Handsaw handle

[MikeW]

Hi Everyone,

I picked up an old handsaw a few weeks ago at a yard sale ($1). Aside from a very heavy patina (barely can see the etching) and a cracked handle, it was a sharp Disston 6pt rip from about the 1880-1890 era.

So last night I made the handle below for it. Sycamore was handy (no pun intended ).

I didn't think about taking pictures until after I had started. The album begins with the blank marked up, holes bored through for cutting relief and the centerline cut in with a marking gauge.

The top of the blank was cut at a 90 deg. angle to the line running across the face, which is where to end the cut for the saw's blade to fit.

The holes are all bored for the saw nut heads and shafts.

Clicking the link below will take you to the album.
http://wenzloffandsons.com/temp/handsaw_handle/index.html

And Alf, if you make one you'll give your rasps a good workout...

 

[Alf]

And Alf, if you make one you'll give your rasps a good workout...

:lol: At the rate I'm going I'll wear them out. :roll:

That looks super, Mike. With a thumb groove, eh? Now can someone remind me what it is that 'Muricans call sycamore? Is it London Plane aka Lacewood? Makes a very cool handle, whatever it is. =D>

Cheers, Alf

Comprehensively out-gloated on the cheap Disston - and I thought I'd done well this weekend too... :wink:

 

[MikeW]

Hey Alf,

Sycamore is acer pseudoplatanus. It is known in the UK (and Europe) also as sycamore plane, great maple, plane and I think harewood.

It's a maple. It is native to the UK and western Europe as well as the US for a few centuries.

So, out-gloated, eh? What did ya get?

Dina, my wife, also picked herself up 3 Starrett calipers (.50 cents ea.), 2 outside (8"/12"), 1 inside (8") and was given some turning wood at one sale (black walnut crotch).

 

[Alf]

Well I dunno, I must have been mislead. I though 'Muricans called acer occidentalis Sycamore? (and yes, I had to look that up!) So is that quartersawn sycamore then, which the same possibly misleading source describes as having a beautiful lacy figure? 'Cos that'd help me look not quite so easily confused. Still confused, but not so easily... :roll: :lol:

Me, I got a Disston D8 8pt x-cut - younger than yours, but a rare find in the wild round here - and a roll of fairly clean bits. Neither come close to the rock bottom prices you and your missus manage.

Cheers, Alf

 

[Philly]

Neat job, Mike! Came out really nice,
Philly

 

[MikeW]

Well I dunno, I must have been mislead. I though 'Muricans called acer occidentalis Sycamore? (and yes, I had to look that up!) So is that quartersawn sycamore then, which the same possibly misleading source describes as having a beautiful lacy figure? 'Cos that'd help me look not quite so easily confused. Still confused, but not so easily... :roll: :lol:

Yep, quartersawn. It's actually difficult to find plainsawn sycamore in this part of the US. The piece I used for the handle was an end to a board used in a cabinet recently. Beautiful stuff I think.

Just an aside, thelink is a website that mentions occidentalis I found a neat read.

Me, I got a Disston D8 8pt x-cut - younger than yours, but a rare find in the wild round here - and a roll of fairly clean bits. Neither come close to the rock bottom prices you and your missus manage.
Cheers, Alf

Usually one around here can pick them up in this condition for about $1-$2 US. Nicer ones go for $10 or so. Really great ones (seen hanging behind the newly rehandled one) can fetch upwards $90 if they are collectible (as those other two are). This rip saw has a couple more teeth than the one hanging behind it, which makes it a decent (aggresive) crosscut as well.

Well, we can stock you up on plenty of cheap rust if you ever head this way--or if we get over to visit our friends in England.

Take care, Mike

 

[MikeW]

Neat job, Mike! Came out really nice,
Philly

Thanks, Philly.

I started about 6:30 or so last night and was finished at midnight. Glad I'm not trying to make a living doing saw handles...

BTW, I updated the album to show the original handle, albeit sawn in half so I could trace the profile.

 

[Gill]

Nice handle .

Incidentally, harewood is normally a coloured form of sycamore but it can also be produced from other woods. IIRC, it's created when a veneer is soaked in chemicals (normally a copper or ferrous sulphate solution) to stain it blue or green. Although the colours are vibrant when they're first produced, exposure to sunlight and other UV sources will bleach them to grey or even black after a few years.

Gill

 

[MikeW]

Nice handle .
Incidentally, harewood is normally a coloured form of sycamore ....
Gill

Hi Gill, I should have mentioned that aspect. First piece I saw was a piece of spalted Syc. that had been treated. It was quite beautiful.

Thanks for the compliment...MikeW

 

[Pete W]

I started about 6:30 or so last night and was finished at midnight. Glad I'm not trying to make a living doing saw handles...

Heck... it would take me at least a month to do that and I doubt I could do as good a job.

Very good-looking project, Mike. I've been watching eBay here for a fixer-upper ripsaw but they seem to be even rarer than the x-cuts.

I did pick up a nice bunch of four Ward pig-sticker mortice chisels last week though .

 

[MikeW]

...snip snip...
I did pick up a nice bunch of four Ward pig-sticker mortice chisels last week though .

Hi Pete,

Just goes to show, location, location, location!

We can find certain rust so easily here, saws one of them (though rip saws less so) but try to find decent (i.e., English) mortice chisels.

I understand that in eastern US it is easier to find them, but out west where I live, nope.

I think you would find that once you got started, it goes along well. For me there was a few things that made the hard parts go OK.

First, the split nuts all came off easily.
Second, it didn't bother me in the slightest to cut the old handle in half to easily trace the outline.
Third, having a bandsaw blade that cuts a kerf the same width as the saw.
Fourth, knowing what order to drill the holes as to keep them all centered to each other.

Everything else is just cut the outline using either a scrollsaw or, as in my case, using a 1/4" blade on the bandsaw. The inner hand hole was cut out using a coping saw.

Then it is a bit of rasping to the lines one draws on the handle, but that is easy work, if not a little tedious by the time one is done. After that, sanding. In this instance I sanded with 120 grit and then 220. A bit of clear watco followed with wax.

 

[Midnight]

Respectable job there Mike... nicely done Sir...