Musical Saw

 Musical Saw
Natalia Paruz (The Saw Lady) writes: This saw was made around the 1970s by Lionel Hartley, who says of his musical saws, "I made only a dozen or so. These were made out of spring steel cut to size and shape by Coulter's Springs in Christchurch. They had French-polished handles, hand-carved from English Oak salvaged from an old dining table. The handles were slightly larger than a conventional saw handle and contoured so that it could be comfortably supported with the knees while playing. I also made matching Left-hand Grips that could be fastened to the end of the blade with a spring clip.
The blades were 31 inches and the total length of the saw, including the handle was one yard exactly.
The blade was fastened to the handle with home-made brass studs turned on a home-made lathe. I chose spring steel specifically to give my saws a distinctive tone - less melancholy than a conventional steel saw, and easier to play (spring steel 'sings' naturally).
I used commercially made violin-cello bows with natural horse-hair simply because these were so readily available it seemed pointless making my own." (Information taken from sawlady.com/saws-made-for-music)


The photo was sent to Lionel recently by an anonymous buyer who bought one of his saws from Sedley Wells Music Store in Christchurch about 50 years ago but he/she no longer has it.

Details courtesy of Lionel Hartley.
Published with Lionel's permission by The Friends of Lionel Hartley.

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