BIG Ripper, another Prototype

[Klaus Kretschmar]

After a thumbhole shaped handle fitting exactly to my hand was laying around in my shop for several months , it got finally a blade . It took a little longer to make this blade for 2 reasons. The 0.040" steel plate is extremely hard, it was a bear to shape. Pedder nearly ruined his retoother on this blade. And I, well I did ruin my Fein nibbler, the steel was stronger ... Pedder found a way to shape the plate

The second reason was the taper grinding. We did several attempts until it went so la la ...

I was silly enough to take this Pear handle for my 1st wheat carving attempts, shouldn't have done that because the handle lost a lot of it's former beauty. I still like it however

The blade is 29 1/2" long (at the toothline), 4" deep at the toe and 8 1/2"" deep at the heel (in front of the handle). It has a 2-pitch-layout, the first 5" are toothed to 7 TPI, the rest to 3.5 TPI. The taper of the plate reaches from 0.040" at the toothline to about 0.028" at the top of the blade.









I had no possibility to let it run seriously but the first attempts seem to be rather good. Maybe the plate size has to be reduced a little bit. I like the heft of the saw and the strength of the blade but there is a lot of steel which has to be pushed through the wood. That will be decided after some test runs.

Thanks for looking!

Klaus

[Tony Shea]

Wow, are you kidding me. That saw is a monster. Might be a tad large for my liking but I really would love to find a saw of that configuration. The size may be fine though Im not sure until I could handle something like it. But what a beautiful peice of work, as always. I love the pear handle. I think pear makes for a stunning wood for a saw handle and am surprised I don't see more made of it. The shape looks extremely comfortable.

[bob blakeborough]

What a beauty of a handle! I really like it a lot!

[Jim Koepke]

It is a beautiful saw.

3.5 tpi? And I was having a hard time with my 4 ppi rip saw.

jtk

[george wilson]

Should last for only about 2000 sharpenings!!. Actually,I'd like it cut down,too. As usual,a very beautiful handle.

When are you guys going to get into plane making?

[Joe McMahon]

Klaus, another beautiful saw! How does it cut?

Joe

[Klaus Kretschmar]

Wow, are you kidding me. That saw is a monster. Might be a tad large for my liking but I really would love to find a saw of that configuration. The size may be fine though Im not sure until I could handle something like it. But what a beautiful peice of work, as always. I love the pear handle. I think pear makes for a stunning wood for a saw handle and am surprised I don't see more made of it. The shape looks extremely comfortable.

Thank you, Tony.

The handle is comfortable indeed. It's not only the shape what my hand finds to be comfortable, it's the dense Pear which feels VERY smooth.

Klaus

[Klaus Kretschmar]

What a beauty of a handle! I really like it a lot!

Thank you, Bob!

Klaus

[Klaus Kretschmar]

It is a beautiful saw.

3.5 tpi? And I was having a hard time with my 4 ppi rip saw.

jtk

Thank you, Jim.

3.5 tpi is 4.5 ppi, isn't it? Then your's is a tad coarser toothed.

Klaus

[Klaus Kretschmar]

Should last for only about 2000 sharpenings!!. Actually,I'd like it cut down,too. As usual,a very beautiful handle.

When are you guys going to get into plane making?

I like your humor, George!

Looking at the pics I think also that the blade depth is a little bit overdone ...
Plane making? We currently are thrilled to make saws. That's a wide field for sure.

Klaus

[george wilson]

I had a bunch of Nigerian pearwood planks for years at the musical instrument maker's shop. It was harder than the Swiss pear I also have used.

[Klaus Kretschmar]

Klaus, another beautiful saw! How does it cut?

Joe

Hi Joe,

many thanks! I'm not able to judge the cutting qualities of the saw yet since I've no thick stock here in my little shop. On 1" stock it cuts very fast and true but that's no challenge for the saw. The next days I'll give it a serious test run on thicker stock.

Klaus

[Klaus Kretschmar]

I had a bunch of Nigerian pearwood planks for years at the musical instrument maker's shop. It was harder than the Swiss pear I also have used.

Then my Pear can't stand the Nigerian Pear. I find it to be rather hard but not as hard as the Swiss Pear I've worked with.

I like mine for a certain reason. 12 years ago a farmer of the neighbour village who knew my woodworking hobby asked me, if I was interested in 2 Pear trees he intended to cut down. Man those were mighty Pear trees at a size you rarely find in Germany. One had the diameter of more than 20", perhaps 22", the other one shy 20". I agreed on a ridiculous low price (300 Marks for both, what's currently about $210) including the delivery to the saw mill. The resawing was another 200 Marks. Then a woodworker friend literally begged to get one of the trees. I didn't want to sell one but he asked and asked. Finally I agreed and sold the smaller one ... for 500 Marks. The big one is air dried for 12 years now and after having built some furniture out of it there is still a lot of wood.

Klaus

[george wilson]

2 pear trees!! Did you tell him he had a lovely pair??? At a dinner many years ago,a friend's girl friend had a small metal purse shaped like a gilded pear. I had to tell her that she had a lovely pear!! Boyfriend was right there,laughing.

[Tony Shea]

I think pear is one of finest of woods to work with. It takes a sheen off of my planes that is only rivaled by maple. It's so soft looking, yet can be very hard wood. I have some curly pear I've been saving for the right cabinet but just have yet to come up with a design that will do this wood justice. I am always on the look out for nice pear, seems hard to come by here in Maine. I'd love to see some more pics of the pear you're talking about Klaus. It's hard to put in words my affection towards pear, but is probably my absolute favorite wood to work with.