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Thread: Panel saw build

  1. #1
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    Panel saw build

    Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

    I have been wanting to try my hand at making a panel saw for some time. I know how much I like to look at build threads, so thought I would start posting pictures as I make some progress.
    Please don't mistake this for a tutorial. I'm just showing how I stumble through things without much fore thought. Sometimes the way I do things works out and other times...

    I fell in love with Mike Wenzloff's rendition of a Kenyon panel saw the first time I saw it, so decided to make something similar to these. I'm still not good at drawing a handle without something to start with, so thanks to "Two Guys in a Garage" for providing saw handle templates on their website. I started with their Seaton tool chest pattern.

    I have already been working on this for the last couple of weekends, so I'll start posting what I have and add progress as I make some. You'll probably see that I jump around a lot without ever finishing anything in any kind of order. I just like to work that way. As I grow tired of doing something, I just move on to something else for awhile.


    To start with, I bought some blue temper spring steel from amazon. The roll I bought was 0.032" x 6" x 50". I really wish I had gotten some 8" width instead as 6" is a bit narrow at the heal for a panel saw, but this roll was a good price and with 50" length, I will have enough left over for a sash saw I have been thinking of.

    Straightening the roll was a bit of a pain. I wish I had read back though some old posts in the forum where George Wilson mentioned pouring boiling water on the plate to allow straightening. I did it the hard way by pulling the steel backwards across the rounded edge of my work counter. I was surprised at how straight I was able to get it this way, but it wasn't easy.

    I just started marking out the pattern on the blue steel using a sharpie. I decided on a 24" length. I left the toe a bit deeper than typical. 0.032" is probably a bit floppy so thought I would leave the saw a bit deeper. I figured it would be easy to trim down later if I decided but much harder to add it back.
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    Last edited by Jeff Wittrock; 11-27-2014 at 8:59 AM.

  2. #2
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    In the past, I have used an angle grinder with a thin cutt-off wheel to cut 1095. This works O.K. but have to admit I hate the angle grinder and the shower of sparks. I have a cheep tile saw that has been sitting dormant for a couple of years, so decided to give it a try by replacing the diamond blade with a 4-1/2" cutt-off wheel.

    It worked out very well. The saw runs at a fairly low rpm and cuts slow enough that I couldn't make mistakes too quickly. The water kept the plate cool and pretty much eliminated the spark shower. I was able to cut a nice straight line on the back without having to do any real cleanup as I would have with the angle grinder. The spray of water was nut fun in the freezing garage, but I'll still take it over the angle grinder any day.

    I was able to cut the rounded nose with the tile saw as will with multiple angled cuts and just cleanup up a bit with a bench grinder.

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  3. #3
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    .032" is a bit thin for a saw. It will have a pretty floppy blade. But,the blade will cut if handled with care.Just don't jam it!! I made the Kenyon saws from .042",like the originals. And,we used 12" wide spring steel. Hard to get that in small quantities,though. Best to buy STRAIGHTENED spring steel,rather than those cut from a coil. I can't recall off hand what the maximum width of the blades were,but it is more than 6".More like 7" at least. We got 2 saws per 12" wide piece by nesting the diagonals. There was a left over strip a bit over 1" wide if I recall correctly.

    I did make a few special Kenyon style saws with .030" thick blades for sawing between harpsichord keys. I have a Disston style at home I made with the .030" blades. It is flexible,but leaves a very narrow kerf for special needs.

    At 6" wide,your saws may be too flexible,though. I suggest you make a half back model,with a brass back up near the handle. It will not really get in the way of sawing if you are careful,and it will help the blade to be more rigid.

  4. #4
    Not an endorsement , in fact I have never used one; but Lie-Nielsen's panel saws are .032" plate taper ground from that thickness. I have heard people comment at their hand tool events that they felt a bit whippy.

  5. #5
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    The original Kenyons were .042" at the cutting edge. I found modern taper ground saws that were that same thickness at their cutting edges,too. I'm surprised that LN saws would be made so thin. And taper ground from that too?

    Like I said,your .032 will be o.k.,but be careful to not kink it. My .030" special saws are whippy,too,but intended only for cutting harpsichord keys apart. The keys start out as a wide board of glued up lime wood,or a similar soft wood. They are then sawn apart. That is how they did it in the 18th. C.,at least.

