So I basically wrapped up my bowsaw build from Gramercy parts. I made a poor choice of wood (more than anything else, I should have used quartersawn something or other rather than just grabbing whatever scraps were handy, flatsawn yellow birch in this case)
Still getting the hang of it a bit, I think one of my holes is a hair oversized, but it seems to work quite well as long as I put the far handle on that side. The frame makes the saw want to twist a bit when it gets too close to horizontal, which is annoying, but a good reminder to re-orient the blade or the work, and certainly better than not being able to turn the blade in the frame when I want to. Adding some neoprene washers helped a bit in this concern, and at least made it manageable.
Anyway- my question is how tight to tension the thing. In a moment of overzealousness, I may have tightened it a hair too much and snapped one of the arms. I glued it and it's holding up now, although I'm sure sooner or later it'll be something I need to replace. Okay, user error (and poor wood selection there)
I've adjusted the cord a bit so I get the tension I *think* I want at an even number of full turns (maybe I should make a toggle that would work with half turns) still need to work a bit to prevent bowing of the blade in use but it's not really a problem if I let the saw do the work and don't force things.
I guess I was curious though if anyone's got some pointers - ideal would be a video showing deflection and maybe the pitch of a rung blade.
All in all, I'm overthinking it and just need to put it to work. It's certainly a nice tool to have, I've enjoyed making curvy scrap, that's for sure.