Saw handles

**Peter57** · 26th September 2013, 08:04 AM

I have a question for all of you handsaw aficionados out there.
I have a few handsaws (mostly older Disstons) that need new handles after dad’s fire of 2013. I want to get started on these next so am wondering what timbers you’d recommend for making new handles.
I’m thinking of making all of the replacement handles from the same timber so they look like a set. These are users so I don’t feel the need to go original necessarily and in fact given that they’ve been repaired I’m more inclined to make that obvious by making handles out of something unique.
I have some Australian rosewood and a bit of Gidgee that I’ve been using for plane totes and knobs. How would these go? What else would work? I don’t have enough of either for the entire job so I’m going to need to buy something from somewhere like Anagote timbers. All suggestions gladly accepted.
Most of the handles that I need to replace are charred but not totally trashed, so I can use them as a template.
Also, is there anybody in Sydney/ Wollongong who would be able to give me a short lesson on the finer art of resharpening saws?

Cheers,
Peter

**IanW** · 26th September 2013, 09:10 AM

Peter, there are lots of choices!

The originals would most likely have been Beech or Apple, depending on where & when they were made. The only set requirements for handle wood, imo, are that it be sufficiently strong, tolerable to work, and finish to a smooth, splinter-free surface that you are happy to wrap your fist around. That narrows the choice down to a couple of hundred local species...

Of native woods, Myrtle Beech is perhaps close in texture & density to European Beech? Blackwood makes a nice handle if you like darker wood, and Qld. Maple if you prefer lighter. Any of these would be good woods to begin with as they are relatively easy to cut & shape.

Denser woods, such as the hard Acacias are fine. They are a bit more demanding to work, but they take such a high polish that I reckon it's worth the extra trouble. I'm not keen on the Eucalypts, generally, as they don't finish as nicely, but River Redgum and Jarrah can be ok. I haven't used really dense woods for handles on full-sized saws, but have used Gidgee and several species of She-oaks on backsaws. The small amount of extra weight this adds seems to me to be a plus rather than a minus. The main difficulty is finding sound pieces large enough for saw handles!

Cheers,

**johnnyrsa** · 26th September 2013, 07:44 PM

Bubinga also makes really nice saw handles, especially if you can find a figured piece. I'm just not sure how available it is in Australia?

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