Author Topic: Can you do billets without a bandsaw?  (Read 5068 times)

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Offline sweeney3

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Re: Can you do billets without a bandsaw?
« Reply #15 on: October 07, 2015, 01:17:44 pm »
I've done precisely nothing with billets, (now army billeting... That's another story) but I suspect you could cut such splices with a coping saw.  It would be fairly slow and tedious, but what isn't in this arena?

Offline DC

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Re: Can you do billets without a bandsaw?
« Reply #16 on: October 07, 2015, 01:34:38 pm »
The secret is in cutting a straight line. If you can cut a straight line with a coping saw you're golden. Myself, I couldn't cut a straight line with a coping saw to save my life. That's why I use a bandsaw, jigs, laser sights and anything else to get that line straight. There are no rules in a knife fight.

Offline PatM

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Re: Can you do billets without a bandsaw?
« Reply #17 on: October 07, 2015, 01:36:23 pm »
I've done precisely nothing with billets, (now army billeting... That's another story) but I suspect you could cut such splices with a coping saw.  It would be fairly slow and tedious, but what isn't in this arena?
Why not just use the proper type of saw?

Offline JW_Halverson

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Re: Can you do billets without a bandsaw?
« Reply #18 on: October 07, 2015, 10:11:34 pm »
Why on earth not? They didn't design  hand saws to cut crooked lines.

Pffft!  And yet I do it all the time!

When I was a kid the half crown coin went out of circulation... They were nice looking coins so I sawed one in half the hard way, by hand with a hacksaw to produce two discs one head one tail.

Del

I once draw filed two quarters and silver soldered the two halves together to make a two headed coin. I think I screwed up and dropped it in a PacMan machine.

Magic, they had witches then ;D ;D

Please, let's keep religion, politics, and my ex-wife out of this.

Guns have triggers. Bicycles have wheels. Trees and bows have wooden limbs.

Offline bowandarrow473

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Re: Can you do billets without a bandsaw?
« Reply #19 on: October 07, 2015, 10:24:53 pm »
I'm laughing hard from that last one JW!!
Whatever you are, be a good one.

Limbit

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Re: Can you do billets without a bandsaw?
« Reply #20 on: October 08, 2015, 04:10:54 am »
You can always do a bound and pegged lap-splice. I've never done one exactly like that, but I know a lot of horn bows are made this way.

Offline LittleBen

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Re: Can you do billets without a bandsaw?
« Reply #21 on: October 08, 2015, 06:52:43 pm »
I've done a couple with a Japanese Pull saw. You obviously need to be decent with the saw, but it's not very tough. Make the little paper templates and glue them on as a cutting guide and have at it ..... Oh and maybe practice first!?

Offline stuckinthemud

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Re: Can you do billets without a bandsaw?
« Reply #22 on: October 09, 2015, 04:09:03 pm »
Japanese pull saws can be really frustrating to use -the cutting action is one of many short strokes - I still prefer to use a new, disposable hard-point contractors (Jack) saw - put the billet upright in the vice after marking it up accurately, take your time with the saw, constantly check the cut on both sides, clean up with chisel/Shinto/sandpaper, whatever suits your style. Practice always helps though :)