When I was taught to sharpen in 1992, the flat back of the iron was holy ground. We were taught to flatten it completely and polish it like a mirror. Never mind that none of the old tools we were buying at flea markets looked like that. With the old tools, there was rarely much … Read more
The truss system of the spine looks curious, but it works gangbusters.
By Megan Fitzpatrick
Page 16
The crazy design of this titanium 5″ woodworker’s fretsaw from Knew Concepts is, I think it’s fair to say, the first thing you notice. But use it and you’ll quickly come to appreciate that the structure helps to make it lightweight and rigid, and the clever tensioning mechanism snugs up the blade tight – and keeps it there.
This frame is a redesign of the company’s earlier titanium woodworker’s fretsaw, the frame of which was a continuous piece of 1⁄8″-thick titanium (the same design as the aluminum woodworker’s fretsaw currently available). But in an effort that was initially meant to reduce materials waste and take advantage of more readily available 1⁄16″-thick titanium, designer Lee Marshall came up with a riveted truss system for the saw’s spine that’s even more rigid than the original (he calls it a “birdcage saw,” in honor of the Birdcage Maserati). The spine is riveted to 1⁄8″-thick titanium arms.
Video: See the company’s titanium and aluminum fretsaws in action – coming soon. Read more
I swore on a stack of “Mechanicks Exercises” that I’d stop writing about coping saws. It’s not healthy, and I know that. But at Woodworking in America last weekend in Pasadena, Calif., I ran into Lee Marshall from Knew Concepts. He was holding a big red saw that was too big to be a fretsaw. … Read more
The first stop after leaving the Los Angeles International Airport: the Lowe’s in nearby Hawthorne, Calif. I needed lumber, tools and hardware for my first demonstration at Woodworking in America tomorrow: Build a Sawbench in an Hour. Buying dimensional lumber on the West Coast is always a shock. About a decade ago, I bought some … Read more
“(E)xtreme care is always requisite for proper mitring, in order that the beveled ends formed by sawing in the box may fit to form the angle required without planing, which is rarely done neatly enough to make a close joint and causes much waste of time.” — “How to Join Mouldings; or, The Arts Of … Read more
This weekend I finished work on a traveling version of my “Anarchist’s Tool Chest” that will fit in my hatchback and will carry (almost) a full set of tools. The last detail of the entire project was how to store the three backsaws that are essential to almost every kit: the tenon saw, carcase saw … Read more
Way back in 2005, I wrote an article for issue #4 of Woodworking Magazine about holdfasts. At the time, very few woodworkers knew what a holdfast was, and the article reviewed available manufactured holdfasts, as well as a few blacksmith made ones. We recently put the original holdfast article online, and included a link to … Read more
