[MR] Walking Beam Saws?

[Towey, Brian]

Friends and neighbors-

I hope the collective wit of Atlantia can help me with this quaint and
curious question of forgotten lore.

I'm interested in the history of the walking beam saw.

In case you haven't seen one, imagine holding a jigsaw blade vertically
between your thumb and pinky.  Now shake hands with the edge of your desk,
pivoting from the elbow.  If your thumb and pinky were long enough to make a
deep cut, you'd have it.

Nowadays, people use a bandsaw to make scrolling cuts, but a bandsaw is a
much higher-tech machine.  A walking beam saw can be treadle-powered, and I
have the impression that it once was.

I did a Web search on "walking beam saw" and the only reference I can find
is the very article in Fine Woodworking that I saw 20 years ago, showing how
to build one.  That is all I know about them, and unfortunately I no longer
have that article.

I have seen a lot of SCA information on old lathes, but not on other "power
tools."  Who here studies the history of carpentry?

Yours,

Charles Fleming
mka Brian Towey
"Miror Otium Negotium Multum Requirare"