Thread: Brand New Saw Handle - The Method

Originally Posted by Bushmiller

Hpf

You may remember that the metal cutting blades far outnumbered those for wood and I have been unable to source any more of those blades so far so perhaps I could come to some arrangement for that blade and indeed any others you may come across.

Paul, yes I do remember that there were precious few wood blades which is why I thought you might be interested. I very much doubt that I have any more but if they crop up I will let you know.
PM me your address and I will post it to you.

Hi,
I have lots of those jig saw blades,
depends on the cost to send some from
where I am I could post a couple of packs
for a xmas prezie.


Martin.

Originally Posted by old workshop

Hi,
I have lots of those jig saw blades,
depends on the cost to send some from
where I am I could post a couple of packs
for a xmas prezie.


Martin.

Martin

That is a very kind offer. The blades that fit the Lesto are different to the modern jigsaw blades so I thought I had better check we are on the same page. This is what they look like:

Lesto jigsaw blades.jpg

This is a comparison between the old Lesto blades on the left with the double tabs and the modern jigsaw blades on the right with a single tab.

Lesto saw blade comparisson.JPG

If you have the old style blades I would indeed be very interested in acquiring some and I will PM you to exchange bank details and address.

This was the thread I ran after I acquired the Lesto from Huon pine fan a while back.

Lesto/Scintilla Jigsaw (woodworkforums.com)


Regards
Paul

Originally Posted by Bushmiller

Martin
That is a very kind offer. The blades that fit the Lesto are different to the modern jigsaw blades so I thought I had better check we are on the same page.

Well Paul, you might possibly have struck gold nuggets! I mailed the gold dust today

Originally Posted by Huon pine fan

Well Paul, you might possibly have struck gold nuggets! I mailed the gold dust today

Hpf

I am going to scrape the sawdust off my troy ounce scales.

Seriously, thank you.

Regards
Paul

Sorry Paul,

got that one wrong, mine
are the other ones.


Martin.

Martin

That's ok. I was afraid that might be the case, which is why I posted the pix. It is only when you see the two types together you realise how different they are. The third type with the cut off top and a hole are of course very easily recogniseable.

Since acquiring this venerable jigsaw I have only made a half hearted attempt to find these blades, but I get the distinct impression it is going to be difficult. The jigsaw in many ways is my least favourite modern tool, but I use it for cutting out saw handles to a rough shape. The Lesto I use for the hand hole as the jigsaw pokes in so easily.

Regards
Paul

I suppose one uses what one has, Paul, but jigsaws, at least the common 'domestic' variety, are my least-favourite tool! A jigsaw was one of the very first powered tools I owned, in fact that & a ("tailed") 1/4" drill were my only powered tools for many a year (fairly typical in the '60s). With those & the few hand-tools I had, I managed to make some acceptable furniture (acceptable to me at the time, that is!) and a kitchen reno in our first home. I can't remember what happened to that first saw but the one I have atm was bought for some specific but forgotten purpose during a major renovation I was undertaking on an old Federation period house about 35 years ago. Since then I think I've used it once and cursed it for its slowness & my inability to keep it within a bull's roar of any line, straight or curved. They don't lend themselves to close-cutting anyway because the coarse teeth chew up the line...

So you won't be surprised that I'd much rather use my little 10" turning saw (bowsaw) than a jigsaw for cutting out a single saw handle. Despite the fiddle of having to release the blade & re-fit it to cut out the finger hole, I would take a small wager that I can cut out a handle in about the same time as you can with a jigsaw, & that it will be a neater cut requiring less clean-up prior to shaping.

However, I'll fess up here & now that if I have 3 or 4 handles to cut out, I haul out my scrollsaw. It's slightly faster than the bowsaw, not least because I don't have to re-position the blank in a vise several times, just one continuous cut around the periphery. It saws very accurately (as long as the blade remains sharp), so little or no cleanup is required before starting the shaping. Unfortunately, it's a rather poor quality saw that is gradually falling to bits and the speed control is faulty & keeps cutting out. I expect it to expire altogether after a few more handles, but that's more handles than I intend making, so it should see me out....

