Painting on Saws and Other Stuff

50 years ago, as teenagers, my 2 brothers, sis and I had to cut wood to feed our wood and coal stove. It was our only source of heat, so it had to be done. I can still remember the old airy garage where we worked, and my little brother perched on top of the log being sawed. He was the 'holder', too small yet to be a 'sawer'.

The log was laid across 'sawhorses' with one end extended beyond the sawhorse about 1-1/2 feet. We used a saw called a crosscut. It was so long, with handles sticking up on both ends. Two of us, usually me and one of the twins (a boy and a girl), would pull this huge saw back and forth through the wood while little bro sat on the log.

Ah, there was much bickering. You see, the cutting action was in the pull-through. While you were pulling the saw towards you, the other person was supposed to let up all pressure on it, just guiding it with their hands; then THEY pull through. When done this way, it worked, and the sawdust would fly. But, as we grew weary, there was temptation to rest or lay too heavily on the saw as it was being pulled back by the other person. This was called 'riding'. Whoa, how many times did someone heatedly yell "You're riding again!"

No wonder the big crosscut has been called a 'misery whip'. By the time our chore was through, I ached all over; hated that job, and not much fondness for the saw either. But then I was only 17. What did I know.

Since then, I have painted some pretty gorgeous scenes on several of those big 'misery whips'!! Go figure.



The crosscut can be painted in 2 ways. One is as shown above, points up, handles down; the other is handles up, blades down. I prefer the former as this makes it easier to hang. See above. Others think it looks better in the natural sawing position. Either way's good. This type of saw looks great hanging over a fireplace. I know, I know, sounds kind of 70s-ish, but, to me, it's timeless.

Blade lengths may vary from 4-1/2 to 7 feet, although much longer ones are probably used by lumbermen. The one sketched above shows a 'tuttle tooth'. Over 100 years ago, Montgomery Ward sold these for $2.75!!

Here you can see several of the kinds of saws that may be painted.

Note the huge crosscut spanning the top of the piano, with its handles hanging down. This is the scene done for a friend as mentioned later in this lens. This was done in oils.

The hand saw has a country road in winter with 2 farm houses along it.

See the tiny miniature circular, handsaw and crosscut. Also a puppy painted on a small wooden heart made its way into the picture.

There's a painted saw blade clock in my hand. It features a painting of an American Indian, a generalization, not a specific chief.

The common Handsaw gives a nice big blade area for painting. The handle is more important on a handsaw than on others. Sometimes you'll find a handle with a design already carved on it; just fill in those lines to decorate.

You might choose, however, to leave the handle completely untouched, a wise choice in many cases. Just take a good look at the handle of an older saw. It has nicks and scratches & the edge of the hand hole is always worn. Sometimes there's a spot of unknown gunk that would take a power sander to remove. Cover all that up or remove it, and you've removed a small, tangible link to another life and time. Sometimes this can span several decades. It would be ok to dust these lightly with a little linseed oil on a rag.

If you do feel the need to refresh the wooden handles, one trick is to coat them lightly all over with yellow ochre or light brown oil paint, then rub it off with a rag. Some of it will stay behind , filling in small nicks or scratches & refreshing the natural color of the wood.

If you do find a design already carved into the handle, it is often a leaf design. It's easy to paint this a color that complements the painting on the blade. Varnish is an option, but if it makes it too shiny, that destroys the whole rustic feeling of the piece. (In my humble opinion).

Though most often painted in the horizontal position, some subjects lend themselves to 'long and tall' positioning, such as a country mailbox.

These are tiny little replicas of the real thing. They're fun. Easy and quick to paint, you can make up a lot of these at one time. To give an idea of size, the crosscut is 7 inches long. The ones I bought were made of a shiny black metal with real wood handles, except for the handsaw which has a brown plastic 'handle' into which the tiny handsaw blade can be inserted.

My favorite, though, was the tiny bucksaw. However, they are no longer available from Miniature Saw Works Mountain Crafts. Have I mentioned that I love Mountain Crafts. It is the only place I have found where an artist can get the miniature version of the 3 main types of saws all ready for the artist. As mentioned above, they also offer the special circular blade and the clock works for making saw blade clocks, plus much more. Finished painted saws are also sold there. It's a delight for the eyes, and the little saw blades they make are highest quality.

I still wish, though, that someone would make these tiny bucksaws again. They are so neat & easy to paint.


