Creative Woodworks & crafts 2005-03, страница 46

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This lias been described to me as a rope saw, and T guess it was made in the late 1800's. The saw was mounted to a table and a rope with a loop at the bottom was attached to the wire that hangs down from the lower blade clamp. To operate the saw, you put your foot in the loop and pumped your leg up and down, and a very heavy leaf spring returned the blade on the up stroke. You can't really get much simpler than this saw.

Here is an assortment of toy scroll saws. There have been a lot of toy saws made over the years, and most of them were only good for cutting Styrofoam and balsa wood. I have tried cutting other woods and they just won't do it. Most of these ran on C- or D-cell batteries. Others were for kids' workshop sets run by steam engines or small electric motors.

Many of these saws have shown up attached to motors. The problem with that is the drive system is so massive that they jump around a lot"; the motors run at 1750 RPMs and the saws were not designed for a speed that high.

This photo shows an assortment of the Delta American Boy scroll saws. The patent date is 1923. I have been told the name American Boy came about because Delta designed this saw with the Boy Scouts in mind. Boy Scouts had to do woodworking projects but could not use power tools, so the hand crank allowed them to use these saws without breaking the rales.

46 • Creative Woodworks & Crafts March 2005