Cheers,

Originally Posted by IanW

I suppose one uses what one has, Paul, but jigsaws, at least the common 'domestic' variety, are my least-favourite tool! A jigsaw was one of the very first powered tools I owned, in fact that & a ("tailed") 1/4" drill were my only powered tools for many a year (fairly typical in the '60s). With those & the few hand-tools I had, I managed to make some acceptable furniture (acceptable to me at the time, that is!) and a kitchen reno in our first home. I can't remember what happened to that first saw but the one I have atm was bought for some specific but forgotten purpose during a major renovation I was undertaking on an old Federation period house about 35 years ago. Since then I think I've used it once and cursed it for its slowness & my inability to keep it within a bull's roar of any line, straight or curved. They don't lend themselves to close-cutting anyway because the coarse teeth chew up the line...

So you won't be surprised that I'd much rather use my little 10" turning saw (bowsaw) than a jigsaw for cutting out a single saw handle. Despite the fiddle of having to release the blade & re-fit it to cut out the finger hole, I would take a small wager that I can cut out a handle in about the same time as you can with a jigsaw, & that it will be a neater cut requiring less clean-up prior to shaping.

However, I'll fess up here & now that if I have 3 or 4 handles to cut out, I haul out my scrollsaw. It's slightly faster than the bowsaw, not least because I don't have to re-position the blank in a vise several times, just one continuous cut around the periphery. It saws very accurately (as long as the blade remains sharp), so little or no cleanup is required before starting the shaping. Unfortunately, it's a rather poor quality saw that is gradually falling to bits and the speed control is faulty & keeps cutting out. I expect it to expire altogether after a few more handles, but that's more handles than I intend making, so it should see me out....

Cheers,

We agree absolutely on the minimal desirability of jigsaws and I agree that it is difficult to cut accurately with them. It is a matter of luck if they stay on line and will only be square if you were working in something not more than 6mm thick. I only aim to cut roughly with them. The purpose of this is just to relieve the cutting burden with the router bit, which I could use by itself. The trouble is that the router is a lot of noise and even more sawdust. I have kept an older style small bandsaw which I intend to use for saw handles, but the hand holes will still be cut with a jigsaw. I only cut close to the line: Not on the line.

As to who would be quicker, I don't know. Perhaps one day when we are bored we could set up a little competition reminiscent of the old chainsaw/ crosscut saw comps, the scythe/brushcutter and the pole lathe/electrical lathe battles. However, as the challenged person, I would select the number of handles (likely five) and the timber, which would be one of your favourites (not) Forest Red Gum. And just for a little bit of quirkiness the winner buys the beer!



I also note that for a long time the crosscut saw won those battles (because they had to start the chainsaw first which was not reliable and the cutters were rubbish) and I have seen both a pole lathe exponent and scythe expert absolutely demolish the powered opposition.

Regards
Paul

Originally Posted by Bushmiller

.....I also note that for a long time the crosscut saw won those battles (because they had to start the chainsaw first which was not reliable and the cutters were rubbish) and I have seen both a pole lathe exponent and scythe expert absolutely demolish the powered opposition....

Yairs, I grew up (well, sort of ) in a timber-cutting locality & the local show ran a crosscut-vs chainsaw competition each year. That was in the 50s, and as you say, they had not quite mastered chain technology as we know it today (the saws also weighed 3 times as much & had 1/4 the horsepower). But having to start the saw after the starter's gun was the real killer. The show was always held in April/May and at that time of year it was typical to have damp, drizzly weather for literally weeks on end. The coil ignition on those early saws was a "weak point", to say the least, and it was not uncommon for the crosscut sawyers to be halfway through their log before the chainsaw finally sputtered into life. The chainsaw operator would be a lather of sweat as he started the cut while the crosscutters would nonchalantly finish their cut, having barely raised their pulse-rates the whole time.

I think it might be a whole different story these days....

Cheers,

Ian

I knew the story and the tale of woe, from the chainsaw person's point of view, but unlike you I had never seen them in action.

