Pax handsaw handles..

[Mike Kees]

Hi I spend most all of my time on the power tool forum. I have a Pax dovetail saw and a crosscut saw. I absolutely hate the handles,so would like to make my own replacements. My question is which species of wood work best for handles ?

[Stew Denton]

Mike,

If you can get it, Disston used to use apple, and also used beech on there cheaper line and it worked well.

Stew

[Mike Kees]

I forgot the second half of my question.How would a neander do this ? What hand tools would you use ? Enlighten this power tool junkie who needs to just do something quiet in my shop,just for the therapy of it.

[Vincent Tai]

I forgot the second half of my question.How would a neander do this ? What hand tools would you use ? Enlighten this power tool junkie who needs to just do something quiet in my shop,just for the therapy of it.

Bow saw for a lot of waste removal; but honestly most handle stuff I've used a drill press/coping saw to get things going seeing as I haven't yet made a bow saw. Chisel and some files/rasp and sandpaper will do the rest.

All that said, why not just modify the Pax handles? Plane the lacquer off the flats of the handle, a few strokes gets much of it off. Plane into the actual wood as little as possible. Then just chisel and rasp everything to fit your palm and get rid of that router cutter look. Refinish with what you like. I've done it for some painted Disston saw handles, and heavily varnished ones. All were hideous and ill fitting for any hand. Obviously feel free to use a chemical stripper for the finish removal, I just needed a way to avoid them to keep my lungs happy and the aforementioned process worked well. The shaping process gets rid of most if not all of the finish for the non flat sections.
Have Fun!

Vincent

[Mike Kees]

I have some Apple,not sure if any of my pieces are wide enough. one of my friends cut down a big tree and cut it up on his bandsaw.What got me thinking of this is I received a Veritas saw for Christmas and really like the more traditional styled handle. It is far more comfortable for me. I will have at it and see what evolves. Probably will save the original handles for now. Thanks for the replies.

[Jim Koepke]

Mike,

This is the build of my first saw handle:

https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?180712

This is for my second:

https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?249983

Gramercy Tools has a couple of kits with instructions including how to make the handles. First for a dovetail saw with and open handle:

https://www.toolsforworkingwood.com/prodimg/gt/pdf/GT-DKITXX_INST.pdf

Second is a sash saw with a closed handle:

https://www.toolsforworkingwood.com/prodimg/gt/pdf/GT-SKIT_INST.pdf

As my linked posts mention my first step was to make a model handle from scrap to help determine the sizing and the hang angle.

jtk

[Mike Kees]

Thank you Jim! That will shorten the process.

[Tom M King]

You may find this useful:

https://www.tgiag.com/saw-handle-scans.html