A carbide toothed handsaw

["Bob Hackett" <kinfolk@zzzzzzz>]

My suggestion to all this handsaw back and forth is to take a length of
carbide tooth bandsaw blade and just make either a bowsaw or framesaw to
hold the blade in tension.This has worked very well for me when cutting old
timbers from shipwrecks.I'll tell you now that it is slow going in gritty
wood so I can only imagine the patience needed to handsaw stone.

I would seriously think about going to a salvage yard and looking for an old
power hacksaw(these things are comparatively cheap).You could then cobble up
a frame for whatever blade(including a length of quarry type diamond ball
blade) and even have a coolant drip already in place.The advantages of
letting electrons do the work while you do other things should never be
underestimated.

There is always the danger that you will become so overwhelmed by the simple
genius of your new creation that you will  stand,transfixed for hours,
watching it work.Avoid this at all costs!There is paint drying somewhere
that needs watching ,try to make yourself useful.
Bob