Dovetail saw kit fiasco

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Hi Guys.

About two years ago, I bought two Gramercy dovetails saw kits. One went to Tom and today I have spent the whole morning making the handle for the remaining one.

Once I thought I had it ready I checked the straighteness of the blade and I found that it appeared to be bent. Double cheching showed that it was the handle that was badly made. The saw cut for the blade and the recess for the spline didn't match and that made the blade bend when inserted on the handle and the nuts were thightened.
The blade is so thin that any slight deviation forces it.

After trying to fix it in several ways, I finally decided that I will start anew some other day, and this time I will triple check before going through al the shaping and sanding. I believe that not having a 11/64 bit to make the groove and having used the closest metric one may have helped, but I made the previous one in the same way.

I include the pics so that anyother may learn from my mistake

Tom, do check yours, as it may have the same problem and I may have not noticed it when I made it ( although I think I checked it before sending it to you.sawhandle002.jpgsawhandle001.jpg
 
Wow, that is a bit loose isn't it. Perhaps using the handle as a template and making your own would be quicker than fiddling with that one? You could also epoxy a blank into the sloppy gap and re cut the slot to fit the saw? Just tossing out ideas. I've learned I can frequently re-make something faster than I can fix a goof.
 
Wow, that is a bit loose isn't it. Perhaps using the handle as a template and making your own would be quicker than fiddling with that one? You could also epoxy a blank into the sloppy gap and re cut the slot to fit the saw? Just tossing out ideas. I've learned I can frequently re-make something faster than I can fix a goof.

Yes it is loose, that's because the slot for the back and the slot for the blade are not aligned, what you see on the pic is the result of trying to fix it. I also thought about filling it with epoxy but I'm sure that if I did it will haunt me each time I took the saw. So I'll re-make it. Now I have the order of the different steps clear. First the outline of the handle, then the bolt holes, then the slot for the back, then the slot for the blade, Check for alignment, and if everything is OK then shaping and sanding.

I've got to remember that.!!
 
toni, why not use a table saw to cut a grove in there and then insert a contrasting wood and redo the slot on a tsaw or make a jig for the band saw to do the slot over..i would pitch the handle yet..
 
toni, why not use a table saw to cut a grove in there and then insert a contrasting wood and redo the slot on a tsaw or make a jig for the band saw to do the slot over..i would pitch the handle yet..

That would be a good idea, but I haven't got a table saw, I could try with my router but I haven't got a bit of the proper size. This morning I tried again and again the same problem. I think that using hard maple is not a good idea. I've found that as I am making the set of holes to make the groove in the grain direction the drill bit is deviated by the the grain itself conditioning all the rest or so I think.
 
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