Printed 240 Silky Saw Handle

[Fred F]

Besides a knife, or axe, I've found that a saw, either a buck saw (Suluk has a brilliant prototype on his R&D Page) or a folding saw, is utilitarian enough, to make it a worthy addition to a UL pack..

Silky saws seem to be the best option for efficiency, but after buying a 240 Silky Folding saw , and although it excels at cutting wood, the 280 gram weight of the stock combination handle/blade , soured me on considering it, as a must-carry..

So being an occasionally obsessive gram-weenie, I fired up the old Freecad .stl design
program to see what I could whip up as a massless(?) , handle replacement in good old high tech ,plastic composites.. brought to reality with the DIY 3d printer
I built over the last year…

(Google RepRap, and specifically Rostock Delta Printer, and prepare to be amazed! Growing up dreaming of way back machines (Time machines, to the Mr Peabody fans)I had to face the fact that my T-travelin' future self hasn't visited me yet
but one of the wonders of my youth that is within the grasp of all our Gnarled DiY hands.. is a matter resolver
or as we now call it ..
3D Printer!

Get one! Make it your own!
You too will be soon be inundated in cheap plastic toys, gadgets and chachkies!
Feel the power of being able to plasticize the Planet!
Uhhhh..

Sorry,
I digress)

The handle was printed in a clear, modified Butadiene plastic , cousin to ABS, that can also be fused to itself using solvents with a bond as strong as the original part (My printer can print most items in one piece but this handle needed to be printed in a few
different pieces)
and I chose it for its resilience especially in the cold , where other plastics could
get brittle; Its still stiff enough for a handle, especially since I designed a hollow
opening into which I inserted a carbon tube ; it easily matches the original handle in rigidity and gives the added benefit of a watertight storage compartment for a sharpener, some lubricant-solvent-cleaner for the blade along with space for other goodies yet to be realized..

I used the original Blade and the original steel pivot pin/screw to clamp the blade to the handle, otherwise the new locking mechanism and was made in house from titanium
scrap and other tabs for unlocking the blade were printed out of nylon for strength
where "give" was not important.

The black rubberized coating is a plasti-dip derivative I blended with secret sauce (water, there is a foam type covering that they sell which is h20 wash-up).
I only applied coating to areas where I might be holding saw during use , and the reason
the back part of handle is uncovered is for ease of slipping on the end cap/handle extension that I added to make it more "ergonomic". (my cad design skills are a little
blocky , I am working on making my creations more organic :O)

The result…

128 grams…

A lot of work for halving the mass..

Well..

Weanies find a way of winnowing weight..

The rebuilding has begun..

[Delmar O’Donnell]

Wow! Impressive fab work!

[Dale Wambaugh]

Nice work!

I pressed twelve $1 bills together and "made" this one that weighs 140g :)

Gerber sliding saw:

[Glenn S]

Wow, that's a pretty impressive piece of work! I'd love to fashion some kind of handle for my Silky 130, but now I'm even more discouraged to try as I'll never match that kind of professionalism lol

I wonder if you could fashion just the connector, bolt the blade solid and skip the locking part altogether, then make it with a 1" shaft that fit inside a cam locking trek pole. Of course then it would need a sheath of some kind, bringing the weight right back up. Well you're obviously more handy than I, so let us know when something goes up for sale ;)

As a side note, anyone ever rip all at heavy rubber off the handle to see how much frame is left and if it would be worth it for a weight savings?

[Delmar O’Donnell]

> Gerber sliding saw:

And look at all that weight that could still be drilled out in the handle and blade…

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