As with the big saws, paint these miniature blades with Black Rustoleum Spray paint. This gives a nice surface that helps the paint adhere. Be sure you have tiny brushes! You will also need a roll of self-sticking magnetic tape by the roll; cut off small pieces about one inch or less to stick on the back of these for use as refrigerator magnets.



Above, a miniature bucksaw with a message "I Love Cows" on the tiny blade. The wood handles were striped with tiny brown lines to make the wood look even more real.

There are also miniature 'saws' made of balsam wood. Try your local craft store or shop online.

Did you ever find the perfect idea for this circular shape, only to find that the hole in the middle was definitely 'in the way'. Here's a way to fill it.
You'll need a small piece of foamboard, a sharp matte knife and Elmer's glue.
Foamboard may be had at Walmart usually. Here's how to fill the center hole in a circular.

1. Lay the circular blade on the foamboard and trace the hole onto it.


2. Carefully cut out the hole a tiny bit larger than your tracing using the matte knife.


3. With your hands, press the small foamboard circle to flatten it somewhat and make it closer to the width of the saw.


4. Using Elmer's glue, put a bead of glue all around the edge of the foamboard piece, and some around the edge of the hole in the saw.


5. On a very flat surface, force the foamboard circle into the hole, making it as level as possible with the surface of the blade. This is a little messy, but effective. If you mess it up, just wipe the glue off the saw, cut another 'hole' and try again.


6. Wipe away excess glue with a slightly damp cloth & allow to dry thoroughly.


7. For added security, place a small piece of a wide tape across the finished filled hole in the back.

The big crosscuts present the biggest problem here. The simplest way is to lay them flat on an old table. However, this causes me to stand up a lot 'over' the painting, and that gets tiresome.

Another way is to mount the crosscut on the wall by setting it up on nails and putting a few along the top to anchor it. This, of course, requires a wall you don't mind making holes in, and some newspaper taped up behind it. This, however, for me, was not the most comfortable way to work.

Here's the best way I've found. Lay the saw on a table that's a little shorter in length than your saw, so that the handles can dangle off each end. Tilt your saw up at an angle and prop it up. You can stuff rags behind it along the length of the saw, or just place any sturdy objects behind it. You might also need a couple of objects placed in front of the saw so it won't slide down flat again.

Handsaws and circulars are easier to handle. I lay then on my tilted drawing board, making sure the bottom edge of the board is sturdy, or set them on a small table-top easel.

Supplies needed:

~~Rustoleum Black Spray Paint (or any of the other Rustoleum colors)
~~Acrylic paints---- I love just about anything Delta makes. Other favorities include the Patio Paints made by DecoArt which are great for painting terra cotta pots or anything which might be outdoors. Outdoor/indoor Gloss paints by Plaid (Apple Barrel) are neat, too, since they eliminate the need for varnish.
~~Turpentine (odorless) or Water --- If you do decide to use Oil Paints, you will need turpentine. It is toxic, though, especially when used over a long period of time. So I suggest using an odorless turpentine such as Turpenoid. Odorless mineral spirits work well too. Of course, acrylics clean up with water.
~~Assorted Brushes -----The array of brushes available to the artist is staggering. Here are the ones I like to have on hand. Various Rounds, Various flats, fan brushes for grass, large rounds for tree foliage, the deer foot brush, & a good assortment of detail or tiny brushes. Largest brush should be a 2 inch for broad background painting. Donna Dewberry offers a nice set of brushes for the decorative painter. I prefer the soft sables rather than the bristles. (Fan brush is an exception)
~~Tiny Brushes for Miniatures---Real small sizes include 10/0 and 8/0. These are called detail or script brushes. Some of these consist of only a few hairs.
~~Palette (or a paper plate) ;o)
~~Rags (of course, seems like rags are figuring prominently in this lens!)

Begin by covering the saw blade front and back with the Rustoleum black spray paint. It's always best, I believe, to spray paint anything outside if humanly possible or in a well-ventilated area. It dries to the touch in 2 to 4 hours, but needs 24 hours to be fully dry. Any flat color that Rustoleum makes could be used, but be careful to avoid gaudiness. You could, for instance, use white or blues or greens, depending on the prevalent color in the painting. You could then allow it to show through in places, as in blue showing through in the sky or the water in the scene.

Usually, I completely cover the Rustoleum-painted base, but sometimes feather the painting out towards the edges and leave the base color showing around the edges.

