I’ve seen a few people on YouTube make thin parting tools with reciprocating saw blades, and lacking such a tool decided to give it a try.
The blade is an old 22TPI metal-cutting blade (about 5″ long) and the handle is just a piece of pine lumber.
My process was:
- Sand off the blade’s teeth & paint. This was done on a benchtop belt sander with a ~220 grit belt.
- Cut a slit into the end of the board deep enough to accept about 2 inches of the blade. I cut the slit using a similarly-thin blade with my reciprocating saw. The kerf width was good but the cutting job was hideous.
- Using a popsicle stick, shove a bunch of epoxy into the slit.
- Insert blade and clamp the two sides of the tool together while curing
- Shape the handle using the belt sander
- Using the butt of the sander, add the concave shape to the blade.
The tool works really well for thin parting jobs. The thin blade’s flexibility makes it a little tricky to use out in the open, but seeing as how this cost me close to $0 to make I’m not too upset about that.
Comparing my tool with Benjamin’s Best tenoning tool.
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