We may receive a commission when you use our affiliate links. However, this does not impact our recommendations.
This thing is a work of art, and if you have an extra $375 it can be yours. Sadly, I have already sold my share of plasma this month or I’d buy it myself.
What’s really cool about the saw is that you tension the blade by turning the knob at the end of the handle , just like the marquetry saw shown in Andre Roubo’s book. Visit Jim Bode’s web site at JimBodeTools.com to see more photos and to buy it. Sniff.
– Christopher Schwarz
Here are some supplies and tools we find essential in our everyday work around the shop. We may receive a commission from sales referred by our links; however, we have carefully selected these products for their usefulness and quality.
I wonder if Mr. Bode would consider swapping some of his fabulous collection for a decent used wife and kids. I’d even throw in the two cats.
Steve Hilton——Prescott, Arkansas
Having a couple of later model coping saws that share some of this saws features, I asked Jim Bode if they were from the same manufacturer. His answer was that the saws were made by the same firm and over the years the basic design never changed, but it just became simpler to get the production costs down.
Examples of this saw on eBay, etc., allow you to follow the saw’s design evolution through the 20th century. This example would be about where it started, I would think.
Later examples of this saw are in the Lee Valley Collection, as well as being displayed on the Sindelar Museum’s website.
This saw design has also been reproduced by a number of American manufacturers, although the original maker was in Germany. Currently, this saw is the basis for the fret saw Rob Cosman offers. While he hasn’t added back the scrollwork, he did bring back some of the tool’s stability.
Sadly, no one that I have ran into knows the name of the original manufacturer.
Peace
FYI, they pay more for red cells and platelets than plasma. Or so I hear.