Wider Blades for Turning Saw?
#9
I really like having a turning saw, but I keep breaking the blades I get from Tools for Working Wood.  At $5 apiece, it gets kind of expensive to keep replacing them.  They kink easily too, and I start wondering if it's possible to make/get wider blades in 12" lengths.  I almost never need to saw such a tight curve with my turning saw that I need such a narrow blade in it.  Most of the time, I'm cutting gentle curves that would be easier to cut with a blade that's 2X or even 3X the width of the normal blades. 

I've thought about getting a skip-tooth bandsaw blade and cutting it up for turning saw blades.  Anybody ever do this?  Any thoughts about what to use for pins and/or how to attach them?
Steve S.
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Tradition cannot be inherited, and if you want it you must obtain it by great labour.
- T. S. Eliot

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#10
(01-17-2018, 05:36 PM)Bibliophile 13 Wrote: I really like having a turning saw, but I keep breaking the blades I get from Tools for Working Wood.  At $5 apiece, it gets kind of expensive to keep replacing them.  They kink easily too, and I start wondering if it's possible to make/get wider blades in 12" lengths.  I almost never need to saw such a tight curve with my turning saw that I need such a narrow blade in it.  Most of the time, I'm cutting gentle curves that would be easier to cut with a blade that's 2X or even 3X the width of the normal blades. 

I've thought about getting a skip-tooth bandsaw blade and cutting it up for turning saw blades.  Anybody ever do this?  Any thoughts about what to use for pins and/or how to attach them?

I haven't heard of any real breakage problem but if you need to saw straight a wider blade would be better.
The solution is to make a blade as you described and if you look at the brass bowsaw pins there are larger holes in the pins - so you don't have to pin your wider blades

Joel
Joel
Tools for working Wood
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#11
(01-17-2018, 05:36 PM)Bibliophile 13 Wrote: Your issue with kinking makes me wonder if turning it around to cut on the pull stroke would work for you. It may take a short while to get used to but there should be no more kinking. I have my saws set up that way, works perfectly. In my experience a band saw blade is too aggressive for a hand saw, but if you have one you can try it can't hurt!


I really like having a turning saw, but I keep breaking the blades I get from Tools for Working Wood.  At $5 apiece, it gets kind of expensive to keep replacing them.  They kink easily too, and I start wondering if it's possible to make/get wider blades in 12" lengths.  I almost never need to saw such a tight curve with my turning saw that I need such a narrow blade in it.  Most of the time, I'm cutting gentle curves that would be easier to cut with a blade that's 2X or even 3X the width of the normal blades. 

I've thought about getting a skip-tooth bandsaw blade and cutting it up for turning saw blades.  Anybody ever do this?  Any thoughts about what to use for pins and/or how to attach them?
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#12
Thanks for the reply, Joel!  I should have taken a picture last time I broke a blade, but it's always right up at one end, usually the near end, at the last few teeth.  (I made the saw myself from the TFWW plans--it's not one of yours.)  Maybe I'm over-tensioning the blade?  

Re: blade direction, I do cut on the pull stroke--always.
Steve S.
------------------------------------------------------
Tradition cannot be inherited, and if you want it you must obtain it by great labour.
- T. S. Eliot

Tutorials and Build-Alongs at The Literary Workshop
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#13
I got a coping saw for Christmas in 1957. I broke the first blade within two minutes, then was so gentle I went years before breaking a second. Blades do fatigue and break, but good technique is helpful also.

Some years ago my blade supplier for my turning saw stopped carrying the blades and I bought a band saw blade. I think what I buy is a skip tooth bi metal blade. The teeth are harder than the rest of the blade so it is easy to drill a hole for pinning the blade. Altogether I like it better than the blades I had been buying. I cut on the push stroke when standing up, and on the pull when sitting down. That way I see the line better for both modes.
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#14
(01-19-2018, 02:20 PM)Bibliophile 13 Wrote: Thanks for the reply, Joel!  I should have taken a picture last time I broke a blade, but it's always right up at one end, usually the near end, at the last few teeth.  (I made the saw myself from the TFWW plans--it's not one of yours.)  Maybe I'm over-tensioning the blade?  

Re: blade direction, I do cut on the pull stroke--always.
Try the push stroke - it's a lot easier and you get more control and power. don't know if that has anything to do with blade breakage.
Joel
Tools for working Wood
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#15
Warren, thanks for the tip. I'll look for a bi-metal bandsaw blade and see what I can rig up.

Joel, I'll try it. I did take a closer look at my saw, and it seems that one of the arms has twisted a little bit out of alignment. Perhaps the wood wasn't altogether dry when I first built it, or perhaps there were some internal stresses that distorted the wood. In any case, because the arm is twisted, the pin don't face each other directly. So when I tension the saw, the blade is bent where it is held by the pin. That bending probably causes the kinking I'm getting--or at least contributes to it--which is probably making my blades break prematurely.

Looks like I'm going to have to re-make that arm, which is annoying because this will be the third time I've rebuilt this saw.
Steve S.
------------------------------------------------------
Tradition cannot be inherited, and if you want it you must obtain it by great labour.
- T. S. Eliot

Tutorials and Build-Alongs at The Literary Workshop
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#16
If you really need a wider blade, you might consider making one yourself out of a bandsaw blade.  Only issue might be they tend to be pretty coarse in the tpi department, so your cut will have some rough exit edges.
Still Learning,

Allan Hill
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