Any homemade saws?

[Mike Wenzloff]

Here's a PDF on a 1/4" grid which should printout very close to real-size.

http://www.wenzloffandsons.com/temp/open_handle.pdf

Take care, Mike

[David Stonner]

Tim,

I'm not really sure. I think the open handled ones look better, but do you think a saw of this size should have open or closed? If you have both, I might just hold the printouts up next to the blade and see which one looks best. But if I only had one to go with, I'd say open because I think they look better.

Thanks,
Dave

[David Stonner]

Wonderful. Thanks to you and Chris very much.

Dave

[Mike Wenzloff]

Tim,

I'm not really sure. I think the open handled ones look better, but do you think a saw of this size should have open or closed? If you have both, I might just hold the printouts up next to the blade and see which one looks best. But if I only had one to go with, I'd say open because I think they look better.

Thanks, Dave

Hi Dave,

Here's a 14" 12 ppi cross cut with 3 1/2" of usable depth. Works a treat. I thickened the bridge between the cheek and handle a little in case the stress would cause a problem. I also lowered the hang angle as a saw of this size shouldn't have as much downward pressure a higher hang does.

But if you like an open handle, make it. You can alter any pattern to account for the stress.



Take care, Mike

[Tim Barker]

I traced around my templates and drew a 1 inch grid. You may need to play with the scale to get the proportions right. These patterns work well for a ten inch saw. Enjoy.

Tim

SketchC(600).jpg

SketchO(600).jpg

[Bob Smalser]

I've heard a little bit about the tensioning process but haven't been able to find a really good explanation of how it's done.

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthre...ght=tensioning

Taper grinding and tensioning a handsaw are probably why L/N wisely sticks to backed saws. These features were not Disston marketing gimmicks.

Today for 200 dollars you can go to England and buy the best handsaw currently made - a Roberts and Lee taper ground handsaw about the equivalent of a Disston 8, their second quality saws. The blade thickness averages 40+ thousandths at the edge.

A Disston 12, 16, and their other top-line saws like the 120, in turn, were made in the next smaller gage than the D8, with edge thicknesses well under 40 thousandths and greater degrees of taper.

The difference between the 8 and the 12 was how they made such a thin #12 blade usable without kinking, and that difference was in the amount of hammering the blade received to tension it. Nobody is doing that today to the same degree except in the better Japanese saws. Many lesser saws today made of straight-gage plate achieve their "tension" from thickness and hardness.


But as I show in my link, you can remove the kink from a blade and you can retension it. The kinks can be difficult, but general retensioning isn't. The modern notion that saw hammering is arcane voodoo only applies to circular sawblades. Like most of this, you just have to practice.

[David Stonner]

Tim,

Thanks so much for sharing your handle designs. I appreciate it.

Dave

I traced around my templates and drew a 1 inch grid. You may need to play with the scale to get the proportions right. These patterns work well for a ten inch saw. Enjoy.

Tim

SketchC(600).jpg

SketchO(600).jpg

[Jim Dunn]

Tim,

Thanks so much for sharing your handle designs. I appreciate it.

Dave

As do I, thanks again.

Jim

[Kurt Loup]

Hi Paul and Others,

Here is a schematic of a saw handle that Kurt Loup shared with me. It looks identical to the handle on my LN crosscut.

I don't take credit for this. I found it on the net doing an extensive google search for saw handle shapes. Luckily I saved the image, because subsequent searches failed to find the site where I found the image, so I can't give proper credit to the person who created the image.

Kurt

[paul womack]

Tim,

I've got a 10-inch backsaw that says "Tyzack and Sons no. 120" on the brass, the nuts are there, but the handle has been broken off. I have no idea what the hang angle should be or even what the shape should be without actally seeing a backsaw in person....

Sorry to be late;

I am sure the experts in this thread will help you make and fit a wonderful custom handle.

If you want to know what the original handle looked like, click here...

http://www.wdynamic.com/galoots/4ima...?image_id=4833
http://www.wdynamic.com/galoots/4ima...?image_id=4832

BugBear

[Dave Anderson NH]

Welcome Bugbear. I have always been hoping you'd show up here some day. Must be Alice's evil influence.

[Mike Wenzloff]

Welcome Bugbear. I have always been hoping you'd show up here some day. Must be Alice's evil influence.

Yeah, welcome BB! Thanks for the links.

And yup, gotta watch out for Alice's influence that's for sure

Take care, Mike

[Ed Nelson978]

Mike and others, How do you fab the brass back? is the blade slot cut or folded? For either process can you describe how it is done? If folded, I would guess you would use a brake. The other question is where do you get the saw nuts?

[Ken Bryant]

I'm a great LN fan -- I have an embarrassing number of their planes, and I love them all -- but the two saws I bought from them have been a disappointment. The best saws I've ever used, by far, have been the two build by Mike Wenzloff, as recommended by Christopher Schwarz in the Woodworking Magazine blog. Lie Nielsen is much easier to deal with -- Wenzloff's planes take FOREVER to get shipped -- but they're worth waiting for.

[Alice Frampton]

'Mnot a weevil 'fluence. Well only sometimes...

Cheers, Alf