A couple of dovetail saws.

[rob streeper]

Weather has been nasty here for about a week but here is a picture of a couple of dovetail saws that I'm preparing. Jatoba handles for both, one with a stainless back and one with brass. As you can see both will be 16 ppi.

331321

More when the weather clears a bit.

[rob streeper]

Weather's finally cleared up so I picked up the work on these two.

First to shape the second handle. Abdul does a QC.

331520


Here they are after shaping.

331518


Cut out some plate material and check to be sure everything will fit.

331517


Now to prepare the saw plates, grinding, squaring the edges and and polishing prior to installing the backs.

331535


Stainless first, starting carefully.

331534


Gently tap the back along the plate, this is the critical stage.

331539


From here on out it's easy.

331538


Now for the brass one.

331537


Next adjust the tension of both.

331536


And we have it.

331533


Now for some teeth, both are to be 16 ppi.

331542


Nice and sharp, ask me how I know.

331541


Mark out the mortises.

331540


I mark the outlines of the back onto the front and top of the tote with 0.5 mm pencil and then using the zero-set gents saw I cut just inside the lines on the exposed surfaces as it helps avoid split outs.

331552


Then, using chisels and floats I work the mortise down from the top and in from the front.

331551


When I get it to the stage that the back is pretty close to fitting the mortise I use floats to trim back the walls of the mortise.

331550

Enough for today.

Cheers,
Rob

[rob streeper]

Continuing where I left off yesterday. Lots of float work on the insides of the mortise.

For me this process involves a lot of trial fitting as I slowly deepen and broaden the mortise starting at the front of the saw handle.

Beginning at the front

331651


Go in with a cheek float and remove the high spots.

331655


Getting better

331654


Got it.

331652


Now to radius the heel of the blade. I'll cut it back to just between the saw bolt mounting holes.

331653


Dress the radius so that it flows into the curve of the handle.

331648

So here it is, ready for the saw bolt holes.


331656

Tomorrow the other saw...

[rob streeper]

A short day today.

I fitted up the second saw.


331790


Cut the bushing seats.

331791


And did the first sanding.

331789

Tomorrow: Finish sanding and shaping touch-ups, infuse the handles with hardener and begin applying finish.

Cheers,
Rob

[rob streeper]

As I described in this thread (http://www.woodworkforums.com/showthread.php?t=180942 (http://www.woodworkforums.com/showthread.php?t=180942&highlight=rob+streeper)) I am hardening the handles by vacuum infusion of polycarbonate dissolved in acetone. Kind of a messy operation but for the more friable types of wood it is invaluable.

After baking off the acetone.

332035


Close up shot.

332036

These nodules of plastic pretty much brush off or are removed by light sanding. The handles are noticeably heavier than they were before processing, unfortunately I didn't think to weigh them.

Cheers,
Rob

[planemaker]

Hi Rob. I be honest with you. I am not a big fan of vacuum infusion to make the wood suitable for saw handle work. There a plenty of compatible woods available to select from.

Stewie;

[rob streeper]

Here they are, close to being done. Just a little more shaping and finish work.

332259

[FenceFurniture]

Good job Rob. Looks like they have some relatively serious weight.

[rob streeper]

Hi Rob. I be honest with you. I am not a big fan of vacuum infusion to make the wood suitable for saw handle work. There a plenty of compatible woods available to select from.

Stewie;

Hi Stewie,

These are made from Jatoba (http://www.wood-database.com/lumber-identification/hardwoods/jatoba/), quite suitable for tool handles but as the article says a little harder to work. My purpose in hardening these handles was to strengthen them as they are not as strong as a closed handle design. The value of the hardening proved out yesterday because I was buffing the handle for the brass saw when it caught on the wheel and was pulled from my grip. The handle hit the concrete driveway apron with a resounding crack. I was sure that the handle had broken but despite impacting directly on an edge of the rear lower horn the damage was limited to a mark about 1 X 4 mm which was easily cleaned up. I have no idea of the impact velocity but it was likely pretty high as the buffer I was using is a 3/4 h.p. 1750 R.P.M. unit with a 9" non-stitched cotton wheel.

Cheers,
Rob

[rob streeper]

Good job Rob. Looks like they have some relatively serious weight.

The stainless backed saw is 356.5 gm and the brass backed is 312.4 gm. I have a Lien Nielsen of equivalent design that goes 356.7 gm and a walnut handled Wenzloff and Sons at 311.4 gm.

[rob streeper]

Here's some better shots of #19.

332611332612332613

And here's some of #18.

332616

332614

[Simplicity]

They look awesome Rob

[pedder]

Really beautiful and well made saws.

There are only two things I'd change: The screw holes should have the same distance to the lower edge of the wood looks much bette. And there is no need to sand the blade. THe blue color will vanish with any acid.

Cheers
Pedder

[rob streeper]

Hi Pedder,

The blade is sanded because I have been taper grinding them, these two saws have 0.002" taper from bottom to top.

The positioning of the screws relative to the cheeks is designed to emulate both the Lie Nielsen and Wenzloff design. Note the relatively high position of the back on the Wenzloff saw.

First the Wenzloff

334342

The Lie Nielsen

334343

And one of my saws.

334346

That being said I do appreciate your artistic sense - a characteristic that I feel is relatively weak in me. I've attached the original PDF's in case anybody want's to use them as patterns.

Cheers,
Rob

[rob streeper]

I've put these saws up on eBay along with several others I've made recently. The viewer response has been interesting. Out of 7 saws posted the dovetail saws are by far the most popular as measured by both number of page views and number of watchers. The other saws have also attracted interest by they are by no means as popular as the dovetailers are. Does anybody have any idea as to why that might be?

Cheers,
Rob

[pedder]

Hi

Tapered blade? Wow. I didn't think of that.

I had the same point with Isaac a few years ago.

Before:
334468

after:

334469

Decide yourself.

Cheers Pedder

[rob streeper]

Well, if I'm wrong at least I'm in good company.