A miter saw rehab - new handle with the lambs tongue

[Pat Zabrocki]

I've been watching everyone making new saws, making them from kits, or making new handles for old saws so I thought I join in the fun. I also wanted to do a test run since my Wenzloff kit has an ebony handle. This is an old Lakeside miter saw. I made the handle from Grenadillo which is very hard so I should be ready for the ebone soon. I think the wood looks very much like east indian rosewood or maybe a dark cocobolo. Anyway, there were some mistakes and glitches but it turned out well for an initial attempt. I especially like the lambs tongue detail. I'll have to be more careful next time to make sure I don't have the chip out in some of the other places though, thats what the funny detail around the forward horn is all about :(Attached are number of photos so let me know what you think. The last one shows the inspiration at the top (and a stealth gloat), the board and the plan, and then the donor saw with the template and a Howard Marshall handle I used as a pattern.CheersPat

[lowell holmes]

Nice handle, very good for a first try or for that matter, any try.

What is the story on the saw nuts?

Is the saw still in a miter box?

[Pat Zabrocki]

Lowell, thanks for the kind words. The saw nuts are just some old brass saw nuts from another saw. The originals to this saw were nickel. I have three miter boxes and about a dozen miter saws so its not necessarily in a box right now but could be.
Pat

[Pedder Petersen]

very nice! Much better than my first dozen....

Cheers Pedder

[Mike Holbrook]

Nice job! In case you have not found them yet Mike Wenzloff offers quite a few old classic templates for saw handles on his web page. You could have gotten away with not mentioning the errors. I may have to replace my mitre saw handle too, unless I can tighten it up with some West Systems product when it gets here.

[Chris Griggs]

That's super nice looking. I love lambs tongue handles. Great work!

[Klaus Kretschmar]

Hi Pat,

true mastership will be achieved when a little accident can be changed into a design feature;). I like the fine sculptured shape especially around the lambs tongue. The wood choice is great as well.

Obviously you went with the existing screw holes in the blade to lay out the screw positions. There's nothing wrong to drill new holes into an old blade if it will be rehandeled at least if the new handle has larger cheeks than the original handle had.

Cheers
Klaus

[george wilson]

Grenadillo was used for clarinets a lot. I made a guitar from it once. It is a good,hard wood. Your handle looks nice. Keep working,and look at high quality handles when ever you can. Remember their details.

[Tony Shea]

As Klaus said, your accident/design feature is what sets some craftsman apart from the others. Incorperating a flaw seamlessly into the design is much harder than we assume it to be. If you had not mentioned it i would have assumed it to be a bit of your personal touch on the original design, which in fact it still is. Very well done, working with such hard woods is not at all easy.

I have been making some drawers and a jewelry box in some Honduras Rosewood and am starting to hate the wood. Cutting joinery is just eating my saws and edges up. It has given me much more respect to the people that do such great work in such dense woods.

[Pat Zabrocki]

very nice! Much better than my first dozen....

Cheers Pedder

I doubt that :) but thanks for the kind words
pat

[Pat Zabrocki]

Nice job! In case you have not found them yet Mike Wenzloff offers quite a few old classic templates for saw handles on his web page. You could have gotten away with not mentioning the errors. I may have to replace my mitre saw handle too, unless I can tighten it up with some West Systems product when it gets here.
I have found the templates and that's pretty nice of Mike to let us hacks use them.
thanks the nice words
pat

[Pat Zabrocki]

That's super nice looking. I love lambs tongue handles. Great work!
thanks Chris!!
Pat

[Pat Zabrocki]

Hi Pat,

true mastership will be achieved when a little accident can be changed into a design feature;). I like the fine sculptured shape especially around the lambs tongue. The wood choice is great as well.

Obviously you went with the existing screw holes in the blade to lay out the screw positions. There's nothing wrong to drill new holes into an old blade if it will be rehandeled at least if the new handle has larger cheeks than the original handle had.

Cheers
Klaus

thanks Klaus, your saws are an inspiration to all of us, truly works of art.

I was going to drill new holes but didn't have a tough enough bit. I have some on order though.

thanks again
pat

[Pat Zabrocki]

Grenadillo was used for clarinets a lot. I made a guitar from it once. It is a good,hard wood. Your handle looks nice. Keep working,and look at high quality handles when ever you can. Remember their details.

thanks George. I'll keep looking at those high quality handles so you and Klaus better keep posting pics :)
thanks again
pat

[Pat Zabrocki]

As Klaus said, your accident/design feature is what sets some craftsman apart from the others. Incorperating a flaw seamlessly into the design is much harder than we assume it to be. If you had not mentioned it i would have assumed it to be a bit of your personal touch on the original design, which in fact it still is. Very well done, working with such hard woods is not at all easy.

I have been making some drawers and a jewelry box in some Honduras Rosewood and am starting to hate the wood. Cutting joinery is just eating my saws and edges up. It has given me much more respect to the people that do such great work in such dense woods.

Thanks Tony, those errors were so fresh in mind, I just thought they glared at everyone as well. But your right, I work in the software industry and as we say there "its not a bug, its a feature" .
cheers
pat