” tooth. The material used to make this blade is Swedish high-strength steel. The teeth of this blade have a hardened structure, which ensures a long service life of the tool, and thanks to the correct geometry of the teeth, any vibration is eliminated during operation, and a clean, high-quality cut is ensured.

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If you set out to find a bow saw, then searching on the Internet will not lead you anywhere beyond garden saws. And for a thin sheet of 4-5 mm, you can immediately go to Ebay or Amazon, because in Russia there is definitely no such thing. Lucek from bent pipe this is not at all what I needed.

I planed the width of a template that I made from cardboard.

Before cutting out the saw posts, I drilled holes for the handles and used a chisel to make a recess for the tenon of the spacer bar. All irregularities after the jigsaw were removed with a plow.

Then with a hand plane made a narrowing upper parts racks, having previously marked the center for reference.

At the bottom I worked with a rasp and a file in the area of the holes for the handles, and then used a plane to make a narrowing towards the bottom. It turned out like this.

Most of all I had to tinker with the handles. Since I don’t have a lathe, I got out of the situation using a jigsaw. I applied a profile to 4 sides of the block, and then sawed it off on all sides to the marking line. Use a chisel to knock down the resulting comb. I straightened the corners with a rasp. I drilled holes for the bolts before this procedure.

Covered the saw water stain“old oak” and teak oil. My bowstring is made from postal twine.

As shovok I used a furniture bolt with a diameter of 7 mm, in which I made cuts for attaching the canvas with a pin. I drilled a hole in the canvas and used stainless steel wire with a diameter of 1 mm as a pin.

I rounded the ends of the spacer (middle) by first sawing out a tenon, and made a recess at the joint at the post with a rasp. It turned out to be a kind of joint.

The canvas was used from the usual one band saw 6 mm wide. There are several cuttings with different tooth frequencies 4 and 6 tpi I will try. The first tests with a blade at 6 tpi showed that the blade requires regrinding because the tooth angle is too aggressive and sawing is not easy, but quite possible. At small radii the saw cuts perfectly. The cut cannot be called clean, but that may seem to some.