I picked up an old Disston 68 saw at a garage sale a couple weeks ago for $5. It is considered a dovetail saw but has a gent style handle. There is currently a firewood challenge on Reddit r/woodworking, so I thought I would try modifying the saw to have a pistol grip handle.

I found some firewood (I think it is Silky Oak) and milled it to size, printed out a template from Blackburn tools and started removing wood. It took a lot longer than I expected and I ended up using quite a number of tools (bandsaw, jointer, table saw, drill press, sanders, dovetail saw, chisels, files, and lots of sanding) to get the wood down to the right shape and size . I finished it wish Danish oil and paste wax, drilled some holes in the plate, and put it together.

Along the way I made a small chisel out of the same wood and a 1/8” drill bit to chisel out the slot for the blade. Afterwards, I made a marking knife from the same wood and an old reciprocating saw blade.

Fun project but I am glad it is done. Now time to make some dovetails!

Here is a link to some more details of the build: https://www.simplecove.com/843/dovetail-saw-rwoodworking-firewood-challenge/

-- Steven, California, https://www.instagram.com/acts65_woodworks/