Frugal's Forums - Fieldcraft: A Field Built Bucksaw http://www.frugalsquirrels.com/vb/printthread.php?t=187188 Frugal's Forums (http://www.frugalsquirrels.com/vb/index.php) - Frugal's "How To" Photo Gallery (http://www.frugalsquirrels.com/vb/forumdisplay.php?f=190) - - Fieldcraft: A Field Built Bucksaw (http://www.frugalsquirrels.com/vb/showthread.php?t=187188) 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 All times are GMT -4. The time now is 10:48 AM. This site, as well as all graphics, posts and logos are copyrighted and can not be used without written permission. ©2001 - 2007 Preparedness Educational Services. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. 10 of 10 10/24/07 10:49 AM.