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At the top is the Bad Axe 10" saw with a regular-sized mesquite handle and a black pearl nickel-plated back. At the bottom is the 10" saw with a brass back and smaller black walnut handle.
Two months ago, I wrote about two new saws from Bad Axe Tool Works – a 10″ dovetail saw and a 12″ dovetail/small tenon saw. I joked that that I was going to rename the “Doc Holliday” (founder Mark Harrell’s name for the 10″) to “Annie Oakley” – she was a better shot. (You can read that review here.)
But in today’s post, I received a better candidate for “Annie” – the same 10″ sawplate (with Mark’s soon-to-be-available brass back) but with a smaller handle that’s perfectly sized to fit my tiny hands. No, he didn’t make a handle just for me – Mark is about offer smaller handles as an option for those of us with wee grips, and I got my hands (literally) on one of the first examples.
While I haven’t had time to fully put Annie through her paces, I did rush out to the shop to make a few test cuts, and compare this smaller grip with the one on the other Bad Axe 10″ DT saw. First blush: I’m delighted. My only real “complaint” in my June review was that Mark’s handle was sized for probably 95 percent of our readers (which is understandable). But now, he has a handle on the other 5 percent. My palms are only 2.75″ across, and for comparison, both Glen and Bob measure in at 3.5″ (no rude jokes please). You can see in the pictures at right and below (click on them to view them full size) that the black walnut handle (the new one) is a much better fit for me.
The small handle isn’t yet available on the Bad Axe Tool Works web site (nor is the brass back) – but if you have smaller hands (or know a woodworking youngster who’s earned an excellent tool), you might want to give Mark a call and see when he expects the new options to be available. Or give me a week or so and I’ll get that info for you – I’m going to give Annie a workout this weekend, and I’ll write more about her soon.
• “Build a Sawbench” following the techniques on Christopher Schwarz’s DVD, and you’ll quickly be wielding your saws like a pro.
