James it’s great to see the lamb’s tongue being fashioned. You’ve given me the confidence to reshape my Spear & Jackson eBay back saw. Ken from Southport UK

was just at an estate sale they had a full set of molding plane in the original crate for 300. wish i had the extra money. Got to nice wooden jointer planes though.

I made a saw handle as one of my first projects, didn't even had a vise or proper bench. It was easier than I expected and probably the most fun I had in the shop. I highly recommend making a saw handle. It's always a joy using the saw.

At 3:50 I thought bro was rubbing butter on his saw😂

Showing how the handle grips your hand was a new thought to me. Thanks for sharing your knowledge and skills.

This is like the third or fourth time I have watched this video. I'll be making some handles soon...right after all the rest of the projects I have going on

I have practiced this by making backsaws for my young kids. So far I have made three, one for each of my sons. You can’t find saws for small hands so this is a great way to get them a good saw. I use a saw plate from a saw you can buy on Amazon. Then I shorten the plate and sharpen it.

my grandfather made his tools and I still use them to this day

Your videos and enthusiasm has me restoring an old tenon saw from Germany, and using my and tools more.

Now you can make half a dozen for me... lol

I love that you call the Veritas saw a "cheap" handle ;) And I am also happy to see that cool wooden handles for tools are the most important thing!

I like how the example of a cheap handle was on a Veritas saw.

Another great video! Thank you James

Absolutely love watching this craftsman's channel

Great video as always! I picked up an old saw a while back that needs a new handle, and now I have no more excuses!

They look (s)awesome!

That is the most epic t-shirt and so appropriate for you.

Looking forward to the next video. I have seen a lot of people cut the slot for the saw blade earlier on in case they mess it up. Be good to see how James cuts the slots to ensure they’re right/wright 🤪 x

My dad wants me to make a cane for him and wants this style handle. I'm going to make it out of white oak, and it will be one solid piece, i bought some saw handles off eBay so that i can have the exact style he wants and to also have the diston screws and pin. I'm glad i found your channel, I'll be using your techniques with the turn saw and rasps.

I love making handles! Yours are exceptional!

Nice handles. I really have no idea who Alex Adams is or what list he is on top off. But he did get nice handles

Great project! Thanks

Great job James! Really nice!

Fantastic, James! Nicely done! 😃 Looking forward to the next part! Stay safe there with your family! 🖖😊

Those are really nice!

Gorgeous looking saw handles ☺️.

Real nice James, love making handles

This was a great introduction. Thanks!!!

That's a cool project ❤

I've made 2 or 3 and fixed several plane totes and saw handle horns, great projects James

I enjoy your videos. Thanks for the info on using epoxy instead of cactus juice.

Beautiful work, and thank you for showing us all how to make a saw handle!

I really enjoyed this one. I think it was because of that wood - the patterns are beautiful. Another great video and can't wait for the next instalment. Thank you!

Beautiful handles, James! Although I must say that the truth is that making them does not seem “relatively simple!” But you sure make it look easy. Thanks, as always, for your guidance.

These handles are gorgeous!! Amazing work

The Blackburn patterns rock! I converted a Stanley straight handle "gent saw" over to an open handle dovetail saw using their pattern, some figured Claro Walnut and brass slotted nut hardware from Taytools. I couldn't be more pleased with the results. Now, after seeing this video I want to "upgrade" the handle on my Crown 10" Tenon saw which is ungraceful and "clunky".

I made a saw handle from Koa a couple of weeks ago…waiting for the saw plate and bolts from Blackburn. My handle was modeled after the Rob Cosman dovetail saw which I bought 3 years ago.

Thanks!!!

I used some old overhead display plastic (clear plastic like card stock) to print the handle. By marking at least 3 hole centers I was able take off and put back perfectly. By being able to see through it the lay out was much easier.

I love the lack of editing. ...really would have loved to know what question you were about to answer about how the twists in the burl effect how the saw handle works...

Very nice...

Nice work!! They look spectacular! Working up the patience to do... Someday

very nice!!!!

Merci!

Good!

When I intend an oil, wax, or oil and wax final finish, I will often use a light coat of mineral oil during scraping / sanding to reveal areas that need more attention. I like mineral oil for two primary reasons. First it is inexpensive, both to purchase and to use (a very small amount goes a long way, especially for this purpose). Second, when lightly applied, it is relatively easy to clean off if required. I prefer a few drops of plain Dawn dish soap on a wet wrung cloth. That said, in most cases there is no need to remove it as many oil / wax finishes will readily apply over the mineral oil. Simply remove the excess by blotting with a paper towel. When no more oil transfers to the paper, you are ready for your finish.

I can handle this!

I’d love to hear or see more about cactus juice. I’m still fairly new to woodworking and am now intrigued

Nice

Very nice. I have a beautiful chunk of Jarrah Burl that I am planning on making some handles from... one day😆.

We live in a world that has saws and those saws need guarding. I suggest you pick up BLO and share a post. LOL

comment down below, hope this helps! 🙂

I am looking for a trashed brass backed saw to make my own out of. I would love to make my own saw if only I could find a nice folded saw back.

