Brass Backed Tennon Saw

For a long time I have wanted to make a brass backed tennon saw.  There is a video series on Popular Woodworking’s Video service that details the whole process from start to finish.  I got the blade blank 4″ x 14″ x 0.025″ thick with 14 teeth per inch from: http://www.tgiag.com/  (Two Guys In A Garage Tool Works) maybe 5 years ago or so.

Then the project sat for a while till I get a turning saw complete as, I do not own a band saw and using a coping saw on 1″ beech did not seem like much fun.  This winter the turning saw was completed then over the week between Christmas and New Years I completed the saw.

The brass back is a 1/4″ by 3/4″ with a slot that I milled into it with a slitting saw on my Harbor Fright mini-mill.  With clamping and supports I could get about 4″ at a time for the 14″ that where needed.

The brass saw nuts where made on the lathe and then the mill.

The handle was worked by hand with the turning saw and a rasp.  One tool that makes the process much easier is a “Handle Makers Rasp” from Gramercy:
https://www.toolsforworkingwood.com/store/dept/TRR/item/GT-SHRASP.XX
The bent tip is designed perfectly for working the inside of the handle, it is hard to describe how perfect the shape is.  I thought that would be a laborious and time consuming, turned out to go pretty quick.

Sharpening the saw took a bit of patience, and a lot of little dots with a Sharpy marker to make sure that I was working on the right teeth.  Just do it, do not over think it.

Things that I would do differently:

1. Get a folded brass back from the same guys that made the saw plate.  Milling the slot was a fun challenge on my machine as that is on the upper end of the size that I can work with on the table.  Does not do anything to make the final project better.
2. Buy a set of saw nuts.  Again like the milled slot it is good to use my machining skills, but it does not add much to the final project.
3. Have less teeth per inch, maybe 10 or 11, the 14 is pretty fine.  I also put a very fine set on the saw, likely that I will correct that when I sharpen it next time.

I’m glad that I put some cant on the saw plate to experiment, makes the saw look a little odd, but it seems to make it a little easier to work with.  That will take time to get fully used to.