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British Red 18th May 2007 02:20 PM
Fieldcraft: A Field Built Bucksaw
Well, Tumblerats asked to see some threads on knife use techniques. I had this one ready and it only needs a SAK ( I wrote it originally to demonstrate what a flexible tool a SAK can be) so here goes
I love to carry a 24" bucksaw blade in my pack. It sits inside the (internal) pocket for the pack frame (my buddy carries his coiled up inside a billy can). It's cheap and it means carrying the minimum of materials. For a couple of ounces and ten minutes effort, I have a full sized bucksaw when I get to the woods.
Here’s what I started with
1 SAK (with saw), a hank of field line, two key rings and a 24” saw blade.
1 of 10 10/24/07 10:49 AM Frugal's Forums - Fieldcraft: A Field Built Bucksaw http://www.frugalsquirrels.com/vb/printthread.php?t=187188
Well the first step was to get some wood for the frame. Out came the SAK saw blade (I could do all this with a belt knife but it would take a little longer). A couple of bits of hazel were quickly harvested. They were 1 ½” thick .
Next step is to measure the saw blade against the thinnest piece. This piece will form the cross member. Its worth remembering that the saw blade will have a keyring through the holes and project beyond each upright. Measure it like that and assume the crosspiece needs to be 2” shorter than distance between the holes
2 of 10 10/24/07 10:49 AM Frugal's Forums - Fieldcraft: A Field Built Bucksaw http://www.frugalsquirrels.com/vb/printthread.php?t=187188
Next I sawed a ring about ¼ of the way through the cross member. This ring is about ½” from the end of the cross member and all the way around it. Again, a plain blade and pressure works just fine
Then I used the main SAK blade to cut straight down through the limb to the saw cut.
3 of 10 10/24/07 10:49 AM Frugal's Forums - Fieldcraft: A Field Built Bucksaw http://www.frugalsquirrels.com/vb/printthread.php?t=187188
Four of these cuts result in a square “peg” at the end of the cross member. I repeated this at the other end.
Next job was to make a socket for the peg to sit in. I decided to locate the socket about a quarter way down the uprights. I sawed about 1/3 of the way through the upright and then used the knife blade to carve out a square socket
4 of 10 10/24/07 10:49 AM Frugal's Forums - Fieldcraft: A Field Built Bucksaw http://www.frugalsquirrels.com/vb/printthread.php?t=187188
The next job was to make slots for the saw blade to sit in. I sawed these but they could be sliced just as easily. Sawing them does avoid the tendency for the split to run however
5 of 10 10/24/07 10:49 AM Frugal's Forums - Fieldcraft: A Field Built Bucksaw http://www.frugalsquirrels.com/vb/printthread.php?t=187188
The last step in making the three main pieces was to carve two notches to hold the tensioning cord
Lastly I need a bar to twist the tensioning cord. I split an off cut of hazel and drilled a hole using the awl on the SAK
6 of 10 10/24/07 10:49 AM Frugal's Forums - Fieldcraft: A Field Built Bucksaw http://www.frugalsquirrels.com/vb/printthread.php?t=187188
Next step is to assemble the saw – it went together fairly well (although I needed to trim the pegs to get a good fit)
7 of 10 10/24/07 10:49 AM Frugal's Forums - Fieldcraft: A Field Built Bucksaw http://www.frugalsquirrels.com/vb/printthread.php?t=187188
A few final pictures of the saw assembled may help to explain what I did
The peg and socket joint
The tension cord notch
8 of 10 10/24/07 10:49 AM Frugal's Forums - Fieldcraft: A Field Built Bucksaw http://www.frugalsquirrels.com/vb/printthread.php?t=187188
The tension bar
Its really not tricky to do, although it is hard to make one as tight as a “workshop made” take down saw.
Once you have the technique down, this can all be done with a basic belt knife (fixed blade). Using a pocket SAK is great practice with a variety of tools and produces a tight result more simply.
9 of 10 10/24/07 10:49 AM Frugal's Forums - Fieldcraft: A Field Built Bucksaw http://www.frugalsquirrels.com/vb/printthread.php?t=187188
Good knife practice and also you get something useful at the end
Hope thats the stuff you want Tumblerats?
Red
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