Thread: Regan Handle (disston)

take a picture of the handle from the side, dead on - like back from a distance of at least several feet to remove distortion. then, take the image, cut the picture into an image itself, print it with whatever utility you use. Windows photos or paint will allow you to print at 100% - just decide on something, because you'll have to print twice and then you'll never have to guess size again.

Print the first picture at whatever % scale you want, then measure the handle in a key dimension and measure the printed picture. Multiply your percentage by a ratio of (original handle size) / (your printout) to get a new percentage at printout and the second picture you print will be an exact sized template. You can decide later if you'd like to scale the original handle, but I'd not do too much of that early on as Disston figured out a generally good size to start with.

to affix the handle to a blank, draw a grain line through the handle and then a line across the center of the blank to match it so you get orientation right, and thickness the blank ever so slightly wider than the handle itself.

brush a good dose of water based finish on the blank (it won't penetrate, so it won't be that much to deal with later) and then affix the paper onto the handle blank and brush more water base finish on top of the template.

Once the WB finish dries, you'll have something far better in terms of adhesion than a glue stick or something else that may come off before you want it to.

Any flat to curved transitions, you can draw with more definition on the template once it's affixed to make sure you don't lose track of them when shaping.

I would trust a picture of the original and this method more than I would a line drawn template that may have the proportions adjusted - almost always a little fatter and for the worse.

Thanks David

The Regan dovetail saw is unfortunately 300km away from where I live. At the time handling was thinking "nice saw handle" - not I might carve a copy. But I will draw one, if needed.

ahh, I read quickly and thought you had bought it.

Any straight on picture of a reagan handle will do if you have any measurement to scale it from.

Rare! DISSTON No. 4 Back Saw with REGAN's Patent December 8, 1874 Hand – Jim Bode Tools

Pin on Vintage Tools

Martin, a very simple low-tech method of getting a copy of a handle is to take an ordinary lead pencil & shave/saw about 30mm of the end in half to expose the lead. Sharpen it with the bevel outermost. Now all you have to do is sit the saw on a flat sheet of paper & hold the pencil vertically against the handle to trace the outlines. You'll have to ad-lib the cheeks, but that's not too hard, & if you are making a new saw, you won't need an exact match, just draw what appeals to your eye.

I got this tracing 'trick' from someone else and it has come in handy numerous times - with just a little care you can get a very close copy of an original, so if you could persuade your friend to do the tracing for you, that would be the best way I know of to get a very close copy of that particular handle. If you really liked that handle, make sure to get him to caliper the thickness for you, too - it's amazing how much difference just a coupe of mm will make to the 'feel' of a handle.

I made a 'Regan' handle way back just because I liked the look of it, but didn't like it at all when I used it for a while, but don't let that put you off - different people like different handles, I well now. It certainly looks interesting and is a fun extra challenge to making a handle.

Sounds like a very good score indeed for $50, the #1 is probably worth 10 times that even with the butchered tote!

Cheers,
Ian

Hi Ian,

The sole of Number 1 was shortened about half an inch- but likely the frog/ lever cap and knob has value, its was a bit of shame given the value. Suspect the modification was deliberate, as the edges were polished and the other tools as had a "cared for" look.



Maybe best to be approximate with Regan handle as well and shape to hand.
One of the nicest handles I have is on Mathieson plane. Its an intuitive have handle. Distinctive in that it is thicker than any other handle that I have at 29-30mm. That particular handle doesn't have any flat sections. I was thinking next time I made a handle I would try "thick" model. it easy enough to make handle thinner if I don't like the the result.

Martin

A couple of sites to help:

US Patent: 157,634 - Improvement in handles for saws (datamp.org)

Very Rare! DISSTON No. 9 REGAN Patent Back Saw with Depth Stop - EXCAL – Jim Bode Tools

There are some sites that used to have handle templates, but they seem to have disappeared. Your best bet is if somebody has one of these handles and can take a tracing, using Ian's shaved pencil method, for you.

Regards
Paul

PS: and,of course, the Disstonian Institute:

Online Reference of Disston Saws -- Backsaws (disstonianinstitute.com)

Originally Posted by MartinCH

......The sole of Number 1 was shortened about half an inch..... .

The SOLE! Struth, I thought it was the tote that was shortened - must clean my specs!

Yairs, folks do some funny things to tools at times. No doubt the previous owner had a good reason for shortening it - p'raps he was intending to do a Studley & cram all his tools into a shoe-box or something... Whatever his reason, I guess he didn't know he was chopping the best part ofa thousand dollars off it in the process.

WRT your handle, I do recommend experimenting with a bit of easy-to-work scrap to find your 'ideal' handle. You don't have to polish it, just rasp/rough-sand it enough to get a good idea of how it feels. You could reduce an over-fat grip a bit if you found it too generous, but I think you'd need to reduce the cheeks as well, so better if the 'real' handle is close to what you want. If you have large hands, a thicker handle would very likely feel more comfortable, but go easy onb that, as I said above, it's amazing how much difference even 2mm makes.

I think lots of folks find some of the handles on backsaws from the late 1800s to early 1900s are on the small side. Hand size has increased somewhat along with general body-size over the last century, so what was right for "Mr. Average" back then can be a bit tight in 2023.....

Cheers,
Ian

I had the same problem when I made a saw handle with Regan patent. I couldn't find a template.



I took a template from Blackburn which was closest and then modified.

I still have it, so here is a scan of my template you can use if you like. I added 25mm scale to help printing it to same size as mine.

Only thing is I kept the lambs tongue whereas the vintage Regan style handles do not have that. But you easily change that to your liking.



I also posted my saw here a little further down.
My practise saw

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