#HTE
A Window Restoration Expert’s DIY Handsaw Quiver
Amy McAuley has a pretty cool job with some pretty cool tools. She’s the woman behind Oculus Fine Carpentry, which focuses on restoring historic windows and doors. Here’s some shots of what her workspace might look like on any given day:
McAuley endearingly describes herself as “a serious window geek.” Here are some of her notes:
Here’s an example of an Oculus gig. She’s cut, by hand, an absurd amount of mortises and tenons to build some Victorian-era-style windows:
While Portland-based McAuley started the company back in 2002, she’s recently changed some of her work methods. “Within the last few years I have devoted most of my time to learning and using traditional tools and techniques to make the repairs,” she writes.
“Along with the continuing restoration work I am now specializing in building window sash by hand.” She’s thus using some well-regarded antique tools, like this Disston D-8 panel saw, a design that first appeared on the market in the 1880s:
Gotta love how the Skilsaw is sitting unused on the floor.
Because McAuley often works on-site, she needs to transport her tools, and moving the saws around has proven tricky. Here was what she was using to transport them, until a recent disastrous incident:
As she writes in WK Fine Tools, “This past week one saw caught on the edge of a deck and fell onto the concrete and then the Ghost of Ermatinger house unbuckled my strap and all the saws went careening down the stairs.
She thus came up with her own solution, which we think is pretty nifty:
"I’ve decided to make a carrier that fits my needs. As a lot of my job sites involve schlepping my tools up a hideous amount of stairs or hiking in a quarter mile or so down a dirt track I’ve settled upon a handsaw quiver. Something I can throw on my back and give some protection to the saws.”
I love that she uses a forged nail as the clasp.
Click on over to WK Fine Tools to see how she put it all together, starting with “half a cow.”
http://www.core77.com/posts/52850/A-Window-Restoration-Experts-DIY-Handsaw-Quiver