Many moons ago, I saw some very appealing small saws with pistol-grip handles, in a tool chest formerly belonging to a bloke called Duncan Phyfe, who operated in New York during the early 19thC. They inspired my first effort at making my own handles, but I had nothing but a black & white picture of the handle only, and no dimensions, so my saw ended up not very much like the one in the tool chest!
Fast forward 30 years and the Seaton tool chest (from a decade or two earlier) is inspiring awe & replicas. It also contained a couple of small backsaws with open handles, by Kenyon of London, and the handles are possibly even nicer than on Dunc's saws. So, when Bushmiller told me he wanted to make a whole set of replicas from the Seaton chest, but was not sure how to go about folding the backs, I suggested he try slitting backs, then filing & sanding them to look like they were folded. I thought I had better do a 'proof of concept' so I decided to try my hand at a replica myself. This time, I had a good drawing & all the necessary info, thanks to Paul, so I've ended up with something a bit closer to the original than my first attempt so many moons ago.
Slitting the brass (a bit deeper than I'd normally do), & rounding the sides & top worked well - the back does look like it's been folded unless you look very closely & carefully, so that was successful enough to encourage me to press on.
I had two scraps of 15 thou saw-plate, one just big enough to match the blade of the smallest saw in the chest, the other a bit smaller again, so I thought I'd practice by making a saw that was similar to, but scaled down a little, from the Kenyon. It's a dinky little thing, but quite usable. The handle is Black Walnut. I put 18tpi on it & it cuts very cleanly - a good little box-makers saw, I reckon: Attachment 440838
So that went ok, now for the 'real thing'. It isn't an exact replica, of course, the handle is close in shape & size, but of Persian Walnut, not Beech. I reckoned the hang-angle of the original was much too high for my taste, so I dropped that a bit. I also had to use 15 thou plate where the original is 18 thou. The tooth pitch of the original is given as 19-20ppi (which I take to mean it's between 19 & 20, not micro-progressive pitch!) & since I had a template for 18tpi, which is near enough to 19ppi, that's what it got (rip profile). The saw bolts are different, too, being turned rather than cast as the originals probably were, but they're mostly inside out of sight, so let's not get too picky! It's close enough for the bush: Attachment 440837
I had a bit of a play around with both saws after assembly, and they gave a very good account of themselves.
Lotsa fun! Attachment 440839
Cheers
