The following job has been done by Stewie S., from Australia. Stewie is passionate about making saws and wooden planes. He authorized me to publish his pics in order to collaborate to blog and increase content availability. Thank you Stewie!
After 12 months of making backsaws as well as trialing different saw handles it was time for me to consolidate my restrict my work to 3 to 4 designs only. This following handle shape is for backsaws 12" and above. I have attached photos that show you each of the important steps involved from start to finish.
I hope you find the following information of some help especially to those who may have considered giving backsaw making a go.
Here you can view the handle as its shaped to design paper template. Some rounding to the handle as well as the inside of the finger hole has also been completed. I prefer to drill and fit the saw screws very early into the work.
The 12" x 3" saw plate shaped and fitted within the handle.
To help me mark the harback mortise within the handle I prefer to use a spare length of hardback which is fitted to the toothline. The use of upper and lower hardbacks locks the external saw plate in the same parrallel alignment to that within the handle. A good method to use if you want to keep the saw plate nice and straight along the toothline.
To clean out the hardback mortise on the handle I like to use a variety of hand tools that also include planemaker floats.
In this photo you can see that the brassback has been cut to length, rounded off at the toe, and secured to the handle. The bottom line of the saw plate is also nice and straight.
The shaping of the handle is also nearly completed.
Hear you can see the final stages of sharpening the saw teeth. I chose to go for a 12 tpi. rip tooth for this backsaw. The saw vise clamping length was modified from its original 9 " to a new 23.5 "
The final look of the backsaw. The Tas.Tiger Myrtle chosen for the handle came up a treat. I only use 0000 steel wool between each coat of wood sealer and shellac. Another unique saw to add to my collection.
Regards; Stewie
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Hi all. I just completed a trial using the slitting blade mounted to a router table to cut the blade slot in a backsaw handle. The end results were extremely good. The critical thing I found with the trial is getting the operating speed of the router correct. The router I have mounted in the table is a Makita 1/2" 22,000 rpm single speed unit. With the slitting blade mounted there was a slight vibration within the blade at full operating speed. Using the Jaycar motor speed controller I adjusted the rpm dial down to eliminate any of this vibration and at a speed I felt was adequate to complete the slot within the handle.
The slitting blade I was using was hss 75mm o.d. x 0.5mm thickness. The o.d. gave me an effective cut of 45mm outside the top flange of the slitting blade holder. The 0.5mm was slightly under gauge to the 0.020 inches saw plate I normally use for my backsaws. As it ended up this was ideal as I was able to slide the saw plate within the kerfed cut without having to open it up any further. I chose to use an old discarded backsaw handle for the trial and cut 2 slots well achoice from the original slot that was cut in the handle, flipping the handle over as I went. Heres the end results.

On each side of the handle I completed 3 passes to achieve an optimum outside penetration of the area I wanted slotted. It felt quite safe to run the handle through the slitting blade while guided the handle by hand. But I would not recommend likewise to others unless you have a high quality mounting for the router, a failsafe depth adjustment lock, and a means of slowing down the operating speed of the router. Continuing on:
The 1st pass in the correct feed direction.
The 2nd pass in the correct feed direction.
The 3rd and final pass in an opposing feed direction. I could not feel any obvious signs of heat build up on the slitting blade after completing all 3 passes.
The final step was to insure the slot was cut to the full and proper depth to allow the saw plate correct seating within the handle. This was done by hand using a dedicated high tpi backsaw thats had the set removed. As mentioned the results were excellent with the handle slots spot on to the horizontal plane of each of the handle faces.
I think I have covered most the important aspects of the trial. I hope you enjoyed the information. I should include that importance of wearing eye and ear protection and keep those fingers well achoice from the cutting blade.
regards Stewiep.s. for more see this discussion:Woodnet Forum Discussion
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Beech body, wengè sole and strike button, ash handle and wedge.14" long, single iron (Eskiltuna-Sweden), 20° skew angle, 45° seat. This plane was quite common, judging by a good number of exemplars it is possible to find. It is similar to a jack plane but if you pay attention, you can note the skew iron exposed on the right side. This is achieved by rotating the seat on the left. This feature permits to the plane of cutting large and deep rebates.The cut begins by nailing a wood strip to the piece as guide or, as we can see in the below video, by cutting a preliminary groove.On the right side, where the blade is flush with side, the wood thickness decreases to zero and a point of weakness is created as can be see looking at old exemplars.I preferred to add a brass plate for preventing future damages. The building process follows.Carefully layout the throat, mark the part to be first morticed and bore with a spade bit, following the seat and wear angles. Discard the waste by a big mortice chisel (1")
Trace a hole series a couple of cms deep, by a 3 mm bit. These define the central mouth part and help us to complete the throat. Cut the mouth for some mms.Utilize a wooden block, cut to the same seat angle for define the iron bed. A steel plate, equipped with 80 grit sand paper, helps us to flatten the seat. At this point glue a wengè sole about 1cm thick and re-cut the mouth For cutting the abutments, I utilize a coping saw. It is time to create the bed rotation in order to permit to the blade of being flush with the side. A flat milled file is used for obtaining a precise surface, vital for a good planing action. Mark on the wedged blade a line parallel to the plane sole and grind and hone a new cutting edge. a planemaker float (thanks to Andrea who built it for me) helps to make some corrections.
Determine the brass plate position and fix it flush with the side. Cut a recess for blade side protruding. Unfortunately, I did a mistake in positioning the brass plate, so I had to fill the gap with a beech veneer. This does not affect the planing job but is a little bit unpleasant to look at. Glue an end-grained piece just before the mouth. It increases hardness and permits to setting it right.

Give a first flattening to the plane sole and right side. Ensure they are square.