Northwest Woodsman Bucksaw

Wood Splitter

Wood Splitter

Joined
Jul 16, 2011
Messages
993
What do you guys think of the Northwest Woodsman buck saw? I have been looking at getting one, but shipping to Canada is almost the same price as the saw:eek:
 
The folding model? Like this one?
http://nwwoodsman.com/Product/Tools/EdgedTools/WoodsmanFoldingBucksaw.html

"The tension bar is made of 1/4" aluminum rod to help keep weight to a minimum."

That would concern me. I've found that aluminum threads don't hold up well under tension. If the rod is some high-tech aircraft aluminum then it might be OK. At least it's set up for a windlass system for when the aluminum rod fails. Or you could replace the aluminum rod with some steel all-thread.

If you zoom in on the image of the blade on the link above you can see that the blade is either laser or induction hardened. I'm a fan of those types of saw blades.

The other option is to look into a folder from Tajima or Silky.
 
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A review of a better-designed 24" folding bucksaw, made in the USA, can be found by Googling:
dustrude scytheconnection

The review is written by Peter Vido.
The Google search terms will also bring up a Canadian source for the Dustrude Saws, where they cost $38 plus $10 shipping to anywhere in Canada (for one to four saws).
 
My experience with an older model of this saw or one exactly like it was very positive until the threaded aluminum rod wore down. I have a Sawvivor that I have used in Alaska and Colorado for the past 15 years with great success. It's limitation is the distance from the blade to the crossbar, but has presented very little trouble for me.
 
Square_peg said:
The folding model? Like this one?
http://nwwoodsman.com/Product/Tools/EdgedTools/WoodsmanFoldingBucksaw.html

"The tension bar is made of 1/4" aluminum rod to help keep weight to a minimum."

That would concern me. I've found that aluminum threads don't hold up well under tension. If the rod is some high-tech aircraft aluminum then it might be OK. At least it's set up for a windlass system for when the aluminum rod fails. Or you could replace the aluminum rod with some steel all-thread.

If you zoom in on the image of the blade on the link above you can see that the blade is either laser or induction hardened. I'm a fan of those types of saw blades.

The other option is to look into a folder from Tajima or Silky.
Click to expand...


If I get the Northwest Woodsman, I would replace the aluminium rod with a windless system right away. I have a Silky pocket boy 170, and I love it. I'm just looking for a BIG saw, 24" plus...and well, I dont really want to spend $180 CDN on a Silky Katana boy:o
 
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If you have some basic tools (handsaw, chisel, carving knife, drill) you can make one of these very easily. I had some red oak laying around from a nightstand I made, cut it to shape and then carved out the mortise / tenon for the arms cut and drilled a hole for the blade and drilled another hole for the windlass.

I bought the Fiskars 24" blade from Rona (Canadian hardware store) for $7.00 and the windlass was just some 550 para cord with a piece of red oak in the center.

All in all it took about 2 hours to make.

Ill add pictures tonight if that would helpful.
 
I second the idea of making one. a good starter project. I think over on Wilderness forum a yaer or two ago had a contest on this and if you google or ewetoob it you can find some info on it. and if you just cut slot for a blade instead of knog and pins for a turning saw you could make a frame like this.

http://video.pbs.org/video/2172468731
 
Well, I was really considering making one but I started looking at my dad's old Swede saw, and realized its made in Denmark and is really light weight! It's a 30” Swede saw and weighs in at about 1 ½ lb. A light weight for the size. I wont have a problem packing it, and I just spent the last 2 hours sitting on my back deck watching the sun go down whilst sharpening the blade. I really like the traditional Swede saw (bow saw) design because its just so simple. It also enables bigger wood to be cut vs a smaller buck saw (like the one I was asking about).

Just for comparison, the Northwest Woodsman folding buck saw weighs 1 lb 11oz, and has a 24” blade.

Thanks for all your help everyone, but I think I found my saw for years to come:)

Splitter
 
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