Victorian Foot Powered Scroll Saw

[Jim Paulson]

Creekers,

I thought you might appreciate seeing this rendition that I came up with as a response to my interest in the Barnes company's foot powered machinery from the 1880's. I couldn't afford a cast iron machine that went for some bucks on Ebay so I made one out of wood.

I had fun making this about a couple years ago and I incorporated some Victorian scroll saw designs into the base and the column in front. For the blade clamping mechanism I took apart a small hand fret saw and it works okay for now. I have plans to eventually use parts from a Hegner saw as an improvement. I added an outrigger to accomodate a stronger return spring so that the pedal comes back quick enough. The basic mechanism involves a free wheel ratcheting gear that I purchased from a bike shop. It uses a bicycle chain instead of the old style leather belt.

I made the wooden parts out of pine and the table out of particle board. When I get a chance I'm going to replace the table with a walnut one. The parallel arms are made of straight grain hard rock maple.

After fooling around with this I believe it will be handy in making inlays for period pieces when I get around to making them. For now it is fun to watch people spot this in my shop and take notice.

Hope you enjoy looking at my contraption here.

God bless,
Jim

http://www.chairsbypaulson.com
http://jimthechairmaker.wordpress.com

[Bill Houghton]

I think you did better than buying a Barnes - you've got the one and only Paulson saw in the world.

The decorations are really cool.

[Doug Mason]

that's pretty neat!

[Robert Rozaieski]

Really snazzy there Jim! Nice job!

[Jim Koepke]

You could probably sell that one for more than it would cost to buy the Barnes model.

jim

[Jim Paulson]

Your kind and thoughtful comments are all appreciated. Thanks Bill and Jim for those sincere affirmations. You're a great bunch here at SMC.

Someone recently suggested that I do a video clip of me using the foot powered scroll saw. That would be cool and a useful thing. Not owning a digital camcorder maybe I can do it on my blackberry or something. Bob has done some neat videos on his site.

Thanks,
Jim

[Garth Jones]

Very cool! A video of the saw working would be fun.

[harry strasil]

I have an extra tensioner like this I picked up at a flea mkt. If you want it, PM me. I can't find it at the moment.

[Jim Paulson]

Thanks Harry for looking at the post and for making that suggestion. I remember seeing your cast iron foot power scroll saw in the background of one of your posts. You do nice work and lately I've been reading over your posts a while back on making frame saws. I sent you a PM.

Jim

[Bob Easton]

What a great looking saw Rev. Jim!

You did a very decorative job with it. Can you post a few pictures that show more of the mechanics? ... and of course, a video (YouTube?) would be great too.

[Jim Paulson]

Hi Bob,

Yep. I agree a couple pics of the flywheel and linkage would be in order too. Hope to do it soon so stay tuned. This is one of my fun projects that seems to evolve and the input here at SMC is bound to help me tweak it.

Still thinking about making a frame saw too, but I have Advent and Christmas and then a few paying customers to take care of first. Mike Wenzloff was helpful too.

Jim