Portable Wood saw

[GaHammockGuy]

A few months back I went on a two-nighter hike into the Smoke Mtns. with a group and a couple of them had the Sawvivor portable saw.



When I found out it costs about $35 I started thinking of a way to make one
for cheaper..... (gasp) imagine that...

So after a while I started to work on this little project and here is what I
came up with:





I started with 3/4" PVC pipe SCH 200 to form the handles for the saw.
Don't get SCH 40 thinking it will be stronger... the inside diameter
of the sch 40 pipe is too small for the blade to fit. It must be sch 200 pipe.





(2) sections at 10 3/4" long for the handles with a coupling in the middle and two end caps.







On one end of the two handles (we will call this the TOP) I measured down
1/2" and I drilled a 1/4" hole opposite each other so they line up. We will call
those locations at 12:00 and 6:00.





At 3:00 and 9:00 I cut into the top of the handles down the length about
3/4" which is where the blade will slide into the pipe.

• The thickness of the hacksaw blade made for a
  perfect fit for the wood saw blade.

At 3:00 or 9:00 (it is up to you) I measured down from the top 5" and drilled
a 3/4" hole. Drill only into one side. DO NOT
DRILL THROUGH BOTH SIDES.

This is for the 21" long wooden dowel.



And that about does it. From here I slid my blade into the slots in the top
end of each pipe and secured them with the 1/4" bolts and wing nuts.






I used the dowel to keep the handles separated and some left-over string to
tie it all together.

Everything fits into the handles and only weighs 9.5 ounces and costs less than $10. the PVD is $1.03 for ten feet and the wooden dowel is $1.97 for four feet.

The blade (the most expensive piece of the saw) is $4.97.

I got all the materials from Home Depot.

You can watch the video on YouTube to see a quick demo of the saw and more instructions on how I pack it all together.


I will try to post the video HERE:



If it does not work...... someone please explain HOW to post a video.... It would make for some shorter posts.

[Fronkey]

There ya go dude.

Only put in The end part of the link after the (=) sign. "QLAqXMpi1eE"

Fronkey

[Fronkey]

That is pretty **** cool man. Great work!

Fronkey

[Dogbone]

NICE

[Irvingdog]

Fantastic!

[coltonalxndr]

Check out http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000Q4C6Y8/...SIN=B000Q4C6Y8. Inexpensive 3.5 oz or so and no fiddle factor! I've through some pretty thick stuff with that thing and still works flawless.

[GaHammockGuy]

There ya go dude.
Only put in The end part of the link after the (=) sign. "QLAqXMpi1eE"

Fronkey

SAAAAWEEET!!!!!!!

Thanks for the tip.

Glad you like it.

[krugd]

Wow - that's a really nice project. Gonna have to make me one. Thanks for posting the video.

[Gqgeek81]

Jacobson has claimed if you're going to be doing a lot of cutting, you'll want the shock absorbing properties of real wood, and for a canoe trip like he does I think that's exactly what I want.

For backpacking the flip out style probably makes the most sense but I really like your idea.

Like you, if I can DIY something I probably will and I was thinking of enhancements that may or may not work to your design.

ABS is significantly lighter than PVC, That being said, I don't know how well it will hold up in comparison.

I purchased a dirt cheap 1/4-20 aluminum 12" threaded rod from Mcmaster for a monopod project a while back. It felt weightless. I'm thinking cutting a similar one down to a few short sections and use nylon fittings would eliminate the steel nuts and bolts.

I have a chunk of carbon fiber tubing left over from a broken hiking pole. Might have to use that in place of the dowel.

Does it rattle much when packed?

A few points in that video made me wince as it looked like you were about to cut your hand on it while packing it. I'd be somewhat concerned about it rattling apart when packed. Maybe there's a way to use the same nuts and bolts to lock the thing closed when packed.

[Roadrunnr72]

Here is the one I made.