This is the one that always does my head in:

Scythe vs Brushcutter 1 - South West Annual Scythe Festival - June 2010 - Bing video

No contest!!

Regards
Paul

Yes, a mate who is teaching himself to use a scythe sent me the link some time ago. My old pot could use a scythe like that - he just cruised along, smooth stroke, step, smooth stroke, with the grass or oats or whatever he was cutting splaying out in a neat arc behind the blade every time. I tried to emulate him numerous times but I usually ended up with most of what I was trying to cut springing back up behind the blade, or the point spearing into the ground halfway through the stroke!

To use a scythe like that takes a little practice.....

Well I'll come out of the shadows, here. Paul was nice enough to make me the lucky recipient of this great saw. Here are some photos of it in its completed state:

1277923420_507455857684655_3129577141130936901_n.jpg278223151_367375511972800_199021676588838066_n.jpg277853068_372807774729754_7773056980122603223_n.jpg

If you're finding it difficult to resolve the handle against the background, fear not, your eyes aren't failing, it's just that the workbench and the handle are from the same species of tree, Eucalyptus tereticornis or Queensland Blue Gum (or a half dozen other things...). One of the trees came from West Brisbane (the bench), and the other from the Millmerran area (the handle).

Attaching the handle was something new to me, but I managed to think my way around it. I slid a piece of card stock into the handle's slot and traced the profile, then I cut that out and laid it on the plate. I knew some of the heel of the plate would have to come off in order to fit the handle correctly, so I did this with a CBN bench grinder and a file. Simple enough. A bit of fine tuning to get it dialed right in, but nothing major. Up to that point it was all "easy peasy".

It was when it came time to drill the damn holes that I really was challenged... In an email, Paul went into some detail about how it could be difficult and, I admit, in my ignorance I was very dismissive. "It's only four holes", my feeble mind told me, all the while ignoring that Paul has done this like... a million times.

In the end, I didn't have bits to do it. I was shocked and humbled, and I quickly went to the internet and got the tile bits that Paul had originally suggested. Even with those, drilling this oldschool spring steel was not a simple task, and I managed to break three of them.

Nonetheless I got it done and ended up with my four holes, three broken bits, and two good life lessons: 1. "Don't let your head be harder than the steel you're drilling." and 2. "Saw plate is hard as hell".

I decided that the saw needed to be displayed, so here it is, proudly hanging above my bench:

277851590_361018139294166_8609040114446981004_n.jpg277841885_1958014344405873_7556562516466827829_n.jpg277884764_1150322532487413_2815380047229367095_n.jpg

Now I just need to use it, but, as many can sympathize with, I am always chasing the ever-elusive 'round tuit'. Mark it up to having a fairly marginal space to work in, light duty (at best) machinery, and just the epic time sink associated with home ownership, and I'm not nearly as productive as I once was in the shop. Nonetheless, I do get out there, mostly for small projects though. I haven't made a piece of furniture in longer than I care to admit.

I do believe I've determined what the first task for this saw will be though. I have a limb that needs to come out of a Walnut tree in my yard. It's about 150mm diameter and 4m off the ground. I don't own a chainsaw, so I can either go spend $300 on an orange, European gas-hog, or I can just use some muscle and sweat and "dock" it off with this. I may look weird to my neighbors hanging in a tree with this thing, but hey... 300 bucks is 300 bucks.

Anyway, hello to so many of you that I don't speak with as often as I once did, and a huge thanks to Paul. This really was a great gift that means a lot, and it was a fun challenge. I look forward to using and enjoying it for many years.

Cheers,
Luke

Luke

Thank you for posting those pix. It looks a treat both on the bench and upon the wall. You did well attaching the handle and I am sorry about the broken bits. I anticipate with the 4½ppi it will handle your Walnut branch well. I cut an old Ironbark fence post with my own Simonds Docking Saw when I was giving it the WMC handle treatment and that was before it had the permanent handle on it.

Now I am just waiting for some observant visitor to this thread to quiz you on the frame saw it sits within.



Regards
Paul