Pedally Steve's Page
Q – What is the saw you’re using? Did you make it yourself?
A – The saw is a modern copy of a Barnes No 2 Velocipede which was patented in the USA in 1876. The originals were made of cast iron and weighed over a hundredweight (50 kgs in modern money); this one is cast aluminium and weighs about half that. The British equivalent was the Hobbies Fretsaw which had a treadle (like a sewing machine) rather than pedals.
Q – Do you mark up the names first?
A – No, it’s all done freehand, I’ve had a lot of practice.
Q – Does the sawblade have teeth all round? How long do they last?
A – No, the teeth face the front which is why I have to spin the wood round as I cut. On a busy day I’ll use between six and a dozen blades.
Q – How did you start doing this and where did you learn?
A – Over twenty years ago we were doing a lot of events and we wanted something to make us stand out from all the other toymakers who were around at the time. I saw a reference to the saw in a book and tracked the maker down (they have since retired) and took it from there. I’m self-taught and every year I change something and (hopefully) get better.
Q – Can you cut things other than names?
A – Yes, but it depends. I always cut freehand on the saw so simple shapes (cats, dogs, hearts, guitars, shamrocks etc) are possible. Beyond that it depends on how confident (foolhardy) I’m feeling. I have cut Arabic and Cyrillic scripts but cannot cut ideograms as I can’t cut the inside of the shapes and they’re not a cursive script. Accents over letters are no problem.
Watch a video, made by a satisfied
customer, showing Pedally Steve
cutting a name
Q – What’s the longest name you’ve cut?
A – Christianostephanopolous. I’ve also cut Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious just to prove I could do it. In fact it’s a bit of a cheat as nothing can be longer than about eighteen inches as it won’t swing round so the more letters the smaller they get.
Q – Have you cut any unusual names?
A – Each year brings its crop of alternative spellings so I now know 22 ways of spelling Amy! I think my two ‘favourites’ were ‘Loocee’ and ‘Dygnatea’.
Q – Do you do anywhere other than York?
A – Sometimes, but York is my ‘bread and butter’. If you’re running an event then get in touch and I’ll always consider it.
