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I finished shaping a replacement handle for an old Disston saw today, only to face the challenge of locating the holes for the saw bolts.

Given the moderate rarity of this saw, enlarging the existing holes in the blade was not an option, so I needed to align the holes in the new handle with them very closely.

I came up with the solution below. While it undoubtedly has been used by others, I have not yet seen described. Its chief advantage lies in being able to mark the holes while the handle is positioned on the blade. All that is required is a flat surface, a piece of tape, a square. And a pencil, which, despite a fascinating collection of mechanical pencils and leadholders, is invariably the single most difficult item to find in my shop.




Mark the heel of the blade on the tape, then align the square with the horizontal center of the hole. Mark this location on the tape, then read the vertical location of the center of the hole and write that on the tape.





Showing the marks and measurements for the centers of the holes.





With the handle on the blade, transfer the measurements to the handle. Make sure that the heel of the blade is positioned on its mark, or all of the holes will be off.





It doesn't get much better (or easier) than this.

Very sound logic behind the method you chose to proceed forward with Isaac. I like the way you are able to analysis a solution.

Stewie;

Oh WOW Isaac that is a great idea and after seeing how you did it makes it easy, that is ingenuity at it's best . I love the handle also. I can't wait to see the final restoration. I have bookmarked this thread.

Thanks for sharing this information and documenting it.

Steve

Hi Isaac,

Great method. Gives control for each hole.

I have made handles for many old saws. I will use your method next time I do one. What I've done, probably pretty much as most people do, I laid the blade on the handle and marked through the holes in the blade. It works ok, but not with as much control as your method.

Thanks for taking pictures and sharing.

Perfect!! Like everything you do with saws. I LOVE triple cove handles for some reason, makes me stop dead in my tracks every time.

MarvW said:

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What I've done, probably pretty much as most people do, I laid the blade on the handle and marked through the holes in the blade.

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Yep, me too, didn't really try to examine the methodology aspect beyond that.

Thanks for the great info.
Very generous of you to post.
Eric.

One of my favorite things about woodworking is how it makes us look at situations and try to find the most efficient solutions. I do have to admit that I probably wouldn't have thought of such an intuitive and awesome approach as you did here. Very cool.

Looks like a sensible method. I usually just clamp the blade to the handle and drill the holes in the drill press with the blade as guide.

Bump for the saw makers.