DIY 3oz 10.5" wood saw.

[JerDerv]

Today I was going through my gear and weighing everything. When I got to my 7" folding saw by bahco it weighed 6.6oz. It's heavier than it needs to be, I thought. So I took the handle off and found that it weighed more than the blade. So I went to lowes in search for a new saw. I found a corona replacment saw blade for $15 and bought it. I ground cut and shaped my thin lighte weight saw from that. Blasted the handle with 16g brown alumina oxide to really roughen it up and improve adhesion for the plasti-dip grip.

What I got in the end was 10.5" of teeth 15" overal 3.0oz saw. It reads 3.1 in the picture but the plasti dip was still not dry it's 3.0 or 84 grams now that it's dry.

Still need to come up with a lightweight sheath.

[Aimless]

I've seen some similar DIY backpacking saw projects. Yours looks very professional in the pics. It would look goofy, but you could maybe wrap the blade in some pipe insulation foam as a light sheath. It might not last many trips, but it would be extremely lightweight.

[miah66]

Wow that's really great. We could do some real trail maintenance if we were all carrying something like that! How did you form the handle? Also, there is some sort of goop you can dip metal in to get it a plastic coating like that? I have seen a thin plastic clip of sorts on sawblades in the store. You could just use a plastic stationary binder clip?

[Aimless]

The curve in the blade he used would make the binder clips you showed a problem, but that is a very cool suggestion.

[Koda]

kydex sheet can be had for cheap on Amazon.com....
http://www.amazon.com/Kydex-Plastic-She ... ords=kydex

fine one large enough and fold over the blade to make a sheath. Get creative or simply wrap in duct tape to keep it closed. Kydex is easily moldable with a heat gun and stays put once cooled..... but it will also fold over an edge and stay put if you overbend it a little. Kydex is durable and will take the saw teeth abuse for years, ultra light too.

[JerDerv]

I've seen some similar DIY backpacking saw projects. Yours looks very professional in the pics. It would look goofy, but you could maybe wrap the blade in some pipe insulation foam as a light sheath. It might not last many trips, but it would be extremely lightweight.

Thanks! Yeah something like that could work pretty good as long as the density was on par.

Wow that's really great. We could do some real trail maintenance if we were all carrying something like that! How did you form the handle? Also, there is some sort of goop you can dip metal in to get it a plastic coating like that? I have seen a thin plastic clip of sorts on sawblades in the store. You could just use a plastic stationary binder clip?

This blade is the type that normally bolts to the end of a long poll. I used a small air grinder with a sanding pad to get the outside profile of the handle the way i wanted it. I then used a cut off wheel on a dremel to do the rough material removal on the inside then fallowed up with a drum sander on a dremel. I also came back with the air grinder and removed some material off the spine of the blade. After i get a few uses out of it i may remove more depending on how much the blade wants to bend when cutting. Abrasives are the way to go, cutting tools such as saws, files, or drill bits simply dont work well on this type of steel.

Haha yeah the plastic "goop" is called Plasti Dip. It comes in a cylindrical can and you simply pop the top off of it and fallow the directions of dipping what ever you wanted coated into the can. You can put layer on layer and make it as thick as you would like. Its available at most places that carry paints or home improvement stuff.


I like the clip idea and having something that just covered the saw teeth would be minimalist which i like. Thanks for the idea.

kydex sheet can be had for cheap on Amazon.com....
http://www.amazon.com/Kydex-Plastic-She ... ords=kydex

fine one large enough and fold over the blade to make a sheath. Get creative or simply wrap in duct tape to keep it closed. Kydex is easily moldable with a heat gun and stays put once cooled..... but it will also fold over an edge and stay put if you overbend it a little. Kydex is durable and will take the saw teeth abuse for years, ultra light too.

I love me some kydex! I have a knife sheath made of kydex i cant believe i forgot about this option. Thanks for reminding me, this will probably be what i end up using.

[JerDerv]

Kydex sheath Rev.1 I just need to put a rivet at the end for retention of the front of the blade.

[miah66]

I'll take one!

[Aimless]

That is a sweet looking piece of work. Congratulations.

[Koda]

very nicely done. Give it a few test drives and consider marketing it. You would have to design your own blade though to get fabricated.