Silence up above. ;)

Comment down below! 😁

Thanks for the great vid. Any advise on cutting the blade slot straight? I always mess up that part.

Comment yes, please make and post the next video. Starting a small dovetail saw using steel banding ( .030") 1.25" x 9 " for the blade. Question, could two picies of oak be glued to make the handel from? A slab of would be nice but used oak pallets are free.

comment down below! :P

How do you do the initial design of the handle so that the index finger naturally points to half way along the saw blade. With varying lengths of blade doesn't that meanthe angle of the handle needs to vary with the blade length? Are there different templates for different lengths of blades?

hi. how do you scale the pattern to your hand, fine tuning I get. but how do you mark out the rough stage ( so it fits your hand )

Comment down below: You handled them great.

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COMMENT DOWN BELLWWW!!!!!!!!

Nice work,James. I got some patterns from Blackburn as well, and they are very good and detailed. I made a dovetail saw handle from birdseye maple. One question for you. I've heard you speak of "live oak" before, as well as here in this video. What exactly is the species you are referring too?

Gorgeous grainy handles! Would you suggest rehandling plastic handles (like Bahco for example) too make them more pleasure too use?

Comment down below 😛

So, a comment down below helps? OK, here you go.

If the horns are the important parts, how important/useful is the bottom of the loop? With well-fitted horns, is a pistol grip as comfortable and functional as a full loop one?

How do you sharpen an argur bit ?

Maybe you can add link in the description to the blackburn handle templates? May help ppl as it helped me before

Anyone ever tell you you're a very burly man? I would try to make a handle myself, but I am impatient and it would turn out to be a hack saw handle!

Hi James, really beautiful pieces. I've just inherited an old back saw that I need to take apart to clean and recondition. I'm having a hard time finding a driver to open the split nuts. Any suggestions? I'll have to test if it holds on to my hand on its own when I've got it apart. Thanks for the tip!

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Do you recommend any specific place to get a saw blade and pins? I'm interested in making my own handle but not sure where to go to get the rest of the saw

Lovely handles! Where did you get your safe side files/floats?

comment down below............

16:20 So yes, isn't the burl gonna warp and twist, and fall apart from the stress from being used? Or is the epoxy impenetration strong enough to support that?

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It will interesting to see if the resin impregnation is sufficient to overcome the weak grain structure...especially for the handle made almost entirely from end grain.

If I see a saw with a handle just like those I'd imagine that it would just kept going up and down because it would be balanced to perfection .🙄🙄🙄

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I tend to do quite a bit of shaping in my professional life, like you did on those handles. I personally don't use files and rasps on wood. To my mind files are really for metal, and rasps tear the grain of the wood in a most unpleasant way (that's what I think anyway). My process is to get the profile cut out, then aim to cut off a 45 degree bevel all around both the profile on both faces. The depth of the bevel will depend on how large the finished radius you want. For this I use chisels, knives and gouges. They remove stock far quicker than a rasp. Once you've got the bevel, take off the shoulders of the angle, so you are left with 3 flats around the profile that you can smooth over to create the radius. The next part is the finish shaping and it is done with 80 grit sandpaper. In fact the red silicon carbide paper works far better than good old fashioned sheets of sandpaper. The grit stays on the paper and doesn't crumble off or break down anywhere near as quickly as with sandpaper. It also has a stiff backing, which helps the grit to cut through the material, whereas a soft backing will tend to ride over imperfections and you will need more pressure on the sandpaper to do the same job. Always use a square of sandpaper (whatever size) and fold it in 3 along one direction. This will give you an abrasive surface both sides which wont slip against itself (like if it was folded in half). The front will cut the material and the back will grip the skin of your fingers, so it doesn't slip. Another thing which can be of great benefit is inserting a thin flexible (but not too flexible) strip of material inside the folds of the paper. You can glue it in place if you want. Use a piece of veneer or a cut up spread tub lid. This will give you a "bendy stick" which will cut in a similar way to a rasp, but will gently curve and conform to the overall shape you're trying to create, thereby knocking off all the high spots. It really does work like no other tool I know. Go over all the shaped surfaces with 80 grit (60 or 40 grit is okay, but a bit too coarse for me) until the shapes are all perfect. Next switch over to 120 grit to smooth out the surface and get rid of the scratches. Use the 3 fold sandpaper square as before, with bendy sticks as well. Once you've gone over the shaped surfaces with the 120 grit, you've essentially got the thing done! All you've got left to do is fine sand with 240 grit (then higher if you want) to remove any fine scratches and leave a lovely silky finish. Job done! Simple, relatively quick (much quicker than files and rasps), and it gives perfect results. But if you find yourself sitting there rubbing away endlessly like Alladin on his lamp trying to smooth out shapes or remove scratches, you're using too fine a grit! go back down to a coarser grit, remove the imperfection (much more quickly!), and then you can jump back to the fine finishing grit. Trying to shape timber with too fine a grit won't work anyway because the fine grit won't knock off the high spots, and will just follow the existing contours.

Traditionally, apple was used for saw handles

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