  6. #6
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    As I mentioned, I started with a template from TGIAG (Two Guys in a Garage) website. I will be making a few small changes, but don't feel comfortable starting without an existing template.
    I would love to have had some beech on hand but decided to use some Chechen (Black Poisonwood). It can be a bit chippy, but is hard enough to take and hold details.

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    I have read of others having good success cutting the slot by clamping a blade to a flat raised surface and sliding the handle across the blade, etc. I just haven't had much luck doing this. I'm not saying it doesn't work, just that I probably lack the patients to set it all up well.

    For me, it is easiest to start with one good flat surface on the handle and use a marking gauge to scribe a line mid way between the two faces of the handle. I then just take my time and saw the slot using a back saw slightly thinner than the plate I will be using. If helps if the location where the cut is started is left a little larger than the final handle outline. Any starting mistakes that don't go to deep then just get cut away later. You can see this on the nose of the handle where I started and the cut is not so tight on the plate.

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  7. #7
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    Be careful of that poison wood. You could die before the saw is finished!!!

  8. #8
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    I have an C.E. Jennings 26" rip saw (not sure of the model but rather like a Disston D7) with fairly thin plate. I don't have a set of calipers or micrometer, but comparing it to the 0.032" material I have, I would say it is ~0.028" or so. It is certainly a bit floppy although I have learned to do pretty well with it and appreciate the narrow kerf. I'm hoping the deep blade and 0.032" will be a bit stiffer.

  9. #9
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    Yeah, if you google "Black Poisonwood" and look at the people who have come in contact with the sap it does not look like fun. Luckily the dried lumber does not seem to have the same affect though I think if it were summer and I were sweating, I would be a bit more leery of having the dust on my skin.

  10. #10
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    Starting to do some shaping of the handle. The Chechen is fairly hard, but I still enjoy doing some of the shaping with a knife, but most was done with a rasp.
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  11. #11
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    Looking great. You are making me want to finish the two Wenzloff panel saw blades I have... And the Grammercy dovetail saw kit.

  12. #12
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    I debated on buying some brass split nut hardware, but figured I was making everything else, so just as well make the hardware too. I've done this same thing on a couple of previous saws, so it is starting to become routine.

    I start with 1/4-28 stainless hex head bolts. I rough grind the head round using a bench grinder. Next I chuck the bolt into my drill press and use file and wet/dry paper to shape and polish. I give the shoulder a slight taper so that it will fit without gap in the holes. I don't have any calipers, so just have a scrap "try block" that I use to know when I have the size right. There are times when I would like to have a small metal lathe, but the number of things I do would probably not justify it.
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    To slot the heads, I use a fine hack saw blade with the set ground off. Polishing the head of the bolt in the drill press had the advantage of leaving concentric rings that indicate the center. This comes in handy when slotting the head. I just start from one edge and aim for the center of the rings, then if all looks good, continue the cut all the way across. These slots still need a bit of cleanup.

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  13. #13
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    I made the split nuts in a similar way. I started with 1/4"-28 stainless nuts. I threaded them onto a cut off section of 1/4-28 bolt so that I could rough grind them round as I did with the bolts, then chucked the stud into my drill press and shaped and polished as before.

    I slotted them as I did with the bolts, but used a regular hack saw blade instead of the one I have with the set ground off. I needed the slots to be a bit wider since the split slot is pretty narrow from end to end, and making a spanner with ends that thin would probably be troublesome. I have an existing spanner that I made from 01 tool steel, and already have it ground to fit this size slot.

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  14. #14
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    Located the holes in the handle and plate. I drilled something like 1/8" pilot holes to start with in the handle, then located the plate and ran the bit down the hole just enough to touch the plate and mark it. I then drilled the countersink holes using the same bit I used to make the try block when I made the split nuts.

    I hate drilling holes in spring steel. I need to invest in a good carbide bit for the purpose. Right now, I have a 1/4" masonry bit that I use. Sometimes, I cut a small cross in the steel where I am going to drill using a small cuttoff wheel in a dremel.

    I'll set the final countersink dept and bolt length later.

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  15. #15
    Jeff, looks good! Your technique for making split nuts w/o a lathe is very ingenious. I'm definitely filing that away for future reference.

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