Some time ago, I received an email from a woodworker whose woodworking interest lies in 18th century tools and techniques. While he has a goodly number of backsaws, panel and full size saws were sadly absent. Seeking redress for this situation, he inquired on the possibility of making a panel saw to fit his period toolkit.
With some hesitation, I consented to attempt a 20″ panel saw styled after the Kenyon Seaton saws. The finished saw, pictured below, exceeded my hopes.
As pleasing as the saw is to look at, cutting with it is even more enjoyable. Measured against my Disston saws of comparable size, this one just felt more natural to hold and use. In my test cutting, the lack of taper grinding did not make the saw feel too heavy or unwieldly, although had I a taper ground saw of the same design to compare it against I may have felt otherwise.
I am not taking orders for more of these. While making a one-off was fun, there are production issues that need to be addressed before making more of them, and I do not have the time to devote to that right now.
A few details:
Handle: Quartersawn American beech
Blade: 20″ long, 0.032″ thick (not taper ground), 7 ppi, filed rip with 5° of rake
jaw dropping… simply beautiful…congrats…
I prefer the wrinkles, myself. It helps ground the saw and make it so it doesn’t look like it is floating out in baby blue space.
Trying to figure out a good consistent way to taper grind seems to be one of the big issues with making panel or full-sized saws these days. Maybe someone can resurrect one of those huge Disston grindstones and everyone can send their saw plates there for tapering? Someone needs to make that happen…
Beautiful work!