Another Saw Tote

Re: Another Saw Tote

Mike Fitterling

>The jatoba I made the new tote from.

Re: Another Saw Tote

Mike Fitterling

>First I planed it down to 7/8". Then I outlined the old tote onto the wood. You could see a faint outline of a larger tote on the blade, so I made this one a little taller than the old one.

Re: Another Saw Tote

Mike Fitterling

>Then off to the bandsaw to cut out the shape on Todd O's old Delta.

Re: Another Saw Tote

Mike Fitterling

>Then to the vise and work with the rasps, files, and a float.

Re: Another Saw Tote 

Mike Fitterling

>

Re: Another Saw Tote

Mike Fitterling

>Next to the router table and a large roundover bit to radius the grip area.

Re: Another Saw Tote

Mike Fitterling

>After that I cut the kerf to receive the blade and then test fit it.

Re: Another Saw Tote

Mike Fitterling

>More work then with the files and sandpaper and a small drumm sander in a Dremel. Finally I laid the blade on top of the tote and marked for the holes. After drilling though on the drill press, I got out the bit and brace and drilled with the lead screw in the hole to center it and made the recesses to receive the head of the screws and the medallion.

And Finally . . .

Mike Fitterling

>After a coat of clear shellac, here is the saw completed. The two additional nuts are on their way from a Fellow I met at Florida Flywheelers this weekend.

I'd love to watch . . .

Steve Mackay

>someone actually form the lamb's tounge once. Seems to me it would be the trickiest part of the whole process. Great pics of the whole process though !

Re: Another Saw Tote

Paul in NJ

>Nice job Mike. I cut the kerf and drill the mounting holes for the blade right after I cut the blank out. That seems to be the most critical part for me and I like to get that right before I invest the time in shaping. Thanks for the photo's.

Paul Dzioba

Re: Good job Mike....

Marv

>When I make saw handles I use a forstner drill for all the inside radiuses such as below the top horn and above the lower horn, inside the grip hole, etc. Then use a reciprocationg saw to saw from hole to hole for the grip hole and my bandsaw for all the other holes.

I made a counterbore to drill for the screw heads and nuts. The counterbore is made to produce the tapered sides of the recess. The counterbore has a pilot to keep it centered. I used toolsteel for the tool. For wood it doesn't have to be hardened but could be.

Marv

Re: Good job Mike....

Mike Fitterling

>Thanks for the tip. I don't know why I did not think about a Forstner bit (and I have a slew of them, too). That would have been perfect. That part of the cutout is hard to do with a jigsaw and get smooth and it takes quite a bit extra messing wiht the sander later to smooth that area out.

Cheers,

Mike

Re: Another Saw Tote and still another

Marv

>Here's a handle I saw on eBay. Someone went all out on this one...LOL

I thought it was so unique I just had to save it and put it with my other saw pictures.

Marv

Re: Sawing the slot for the blade

Marv

>Mike,

To get an accurate slot, clamp the handle to a flat surface and make a U shaped wood guide that is the dimension of half the thickness of the handle less the thickness of the saw blade and clamp it so it surrounds three sides of your handle blank. Then saw horizontally. Allow the U shaped guide to guide the saw. Saw slowly and don't force it. You should use a saw with very little set in the teeth and the saw is best if it's a fine tooth rip saw because you are sawing end grain. I use a 12PPI saw. I use a Disston nail saw that originally didn't have any set in the teeth so I added just a little or the blade will bind in the cut.

I first tried using my bandsaw but the blade tends to wander a bit.

Marv

Re: I'd love to watch . . .

Mike Fitterling

>That was pretty easy to do. It starts as just a bump in the cut profile. Using a flat file I just rounded the front to the bump to make it semicircular, rather than straight across. Then I used a small triangle file to cut the groove above the tongue and across to the grip. As I rounded the front of the tongue I worked the file deeper to make the crease deeper as it went around and then the same for where it exited at the grip. I did most of it with a regular triangle file, but finished it up with a file I have that has a profile like a squished triangle so that two "points" are much sharper than the other. That allowed me to cut deep, but not wide at both ends.

Thank you Sir . . .

Steve Mackay

>Next handle and I'm goona give it a go. I like the look but scared to mess up the work up 'till that point. Sounds do-a-ble though.

Well done Mike!

Scott Burr in Ben Lomond CA

>Nice looking handle. Thanks for the walk thru on how you made it too.

Re: Another Saw Tote

ThomD

>Ryoba? You know...

Re: Another Saw Tote

Mike Fitterling

>That is the one rip handsaw I have. And the kerf matched the flat part of the western blade well. Did seem kind of strange to cut a traditional saw tote with a Japanese saw.