I've always said I don't need a tenon saw longer than 12 inch (300mm), but recently, I've recanted. Two things have contributed to my change of heart. The first was having to cut a bunch of large tenons in Bluegum for a bench, earlier in the year. I found that I would have liked a longer stroke than my favourite 12 inch 10 tpi saw
300mm 12tpi.jpg
could manage in the 90mm stock, and its depth of cut was just barely enough to do the job. Then a couple of months ago (already!) I helped some other blokes get started in saw making, & two of them chose to make 16" saws. I was a bit concerned about making such large saws from the 25 thou plate we had, thinking it might not be stiff enough when pushed to that size. In the event, I was wrong (first time that ever happened.. :roll:), the whopper saws seemed fine, and plenty stiff enough with 3/4 x 1/4" spines. So I decided to split the difference, and make myself a 14 incher, the idea being that it would still be manageable for furniture scale work, but give me that extra bit of stroke length & reach when I needed to get stuck into heavier timbers. I was all on my own at home today, no interruptions other than the dogs sidling up for an occasional reassuring word or pat, & making this saw was pure pleasure!
Here it is, 350 x 100mm, 0.0025" blade, 10tpi rip, Tulip Oak handle... 350mm rip Tulip oak2.jpg
I've only done a few test cuts when I finished it this afternoon, but it cut nicely & didn't feel too unwieldy. I won't retire my old faithful 300mm just yet, it may be that I decide to keep it for the smaller work, but I would prefer to keep the number of saws I have to maintain to a sensible number, so if this becomes the new go-to tenon saw, 'old faithful' might have to find a new home.....
Cheers,
300mm 12tpi.jpg
could manage in the 90mm stock, and its depth of cut was just barely enough to do the job. Then a couple of months ago (already!) I helped some other blokes get started in saw making, & two of them chose to make 16" saws. I was a bit concerned about making such large saws from the 25 thou plate we had, thinking it might not be stiff enough when pushed to that size. In the event, I was wrong (first time that ever happened.. :roll:), the whopper saws seemed fine, and plenty stiff enough with 3/4 x 1/4" spines. So I decided to split the difference, and make myself a 14 incher, the idea being that it would still be manageable for furniture scale work, but give me that extra bit of stroke length & reach when I needed to get stuck into heavier timbers. I was all on my own at home today, no interruptions other than the dogs sidling up for an occasional reassuring word or pat, & making this saw was pure pleasure!
Here it is, 350 x 100mm, 0.0025" blade, 10tpi rip, Tulip Oak handle... 350mm rip Tulip oak2.jpg
I've only done a few test cuts when I finished it this afternoon, but it cut nicely & didn't feel too unwieldy. I won't retire my old faithful 300mm just yet, it may be that I decide to keep it for the smaller work, but I would prefer to keep the number of saws I have to maintain to a sensible number, so if this becomes the new go-to tenon saw, 'old faithful' might have to find a new home.....
Cheers,
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