Leaving all the ego baggage out of it for a bit of clarification so the
youngsters don't drag around misinformation for years and then get egg on
their cheeks when some bona-fide ruralite says hold up there, we need to
point out that what is here being called a bow saw may very well be a buck
saw. Maybe not. The two saws are different animals. The bow saw typically
is a lighter weight tool. A bow saw is a tubular or semi-flattened tubular
bow of steel with a skinny blade attached to each end and some kind of
tensioning device, usually a lever handle, to make the blade tight so it
doesn't wobble when you use it. A buck saw is a heavier wooden-framed
device that holds the blade in the same place between two downward pointing
ends and typically has a rod up at the top of the two end frame pieces
which can be shortened mechanically above a pivot point created by a cross
piece on which the two ends pivot on a bolt, which causes the blade to be
tightened. My recollection is that a buck saw blade can be sharpened by the
user. Bow saw blades tend to be light weight things of harder steel that
resist the file. It is a lot easier to see the difference between the two
saws if you do a simple search for bow saws and buck saws.