(The following design was part of another graphic promoting my saw blades; thus the imposing crosscut handle on the left.)



The design above was not feathered around the edges but it does show a design which could be done in this way. Here's how.
Use a deep turquoise or teal as your background color, then paint the snow scene over this. Let the deep turquoise show around the edges (remember, not shown in above sketch), lighten it a little for the sky, and let it show through again in a pond in which the mill or old barn is reflected. The deep teal gives a feeling of deep, cool water, maybe even ice.

Soften or feather the edges of the painting so as to blend it into the deep teal around the edges. The result is a beautiful effect on circular blades.

TIP: When painting trees, simplify the process by painting in quickly the general shape of a group of trees. Then, using your palette knife, lightly scratch in tree limbs in the greenery while still wet. The many tree trunks in distant woodlands can easily be done this way.

I used to use only oil paints when doing saws. I liked the longer workability & it just seemed safer to use an oily paint on metal where there might be even the slightest chance of rusting. However I've lately gravitated towards acrylics. The cleanup requires only water, and drying time is fast. For oils, use an odorless turpentine to avoid any breathing irritation. Acrylics will hold well on a saw that has been properly prepared, including the basecoat of black spray paint.

SIGNATURE: Be sure to sign your name on your work, and note the year as well. It's a good idea to list your name and year on the back of the saw as well. In some instances you might not want to put your name on the front, so definitely it should go on the back. This is especially true if you use another artist's work as a model. Don't sign it on front, unless it's your original. On the back, put the name of your work, your name, the date, then the words "After an artwork by", and state the original artist's name. Ideally, this will be done only by permission from the original artist. Realistically, permission is often difficult to obtain, but do your best to get it when using another person's work. The internet makes it esier to locate almost anyone.

For many years, I used a simple lower case printing of my name, going between using my first name only or my last name only to using my whole name. Then decided my initials, which are "msw" were best to use. Short, sweet, & easy to make little swirls on the letters.

FINISHING

First, check the back of your saw. You might have to give it a little spritz or two with the Rustoleum black to cover any paint spots that might have gotten on the back.

Both oils and acrylics dry to a dull finish (unless you are using glossy paints, metallics, etc!) Therefore you might want to seal your work with a finish such as Damar varnish or clear polyurethane. These help protect the work, and can be sprayed on as soon as the paint is dry. Again, do this spraying outside or in well-ventilated area.

You may also leave this varnish off if you prefer no sheen on the finished work. An unsprayed painting that is well cared for will stand the ravages of time fairly well, but the spray varnishes do brighten the colors.

PAINTING THEMES
Wildlife is a very popular theme on painted saws. A well-painted deer, duck, etc. is highly desirable.

One of the best ideas is to paint actual real locations, recognizable places. This is true especially when you are setting up a booth at an art/craft show. Local scenes are hard for the buyer to resist. I have also painted individual homes on handsaws. Of course, these were requested, and are often done on an old saw that belonged to a family member. This makes the work very meaningful. Sorry for fuzziness on this next image. It features a friend's home. A nice touch for one of these is to add a small decorative sign to one end of the saw which bears the client's name or street number.

Here is another small saw painted for a client, and it features the garden rather than the home.


A friend who lives on a lake asked me to paint a view of the lake from her backyard & also wanted her husband and son fishing in a boat out in the lake, with a fish jumping out of the water nearby. This required many photos to capture the panoramic view of the lake & the likenesses of her family. It was completed on a huge crosscut, which appears in the photo near the top of this lens. She treasures it. A work like this is more than just a novelty. It becomes a very personal and deeply valued possession.

This is not meant to demean the themes of covered bridges, old barns and beautiful landscapes. These are lovely, and can be quite relaxing for the artist who does not have to capture a 'likeness' of a real place. But, if you're looking to sell what you make, painting recognizable places pays off. I take my camera on car rides & take photos of places or scenes I might want to paint. If you work freehand while looking at photos, get your best ones enlarged to prevent eyestrain.

I had a great time painting this snow and gristmill scene!

Here are some neat sayings that you could paint on shirts or sweatshirts, aprons, etc. It is a good advertisement, reminding people that you are an artist.

• "Paint til You Faint"


• "An artist cannot fail; it is a success to be one"


• Paint every stroke from your heart.


• If I paint fast enough, does it count as an aerobic exercise ?


• Old crafter's never die, they just get more bazaar!