Wood for saw handle?

Hi,

No idea about that kind of wood I’m afraid, but a couple of tips:

1. How thick are the logs? I’d say you need 2 inches of wood after you have removed the pith, sapwood, etc.

2. Make sure you orient the wood grain in the right direction so the handle will have maximum strength. Someone here can advise on grain direction better than me.

3. I think beech is the preferred wood for daw handles? That’s certainly what I was advised when I repaired the handle on my Groves saw, and it seemed like a good match.

Hope that helps

Darren.

It may be very tempting to dress an old saw up in new clothes…… and slow-grown Apple is an excellent choice for all sorts of handles, but British saws of the era in the 19th C. where Groves worked used quarter-sawn Beech just about exclusively.

The Eucalyptus genus has an estimated 700 specie, 16 of which are listed in the wood database as types commonly used for lumber. They range from rose gum, which can be soft as pine to White Box , which is harder than ebony. If you have ever tried Jarrah ( a eucalyptus) , white Box is twice as hard on the Janka scale.

My guess is you have an ornamental if it came out of a garden. I would have no idea which of the 684 remaining species that might be. You will have better luck on a gardening site if you post pictures of the tree in flower.

But even of the 16, they share lots of shrinkage during drying, movement in use, interlocked grain causing tearout, and silicates known for rapidly dulling even carbide. I wouldn’t use my auriou rasp on it.

Look in the database to see if there is something you recognize.
Google:
“Wood database eucalyptus”

Or just try it and see. You might get lucky.
Some Vegas odds are better, though.

• This reply was modified 3 years, 2 months ago by Larry Geib.
• This reply was modified 3 years, 2 months ago by Larry Geib.

I read this on the internet Uses. Eucalyptus is used for all types of construction, fine as well as utilitarian, light and heavy. It is often made into flooring or objects such as bowls, and traditional Aboriginal didgeridoos are created from eucalyptus logs that have been hollowed out by termites.

It seems to be a general purpose wood depending on what type of eucalyptus it is. Try sawing it to a useful size and that should tell you whether you want to work it or not.

That’s amazing work!!