There was a thread about wood saws. Several different saws were talked about. Some were folding and some were not. Of the different saws I liked the Japanese Silky "Pocket Boy" Folding saw. I ordered one. I got one of the Large Teeth versions. It has a 5 inch saw blade and the complete saw weighs 6.6oz.
Not for long.
I decided that the folding part was not worth the extra weight. I removed the stock handle and weighed the Saw Blade, the Blade weighs 0.98oz. I decided to make new set of handles out of Titanium. I decided to give up the folding feature. While hiking I don't expect to ever carry the folding saw in one of my pockets. The finished Saw now weighs 1.83oz. I am going to make a carrier for the saw out of plastic soda bottle material and make a way to attach it to my pack. I want to do a long hike and use one of my 1oz wood stoves and the saw might come in handy.
I changed my saw a little and it will now fold up and has a locking device to keep the saw blade from coming open when it is folded. In making the change I also dropped a little weight and the Folding Saw now weighs 1.83oz.
I have made a new handle for the Folding Saw. I am going to retake the pictures and see if I can get rid of the green tint.
The complete saw now weighs 1.63oz.
Old Handle / New handle.
Not finished yet. Next handle will have larger holes and I will try and drill some holes in the saw blade. My weight goal is as near 1oz as I can get.
I've been meaning to do something like this, so my question to you is, how do you even begin to work with titanium? There's not much information on the web regarding the machinery/tools used and where to source the titanium from. I'm not sure if you still visit this blog as it's been a while since your last update, but if you or anybody else reading this can point me in the right direction I would greatly appreciate it!
ReplyDeleteI use 0.016inch - 6A14V -This is military grade titanium sheet and is extremely strong. It combines a high strength to weight ratio with corrosion and heat resistance. I bought it years ago from Thru-Hiker but it has been sold out for a long time.
ReplyDeleteI cut the Ti to shape with a pair of WISS Tin Snips. These work really well for Titanium. I Punch my holes with a "Hand Punch". This is also easier than drilling in Titanium. You can drill Ti but where the hand punch will work it is easier to use. File and sand, a lot.